Manotick, Ont. – David Lang carded a 5-under 65 to lead after the opening round at the 2024 Canadian Men’s Mid-Amateur Championship, presented by BDO, held at the Carleton Golf and Yacht Club in Manotick, Ont.
Lang of Toronto, Ont. made a total of six birdies during round one; the lone blemish for Lang was a bogey on the par-4 15th hole. He holds a one stroke lead over Tyson Ehnes of Winnipeg, Man. who sits second after shooting a 4-under 66 on Tuesday.
“It was a great day today. I’ve been playing pretty well coming into this week, so I just really wanted to stick to my game plan and everything went very well,” said Lang. “I had a great group and we had a lot of fun out there so we were just sort of keeping things light and wasn’t really trying to think about anything other than the shot at hand.”
With having won the 2022 Nicola Wealth Ontario Men’s Mid-Amateur Championship, Lang is looking to etch his name on the Presidents Cup for the first time.
“I had a bit of a game plan coming into today as I played yesterday and it was my first time seeing the golf course and I just really wanted to make sure that I do generally hit it pretty straight and just wanted to pick my spots right where I do hit driver and get aggressive and that’s what I tried to do today and it ended up working out well, so I am going to try and continue that for the next three days,” said Lang.
With sunny conditions and the course being in spectacular shape Lang shares, “the greens were running awesome today and I mean it’s obviously gotten a lot of water recently, so the greens were quick and I could see the lines well so it helped me make six birdies today. I am going to try and stick to the same game plan I had going into today and try to do the same thing going into the next three days and see what happens at the end of the week.”
Ehnes carded a total of seven birdies, with three bogeys during his round to hold second place following the opening round.
Gary Pike of Victoria, B.C., sits third in the Mid-Amateur division and leads the Mid-Master division by one-stroke. The Mid-Master is a separate division for players 40 and older. Pike shot a 2-under 68 carding four birdies during the opening round. Brooks Lancaster of Kaleden, B.C., is currently in second place behind Pike following a 1-under 69.
Team Manitoba owns a four-shot advantage in the Inter-Provincial Team Championship over Team British Columbia and Team Alberta. Lyle Mackenzie’s 1-under and Drew Jones even par rounds contributed to the total team score of 1-under after round one.
“My game plan going into today was to hit fairways and greens as it’s a very tight golf course and I think there’s a premium for sacrifice so it’s ok to sacrifice distance off of the tee and just make sure you are on in a good spot on every hole and it seemed to work out for me,” said Manitoba Team Captain Lyle Mackenzie. “I think tomorrow I would like to see a few more putts go in, I got off to a slower start today as I bogeyed holes one and two which wasn’t great as I hit poor drives on both of those holes and didn’t recover so I see what happens when you miss the fairway and I think going into tomorrow’s round, I do all the same things but make sure I hit the fairway on holes one and two and get rolling early. It’s a long tournament and you can’t win it on the first or second day so my goal is to go out tomorrow and do the same things I did today and hopefully make a few more putts and be right there heading into round three.”
Team British Columbia and Team Alberta are tied for second place with a total score of 3-over. The team component will conclude following tomorrow’s second round with the winner being awarded the Bruce Forbes Trophy.
In addition to the Canadian Men’s Mid-Amateur title, the 2024 champion will receive direct exemptions into the 2024 U.S. Men’s Mid-Amateur Championship and the 2025 Canadian Men’s Amateur and Mid-Amateur Championships.
For the leaderboard following the opening round of the 2024 Canadian Men’s Mid-Amateur Championship, presented by BDO, please click here.
GOLF CANADA AMATEUR CHAMPIONSHIPS
Golf Canada annually conducts more than 30 golf competitions and qualifiers nation-wide – including nine National Amateur Championships – which play host to more than 3,000 domestic and international athletes from all corners of the world. In partnership with our host clubs, thousands of volunteers, provincial golf associations and our proud sponsors, Golf Canada is dedicated to supporting player development through world-class competition since our inception in 1895. Officiated by certified Canadian Rules of Golf officials, Golf Canada’s amateur competitions are fully compliant with golf’s international governing bodies and include marquee events such as the Canadian Men’s and Women’s Amateur Championships as well as the Canadian Junior Girls and Junior Boys Championships. Golf Canada’s amateur championships are proudly supported by BDO Canada, Canadian Pacific Kansas City (CPKC), Titleist, FootJoy, Sport Canada, Levelwear and JOURNIE Rewards. For more information and scheduling visit https://www.golfcanada.ca/competitions-calendar/.