The Canadian Mid-Amateur heads to the final round (Golf Canada Photo)
It’s tight atop the leaderboard heading into the final round of the 2023 Canadian Men’s Mid-Amateur Championship, with Joseph Deraney of Belden, Miss., and Derek Meinhart of Mattoon, Ill., sharing the lead.
Deraney shot a 2-under 69 in Wednesday’s third round to jump up the leaderboard from being in a three-way tie for fourth place after yesterday. Deraney carded a total of four birdies and one bogey in today’s round to sit atop the leaderboard, tied with Meinhart at The Algonquin Golf Course.
“The day was beautiful; the weather has been nice the past couple of days. Yesterday was breezy and today nice and sunny with not as much wind, the greens have dried out so they’re a bit firmer. You just had to be a little more patient today as some of the pins were a little more tucked and the greens firmer, harder to get to. Other than that, I just drove it well, missed two fairways and hit 17 green and my putting was pretty solid. I took care of the par 5’s, made one bogey on 10 and outside that no other bogeys and hopefully tomorrow I’ll get a few putts to fall,” said Deraney.
Champion of the Men’s Mid-Amateur in 2018 and 2019, Deraney adds “Canada’s a beautiful country and I have been very fortunate to go to places like Victoria and now all the way over to St. Andrews so it’s a good way to see the country, compete and bring my life up here. These are special places; the Canadian people are so welcoming and nice.Mid-Amateur golf has been really special to me, the comradery and all the Canadians know each other. Theres a big group of guys that just like the fellowship, golf, and like to compete so ill always go where that’s welcome.”
Both Deraney and Meinhart have shot consistent rounds in the 2023 Men’s Mid-Amateur Championship with Deraney recording scores of 72, 69, 69, and Meinhart at 72, 67, 71.
Deraney and Meinhart are also tied for first in the Mid-Master division, Rob Couture of Celina, Tex., is in third after shooting a 2-under 70 during round three.
Meinhart came into round three in a three-way tie for first place after shooting a 5-under 67 in yesterday’s round. He continued the heat into round three by shooting a 1-under 71 and for the second day in a row his round got off to an ideal start by carding three birdies on the front and added two more on the back.
“Going into today my goal was getting to three-under on the day and for the week I think my goal is ten-under. I fell a little short on that today with one-under but overall hit it pretty solid on the front. The conditions got a little firm and faster on the back, I struggled a little bit, didn’t really make the adjustment I wanted,” said Meinhart.
Meinhart added “I’m really excited heading into tomorrow and playing with Joe, him and I have played a lot of golf together. We’ve traveled a lot together and so we have a good banter, we want to beat each other for sure which is a little extra motivation to get the win. I’ve played with Charles in practice rounds over the years, today was actually the first competitive round I’ve played with him. We definitely have a great relationship and good comradery, I think that a testament to Golf Canada and the Canadians that play here, Charles has always made me feel very welcome. So, it was a great day today and I’m sure he’ll be there trying to chase me down to get his third Canadian Mid-Am.”
Tied for fourth are Mark Carragher of Charlottetown, P.E.I., and Charles Fitzsimmons of King City, Ont. Carragher played an incredible round helping him jump eleven spots up the leaderboard. In todays third round Carragher shot a 6-under 66 leaving him at 5-under for the championship.
“I wanted to stay patient early, just kind of hung in there and made my birdie chances when I had some. I made some really nice birdies and putts and carried it throughout the day,” said Carragher.
Looking ahead to Thursday’s final round Carragher plans to relax for the rest of the day, “I have some family and friends in town so just going to hangout with them and relax. I’m really looking forward to the challenge tomorrow,” he added.
Charles Fitzsimmons shot an even-par 72 during round three to drop down into a tie for third.
ABOUT THE Canadian Mid-Amateur
72 hole stroke play championship.
Mid-Amateur
Any Male golfer who has reached their 25th birthday
by the first scheduled day of
the championship and the player must have a
handicap factor of 5.0 or less.
Mid-Master
Any Male golfer who has reached their 40th birthday
by the first scheduled day of
the championship and the player must have a
handicap factor of 5.0 or less.
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