After two rounds at the Revelstoke Golf Club, Kimberley product Jared duToit was sitting in the lead, ahead by a stroke against his closest competitor.
However, after the third round, he had been overtaken by a pair of golfers that share the lead, and now sits in fourth place.
“It was the definition of a struggle today,” said duToit. “I got sloppy, the wind really picked up and I’m not exactly the best wind player. I kind of struggled on the back nine, made a couple careless bogeys and a double, which sucked, but other than that, I think I’m still in this.”
DuToit shot a 71 and a 68 in his first two rounds on Tuesday and Wednesday, and posted a 73 on Thursday.
“The course is great,” duToit said. “It really suits me actually, and it’s really shaped up over the last couple days—it’s been really hot lately, so it’s firming up and I like firm.”
DuToit wasn’t the only local golfer in the hunt, as Scott Merriam and Cole Tepper represent Cranbrook, while Evan Gresty and Russell duToit hail from Kimberley.
Only Merriam and Jared duToit have made the cut for the final round on Friday.
DuToit, a talented golfer who has committed to attend the University of Idaho and play for the golf team, is being pushed by the top junior talent across the province.
“It’s a high-calibre tournament, but they are a lot of my buddies too,” said duToit.” I get along with everybody just sitting on that putting green, cracking jokes at each other. It’s pretty fun.”
Even though he’s been playing well enough to put himself in the running for the championship, he still wants to tweak a few things with his game before the final round on Friday.
“I’ll be on the range shortly, I think,” duToit said on Thursday afternoon. “I gotta work out some kinks. The putter’s pretty good—I missed a couple short ones, so I’m sure I’ll hit a couple short putts—but mostly just the range.
“Try and figure out the long clubs.”