Only two players did enough to beat Russell's Jay Thiesen out on the links today.
Thiesen was solid with a 2 under, 69. He had five birdies and three bogies to sit in a tie for sixth heading into tomorrow's final round.
"I putt the ball a lot better than yesterday, I struggled a lot in round one," said Thiesen after the round. "I kept the ball in play a lot more which was the big difference."
After shooting a 77 yesterday, Jay will enter the final round eight strokes back of Mike Tibbs, who fired a 3 under, 68 today.
"I just hope to have another solid round and keep myself close," said Thiesen. "I need to make even more putts and we'll see what happens."
After tomorrow's final round, the top 12 golfers will earn a spot to the National Mid-Amateur Championships from August 20-23 in Richmond Hill, Ontario. Being tied for sixth, one more good round could book Jay his ticket to the Summit Hill Golf & Country Club.
"That was my goal coming into this tournament. It's in the back of my head a little bit," said Thiesen. "I've been pretty comfortable the last couple of days, I'm not putting too much pressure on myself."
Chad Facey and Tyler Lacquette also stepped up their games today. Chad and Tyler both shot 2 over, 73 today. Chad finds himself in a tie for 25th at 11 over while Lacquette is in a tie for 31st at 12 over.