With nine pars on his scorecard at the turn, Brian Haskell felt as if he needed nine birdies on the backside.

The five-time city champion managed four in his final nine holes at Fairview Golf Course — plus one bogey — but even with nine birdies, it would’ve barely been enough to better Brad Nurski. Haskell’s 3-under 69 on Saturday brought him to 5-under after the first two rounds of the City Golf Championship, five shots behind the defending champion.

The final round for the championship flight starts today at St. Joseph Country Club.

“I was just trying not to lose touch,” Haskell said. “You can’t give him a five, six-shot lead; it’s hard enough catching him with a one- or two-shot lead.”

Nurski carded a bogey-free, 7-under 65, which started with birdies at Nos. 1 and 2 and put him at 10-under after two rounds. His three playing partners, including Haskell, all made the turn at even-par for their round.

Mark Korell, who started tied with Nurski at 3-under, was four shots behind with Haskell and Derek Baade five back.

Baade was the first to put some pressure on Nurski.

Using a 56-degree sand wedge, Baade’s second shot from the fairway on the par-4 11th bounced on the up-slope and gently rolled to the cup with the final revolution sending it in the hole. The Savannah senior-to-be’s eagle moved him to 4-under to bring him within four of Nurski.

But the momentum didn’t carry over.

Baade managed six pars and bogey on the 17th to finish 1-under for the round, 3-under overall and seven shots back.

“That was really the highlight of the day and kind of the only highlight of the day,” Baade said of his chip-in. “Today, really just nothing exciting happened. I really didn’t make too many birdie putts.

“It’s still under par, so we can go out (today), hopefully shoot something low and see what happens.”

Haskell picked up where Baade left off.

After a costly bogey at No. 13 when he misread a 3-foot par putt, Haskell parred at the par-5 14th, then reeled off three straight birdies to move to 5-under. Nurski, meanwhile, was at 9-under overall after a birdie at 13.

Three straight pars sent Haskell and Nurski to the 18th tee separated by just four shots.

But Nurski, a winner at this event the past three times he entered, responded.

Using an 8-iron on the 160-yard, up-hill par 3, Nurski landed his shot toward the back of the green. It spun back slightly and stopped 6 feet behind the back-right pin. Haskell’s ball was on the same line as Nurski’s but came up 20 feet short.

Haskell quickly snuck a peak at Nurski’s ball as the carts pulled up to the final green.

“From the tee box, both of us looked like we hit it close,” Haskell said. “We didn’t think either one of us was close. We was trying to see whose ball it was up there.”

Nurski’s putt slid down the hill with just a hint of right to left to increase his lead to five. Haskell made par after leaving his 20-foot birdie attempt just short.

“Just hit a good solid 8-iron, and just happened to get decently close,” Nurski said. “Actually, a tough little putt. A little slider that was quick down the hill and cuaght the edge and went in.

“I’ll take it.”

Korell stayed close to the leaders until a four-putt bogey on No. 11. He brought his score back to 3-under with birdies at 14 and 15, the back-to-back par 5s.

But bad luck struck at No. 17 when Korell appeared to drive the green. Instead, his ball hit the cart path twice and wound up under a bush, forcing him to take a drop and a penalty stroke.

Korell scored another double bogey 6 and finished 2-over for the round and nine shots back of Nurski. Korell will still play in the final group today with Nurski, Haskell and Baade.

Assistant sports editor Ross Martin can be reached at rossmartin@npgco.com