Golf Teams In Good Position After Day One of Championship
Barrie, Ont. – The St. Clair College Golf teams are off to a solid start at the Ontario Colleges Athletic Association (OCAA) Championships. Unseasonably warm temperatures greeted the 60 student-athletes competing at The Barrie Country Club on Monday.
The St. Clair men are sitting in silver medal position after day one but in a very tight battle with a team score of 20 over par. Fanshawe top the first day men's team standings with a team score of 15 over par, while the Humber Hawks are in third with a team score of 23 over par. The Saints had a great round by Spencer Higginbottom (Lakeshore; Tecumseh Vista) who shot an even par 72 and sits in first place in the individual standings. Higginbottom recorded six birdies, including four straight on holes six through nine. Simon Moir (London; St. Thomas Aquinas) had a solid round as well with a 5 over par 77.
Alyssa Cowling (Oldcastle; Villanova) had an outstanding round shooting a 4 over par 76 to sit in a tie for 2nd place justwo strokes out of first. Justine Gorham (Amherstburg; L'Essor) had a good round as well shooting an 11 over 83. Humber leads the team standings by 9 strokes over the Saints.
Ten Ontario post-secondary institutions will be represented at the tournament, including Confederation College (Thunder Bay), Durham College (Oshawa), Fanshawe College (London), Georgian College (Barrie), Humber Polytechnic (Etobicoke), Loyalist College (Belleville), Niagara College (Welland), St. Clair College (Windsor), St. Lawrence College (Kingston) and Sault College (Sault Ste. Marie).
The Barrie Country Club is the oldest private golf club in the area. The traditional style golf course, with its rolling fairways and beautifully manicured greens, provides a first class golfing experience for golfers of all levels. The 72 par course has a yardage of 6,706 yards for the men's championship, and 5,534 yards for the women.
The tournament consists of three 18-hole rounds (54 holes), weather permitting and will wrap up Wednesday. The men's and women's player posting the lowest gross score through 54 holes will earn their respective individual championship.
Men's teams consist five golfers, with the top four individual scores of each round contributing to the total team score. Women's teams consist of two or three golfers, with the top two individual scores of each round contributing to their total score. Schools with the lowest aggregate of gross scores after 54 holes win the respective team titles.
The top OCAA golfers and teams will move on to compete at the 2024 Canadian Collegiate Athletic Association Golf National Championships presented by PING. The event takes place at the RedCrest Golf Club in King City, Ont., from Oct. 15-18 and will be hosted by Humber Polytechnic.