The Wilfrid Laurier University Golf team, one of the mixed varsity teams at the university, is heading to the Canadian University/College Championship in British Columbia on May 29.
This tournament, also known as “Nationals,” attracts the top collegiate golfers from all over Canada.
The men’s portion of the Golden Hawk team is coming off one of the most successful seasons in school history, highlighted by a silver medal finish at Nationals, where the team’s previous best placement was fifth back in 2015.
On the women’s side, the team had an up and down 2017 season, failing to reach the podium in any of the tournament’s during the year, with a fourth place finish at the Guelph Invitational being the team’s best result. Due to these results, the women’s team unfortunately were not able to qualify for this year’s nationals.
Current men’s team member Andrew Cox talked about the team’s goals and expectations for the upcoming Nationals tournament.
“Last year we played well. It was really close, kind of heartbreaking when we lost, as we did lose by only two shots over the four-day span,” he said. “We have a little bit of a different team going [this year], so I think a top three finish would be really well. But obviously you want to go there and win it.”
“OUA’s would be a good tournament to win. We’ve lost to Waterloo and Western the last couple of years, so it would be cool to be able to beat those schools.”
Along with the silver medal at Nationals last year, the men’s team also picked up another silver medal at the Toronto Invitational and missed out on the podium by only two strokes at the OUA Championship.
At those OUA Championships, Laurier golfer Austin Ryan earned an individual bronze medal, marking the second consecutive year that he reached the podium at the event. Cox, who himself played a key role in both of the team’s silver medal finishes last year, spoke about his own personal goals for the season.
“I haven’t individually won a tournament, I’ve been close a couple times, so that would be cool, to get that individual win.”
Looking into September when the season starts back up again, Cox mentioned that “OUA’s would be a good tournament to win. We’ve lost to Waterloo and Western the last couple of years, so it would be cool to be able to beat those schools.” Additionally, the Laurier athletics department is proud to host the annual Laurier Golf Classic, which runs this year on June 18 at Whistle Bear Golf Club in Cambridge.
This tournament, which is being hosted for the twenty-first time, is open to golfers of all skill levels, with proceeds from the day going to the Student Horizon Fund, the Golden Hawk Scholarship Fund and Athletic and Recreation department enhancements.
“It’s important,” Cox said, of the golf classic. “We use the money for our balls and bags and what not.”
“Being a golf team, we’re not like a football team that gets a lot of money from the school funding wise. So the money that we raise helps a lot.”
The cost to enter is $400 per person, which includes dinner and 18 holes of golf.
“It’s good to socialize, play some golf and have a nice dinner afterwards.” More information on how to register for the Golf Classic can be found on the Laurier Athletics website.