Strong start 'fore' Falcons golf teams

Header image for Interrobang article CREDIT: FANSHAWE ATHLETICS
The Falcons' golf teams are starting the year on the right foot after a successful finish to their first invitational. Men: (L to R) Thomas Code, Ryan Harvey, Nick Francis. Women: (L to R) Alyssa Stoddart, Mery Tarigan, Reina Song.

After landing in two national top five spots for the Canadian Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA), Fanshawe golf came out strong during their own invitational tournament.

The Fanshawe men’s and women’s golf teams hosted the Fanshawe’s Golf Classic, part of the Ontario Colleges Athletics Association (OCAA) regular season, on Sept. 14 at the FireRock Golf Club.

“When you host, you want to put your best show forward,” Colin Robertson, head coach for Fanshawe golf, said.

Robertson added that the golfers finished their first invitational of the season successfully. The men’s team earned a gold medal after finishing first, and the women’s team was second overall.

The Falcons Weekly newsletter said the men’s team finished with 300 and beat the Humber Hawks, currently second in the CCAA, by six strokes. Blake Mackey became the top finisher for the team with a score of 74. Alyssa Stoddart of the women’s team earned a score of 84 and finished third overall. The Fanshawe Athletics website said the women’s team collected a score of 172.

The Falcons headed into the invitational with impressive honours. The women’s golf team was the top team in the 2019 CCAA. It’s the first time Fanshawe’s women’s golf team has ever been the top in Canada. Golfer Stoddart returned for the 2019/2020 season while carrying her defending Provincial Champion and National Bronze Medalist status. Fanshawe’s men’s golf team is the top fourth in Canada.

“I’d be lying if I were to tell you that we weren’t expecting that,” Robertson said of the top five honours. “The amount of effort that we, Joel [Johnston], my assistant coach and myself have put into this team and the dedication of the players and everyone else that’s sort of around us and supporting us has been awesome.”

Mackey said in an email interview with Interrobang that while it’s great to start the year as the top fourth team nationwide, they want to grab that top spot in the country.

“We are just going to continue to take it one event at a time, and not get overly caught up in the rankings,” he said. “We have been known as a very hard working team, so we are going to continue to stick with that name, and just go out and put the work in to continue to move up the rankings.”

Robertson said that moving forward, the team will continue business as usual, such as staying flexible and meeting with their mental wellness coach Charles Fitzsimmons.

“Being able to sort of be together on the golf course and working off each other and learning from each other and really being accountable to one another is something that we’re really working on doing and I think it’s showing through our results,” he said. “In terms of plans for the next few events, no plans to change anything. Let’s just keep it going.”

After the Falcons held their invitational at the FireRock Golf Club, invitational tournaments continued across Ontario. Fanshawe’s golf teams also played at the Hawk Ridge Golf Club for the Lakehead Orillia Invitational on Sept. 18 and the Heritage Hills Golf Club for the Georgian Invitational on Sept. 19. The Falcons head down to Hamilton, Ont. on Sept. 26 for the Mc- Master/Mohawk Invitational at the Heron Point Golf Club.

The OCAA Championships will be from Sept. 30 to Oct. 2 at the Cataraqui Golf and Country Club, as scheduled on the OCAA Championships website.

The CCAA Championships website scheduled the finals for Oct. 14 to 18 in Sorel-Tracy, Que. and hosted by Cégep André-Laurendeau.