Slice of the Game: Looking back at Canadian University/College Championship

By Medicine Hat News on June 6, 2019.

Columnist Trevor Moore was in Ontario last week coaching the Medicine Hat College women’s golf team at a national championship. This week’s column is a daily diary he wrote during the event.

SUNDAY, MAY 26: Today’s 5 a.m. wake up call came far too early for Ciara Bonogofski, Sierra Zukowski and I. The three of us are catching the 7 a.m. flight out of Medicine Hat, en route to London, Ont. to participate in Golf Canada’s Canadian University/College Championship. Nicole Schultz is already home for the summer in Olds, so she will be meeting the team in Calgary for the trip.

This is the first time a team from Medicine Hat College has been invited to play in this prestigious event. Together this trio of Nicole, Ciara and Sierra have qualified to participate in a total of seven Canadian Colleges Athletic Association championships collectively. Needless to say, they have earned the invite.

MONDAY, MAY 27: Is it 7 a.m. already? It sure feels a lot like 5 a.m. for some reason. In all our years competing in national events from coast to coast, the time change is always one of the biggest hurdles travelling teams face. The host school and conference always have a big advantage as the long gruelling schedule rolls along later in the week. Today we get to see the course for our practice round and then round out the day with the opening banquet. Our first player tees off at 8:30 a.m. tomorrow to open the tournament.

TUESDAY, MAY 28: The course is in great shape; however, it plays very long with all the rain they have had leading up to tournament week. Everyone is excited; it would be naive of us to suggest we were not also a little nervous. Last night’s banquet was a surreal experience for us all. To hear our school’s name announced among powerhouse schools like the Univerisity of British Columbia, Western, University of Ottawa, Unversity of Toronto, McGill and Laval to name but a few was something I will not forget.

Day 1 kicks off for us this morning and we really like our pairings. We are scheduled to play with the University of British Columbia Okanagan Heat as well as the University of Toronto Blues for the first two rounds. We have played with the crew from UBCO many times in past seasons and they are always a pleasure to play with.

WEDNESDAY, MAY 29: Day 1 was a little rough on us all. It took a little longer than normal for everyone to settle in. Today we will be better prepared and we will move forward with our new growth. We play round two late this afternoon, so we got to enjoy a little extra sleep and a relaxing team breakfast downtown London.

No question the competition here is stiffer but the scoring format has been difficult for our team. In typical conference play, we start three women and the team score consists of the two best scores of the three each day. At this event, schools are allowed to field four players, with the best three of four scores counting. As a school that typically starts only three women, this scoring system does present some challenges. With only three players playing (and one of them not feeling 100 per cent healthy right now) we are not able to have any players take a day off with all scores counting daily.

THURSDAY, MAY 30: Today is day three, and the field will be cut down after the round. We are not in a position to make the cut at this point but the entire event has been a fabulous learning experience regardless. We have plans tonight for a late supper so we can take in the Raptors game on TV. It is a pretty cool feeling to be in Ontario for the first ever Canadian appearance in the NBA Finals and there is so much energy here surrounding the game.

FRIDAY, MAY 31: We missed the cut but we all kept Thursday’s round in perspective. As a team it was about enjoying the moment for what it was. We all have a great deal to be thankful for and are blessed to be able to share it together. With the day off, we are spending some time at a small beach town on Lake Huron, with a planned afternoon hike to round it out.

SATURDAY, JUNE 1: We spent a quiet morning together before we began our long travel day home. When we wake up in our own beds at home Sunday morning, we get to reflect positively on this experience and move forward in our own ways.

Trevor Moore is a PGA of Canada professional and a TPI Certified Golf Fitness Instructor with the Titleist Performance Institute. Based in Medicine Hat, he runs his Advantage Golf Academy Services out of Cottonwood Coulee Golf Course and coaches the Medicine Hat College Rattlers golf teams. For comments or questions, you can contact him via his website trevormoore.ca or follow him on Twitter @trevormooreinc.

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