NEWS PHOTO SEAN ROONEY Medicine Hat College golfers Derek Whitson (left), Logan Crawford, Kent Lesko and Ciara Bonogofski warm up for practice at Desert Blume Golf Club Wednesday, Sept. 11, 2019.
There was a lot of chatter between players at Medicine Hat College’s golf team practice Wednesday, and for good reason.
After all, this is a team that has the pedigree to get people talking the next few weeks.
“For me personally it’s just get out there and play,” said returning player Nicole Schultz. “I’m not worried about standings yet, it’s more getting to know the field, getting into the swing.”
Schultz, Ciara Bonogofski and Sierra Zukowski are all back on the women’s side for a third straight year. Derek Whitson, Kent Lesko and Brady Resch return for a second year for the men. Even the newcomers have high-level experience, as Logan Crawford and Chase Broderson migrated from Red Deer College when that school axed its golf team this spring. High school grads Caleb Kinch and Mat Chapdelaine might know the least about the college scene, but their scores are trending as low as anyone else’s leading up to the first tournament of the season this weekend.
“We all understand we’ve got a solid team,” said coach Dillon Batsel. “We try not to take it for granted, and we’re putting in the work just to make sure… nationals is a goal of ours but it’s by no means a foregone conclusion.
“I think it’s good to acknowledge you do have the skill, but now you need to put in the work to make it happen.”
The team heads to Edmonton Saturday and Sunday for the Alberta Colleges Athletic Conference North Regional, where they’ll get the lay of the land as to who might with conference titles at the end of the month and book tickets to Quebec for nationals.
The women – the exact three who are back this year – went together to the Canadian finals two years ago, were second last year on their home course with the help of Becky Martin and played at a national event involving university teams in May. They figure to be in the mix again, especially with Canadian champ Red Deer now sadly out of the picture.
The men are now suddenly a contender with their new additions, particularly Broderson who was second in the conference last season.
Crawford’s just happy to have somewhere to play.
“It was heartbreaking,” said the 23-year-old business student of Red Deer’s golf team ending. “I wanted to finish there versus here, but I’m happy to be here. I like my teammates, I like the coach.”
Crawford isn’t your typical golfer, overcoming muscular dystrophy and mental health challenges to be in his fourth college season.
It’s a story similar to Whitson, a multiple-time Paralympian with cerebral palsy.
All that matters at the end of the day is how many shots you need to get the ball in the hole, however. And with every men’s player regularly breaking into the 70’s, that’s a good sign.
“I’d say that we can all shoot good scores, it’s a matter of it showing up in competition,” noted Crawford.
“Everyone’s just really anxious and excited for this weekend,” added Batsel.
