It was a rough second day at nationals for Medicine Hat College’s golf team.
They lost ground to the pack, with the Rattlers women now fifth in the team standings and the men still last.
They lost a player, Ciara Bonogofski, whose shoulder injury led to a withdrawal prior to the start of the day at Continental Golf Club northeast of Montreal.
And they lost a round, today’s third out of four cancelled late Wednesday night by Canadian Collegiate Athletic Association officials who saw a brutal day of weather ahead and didn’t see the point in trying to slog through delays in the 72-hole (now 54) championship.
All of that, and they’re in pretty good spirits. It’s hard not to be when you’re at the biggest event of the year.
“It’s been really cool,” said Sierra Zukowski, who shot an 87 and is tied for 15th in the individual women’s standings. “There was opening ceremonies the first day at the golf course with bagpipes and everything. Then we had our banquet at the hotel, but the room overlooks the water and it was a four-course plated meal.
“Everyone has been really great, all the volunteers are really nice. Even if we have to struggle back and forth with the language a little bit, it’s been a great experience.”
The toughest part of the course has proven to be the combination of narrow fairways and leaves leading to a lot of lost balls and high scores. Zukowski and Nicole Schultz – whose second-round 86 has her in 11th spot – were third after day one but now have 18 holes left Friday to try and chase down a team medal. Ontario’s Humber is currently third, 13 shots ahead of Medicine Hat. The host Champlain St. Lawrence team has a 20-shot lead on fellow Quebec side Andre-Laurendeau.
“It’s not a course that favours a super-long hitter, or a lot of drivers if you’re not confident with it,” said Zukowski. “Fairways are tight, essentially all tree-lined. With the leaves, it pretty much makes it 50-50 whether you’re going to find your ball or not, even if you go two metres into them.”
The men won’t factor in to any podium talk, now left to earn experience and maybe a couple highlights. Fellow Alberta school MacEwan is only 14 shots away to catch for some bragging rights. The Rattlers’ best individual score remains rookie Caleb Kinch, who shot a 77 and is tied for 24th in the 60-man field. Champlain’s Guillaume Dubois shot a second-straight 72 to take the lead, while Andre-Laurendeau has a narrow edge on Champlain in the team standings.
“The course, one of our weaknesses as a team is keeping that ball in play and we’re just struggling with that right now,” said Rattlers coach Dillon Batsel. “This course is not forgiving off the tee, and we’re losing a lot of ground. Even when we are hitting it in play, it’s with a club so far from driver that we’re not in a great spot for our second shot. When we do risk it and hit driver we’re not getting favourable outcomes.
“We came in a little bit rusty with not practising as much, and we’re seeing the effects of that the first two days.”
Thursday will now be time for tourism. The Rattlers attended the Montreal Canadiens game against Tampa Bay Tuesday night and have had an interesting time trying to order breakfast en Francais at both A&W and Tim Hortons.
Then they’ll get back to work Friday before heading home.
