Thursday, September 26th saw the Niagara College golf team finish their final invitational event of the 2013 season with a fifth place finish at the Durham College Invitational. The Knights recorded a team score of 321. The Georgian Grizzlies captured the tournament title shooting an impressive 303.
The Knights individual low round was shot by Thunder Bay native Evan Littlefield. The second year professional golf management student recorded a 74 at the Durham event. The University of New Mexico transfer has been the Knights' most consistent golfer so far in 2013 recording tournament rounds of 72, 83, and 74.
The Durham event served as the team's final tune-up prior to the OCAA Championships being hosted by Laurier Brantford beginning Monday, September 30th.
When asked about his team's chances at the OCAAs, Knights' head coach Jim Briggs commented "we are definitely a sleeper heading into the Championships. We've really had some consistency issues thus far, but if we play well we can really score."
The Knights will enter a five man team into the 54-hole event. Littlefield will be joined by returning player Lukas Jakobs, Cody Chose, Brody Gauthier, and Zachary Bankuti.
The team based event will see with the top four individual scores of each round contributing to the total team score. Schools with the lowest aggregate of gross scores after 54 holes win the respective team titles.
Coach Briggs continued "we've had a few uncharacteristic holes in each event so far, and I'm hoping the guys have gotten those out of the way. I'm optimistic that if we play steady for three days, we can medal."
The Niagara College golf team has captured seven OCAA medals since 2000, and the team will look to continue that success at this year's host course Paris Grand Golf and Country Club. The course is 6,771 yards in length, has large greens, Ohio sand bunkers, and bent grass tees and fairways.
Daily results at the championships will be available online via the Championship Website at www.lbstudentaffairs.ca/athletics-recreation/home/OCAAGolf.htm.
