The Niagara College golf team enjoyed a fantastic open to their 2015 season this weekend, capturing a pair of men's team and three individual tournament titles at the Fanshawe Invitational and Niagara Knights Fall Classic.
Saturday September 19th saw the 11 player roster head to London for the annual Fanshawe Invitational. The Knights entered two men's teams into and one women's team into the event that saw poor weather plague the field throughout most of the afternoon.
On the men's side the overall individual title came down to a playoff between a pair of red hot Knights' golfers in Evan Littlefield and Mark Wikkerink. The teammates shot matching rounds of even-par 72, but Thunder Bay native Littlefield edged out the tournament win on the first playoff hole. Littlefield is currently completing his third year of the Niagara College professional golf management program.
Littlefield's 72 paced Niagara Knights Team #1 to the overall men's team title. The team shot a tournament best 300 for a three stroke victory over Georgian Team #1. Niagara's Team #1 was composed of Littlefield, Zach Bankuti (74), Josiah Dixon (77), Cory Vaillancourt (77), and Nick Schepens (80). Niagara Knights Team #2 finished in third place in the event (309) and consisted of Wikkerink, Logan Lammarent (74), Ben Kenel (80), and Tom Brown (83).
On the women's side, defending CCAA national champion Lorelle Weavers captured the women's individual title for the second consecutive year. The Burlington native and professional golf management student shot a 76 earning a two stroke victory. Making her OCAA debut, Katie Copeland (Indiana) helped lift the Knights women's team to a fourth place finish.
"Our team came out of the gates strong today" said Niagara Knights golf coach Cameron Thin. "The conditions were less than ideal, but we had a very good day and got some solid opening results."
The Knights faced a short turnaround as the team hosted their annual Fall Classic at Hunters Pointe golf course in Welland which will also serve as the host course for the 2015 OCAA Golf Championship.
With one of the largest and deepest invitational fields of the season seeking an early preview of the site set for the provincial championship, the September 21st Knights Fall Classic saw Niagara College golfers continue their red hot play.
For the second consecutive event Littlefield and Wikkerink fired tournament best even-par (70) rounds. This time however, the Trenton native Wikkerink notched a birdie on the second playoff hole to secure his first tournament win. Wikkerink is in his first year with the Knights golf program. A highly recruited men's volleyball prospect, Wikkerink will suit up for the defending OCAA Champion Niagara College men's volleyball program once the Fall golf season ends. The six-foot-three right handed shot is currently enrolled in the Niagara College Culinary program.
After shuffling his two men's teams for the Knights Fall Classic, Knights head coach Cameron Thin seemed to find the ideal combination for Niagara Team #1, as Littlefield (70), Mark Wikkerink (70), Zach Bankuti (73), Logan Lammerant (73), Josiah Dixon (75) dominated the rest of the field winning by 15 strokes, shooting a combined 286. Humber College recorded a 301 while Georgian notched a 304.
On the women's side Weavers turned in her second consecutive strong round finishing with a 74. Emilie Tyndall of Georgian however shot an impressive 72 to win her first tournament of the season. The Knights second female golfer Copeland improved dramatically carding a 94 to help the Knights secure a third place finish in the women's team division.
Coach Thin continued "today was another strong day on our home course. Our depth really showed across the board, as several of our players scored well and demonstrated that they have the ability to really contribute at the OCAA Championship."
The Knights will have a few days to prep for their final invitational event scheduled for September 24th at Georgian College. After Thursday's tournament, Thin will be faced with the tough task of selecting his final male (5) and female (2) rosters for competition at the OCAA Championship beginning September 28th. "It's really close right now and the decision is going to be incredibly difficult to make, however as a coach this is an ideal situation to be in."
