Thursday, September 24th saw the Niagara Knights golf team wrap up their 2015 invitational season by competing in the annual Georgian Invitational in Barrie. Heading into the event the Knights were playing read hot golf, capturing five event titles at the opening two invitational events.
The Georgian Invitational proved more difficult for the Knights than the opening two events, as many golfers were not at their best. Despite having to battle from the opening tee off, the team finished with an overall strong showing as, the men's teams finished in second and fourth place; the women's team finished in third place, Josiah Dixon and Ben Kenel finished in a tie for third place (-1, 71), and Lorelle Weavers captured the women's individual title shooting a 75.
"I'm proud of the way our team fought through and maintained their composure and kept their rounds respectable when it was evident that they did not have their best" said Niagara College golf coach Cameron Thin. "In a continued testament to our depth, our 'B' team finished fourth overall in a very deep field."
After the event, Thin was faced with the unenviable task of declaring a five player men's and two player women's roster for the 2015 OCAA Championship being held from September 28-30 at the Knights home course Hunters Pointe.
Thin continued "Today I made the final decisions on our roster forcing me to leave off several players who played well and ultimately had no reason to have not made our team, other than how deep we are this year. I know it is a good problem for the team to have, but this is definitely the most difficult part of coaching."
2015 Niagara Knights Championship Golf Roster:
Zach Bankuti
"Zach returns for his fourth year with the team. Zach grew into the leader of the men's golf team last year and will continue to be this year."
"Josiah has quietly put together an impressive resume in amateur golf this year. In the spring, he won the GAO Champion of Champions event - it is an accomplishment to even make the field in this event as it means that you have already won your club championship. In August, he won what is called "The Willie Park Invitational". This event is held annually at Weston Golf Club in Toronto and only the top amateur players in the province make the invite list. Josiah is currently ranked in the top ten on the GAO's ranking of amateur players."
Logan Lammerant
"Logan makes the team in his first year at the college and posted solid rounds throughout tryouts and the invitational events. He has several quality finishes in both the Ontario Amateur along with top junior events."
Evan Littlefield
"Evan is back for his third year on the varsity golf team. He has led the team this year, winning the first event; finishing second (in a playoff) at the second event; and posting a good round at the third when he admittedly was struggling a bit."
"Mark is also a rookie to the team, however what a start to his collegiate golf career. Lost a playoff in his first event and followed that up by winning the playoff in his second one. In the third event, he posted a good round of one over par - even though it was discovered minutes before the round that his putter had been stolen out of his bag the previous day - yes, he was 73 while using a beat-up rental set putter from the host course."
"Lorelle is the defending CCAA national champion and has competed well in the opening three events. She captured the Fanshawe and Georgian Invitational titles and is playing strong heading into the provincial and national championships."
Katie Copeland
"Katie is new to our program and has shown she can compete over the first three events. She improves with each round, and gives our women's team a strong medal chance at provincials."
