Barrie, ON: The Niagara Knights golf team took to Barrie, ON to compete in the OCAA championships held at Barrie Country Club from September 30th to October 2nd.
The Knights having been preparing all season for the OCAA championships, playing in four invitational tournaments to ready themselves for the final tournament. They shot a team score of 327 on day 1 and sit in 6th place overall, with the week-long goal being to finish in 5th place or better. First year Avery Cheeseman led the way shooting a 6 over 78 followed closely by Ethan Siebert who shot a 7 over 79.
Day 2 for the Knights was also led by Ethan Siebert (77) and Avery Cheeseman (78) who have been steady contributors all season long. The team score of 319 was rounded out by second years Matthew Palumbi (81) and Aidan McVey (83). Day 2 was a large improvement on day 1 and put the Knights is a strong position to come out for day 3, play well, and take home that 5th place spot as they had a 1 stroke lead over Durham College heading into the final round.
Day 3 saw the Knights fire another consistent 319 as a team, however the Durham Lords played just a little bit better down the final stretch. They were able to climb the leaderboard and snag that 5th place spot, finishing just 3 strokes ahead of the Knights. The Knights had a strong showing from Palumbi, shooting a personal best 77 in the final round, but scores of 80 (Cheesman), 81 (McVey), and 81(Stewart), were just not quite enough for the Knights to get it done.
Although the Knights season did not end the way they had hoped, they were able to write this off as a successful season of golf. The Knights participated in 4 invitationals, and they were able to pickup two 5th place finishes and two 9th place finishes.
The Knights will now shift to offseason mode, where they will focus on school and game improvement to continue to better their scores for next season.
