It was another historic first for the St. Clair Saints.
For the first time in school history, the Saints captured the Ontario Colleges Athletic Association men’s golf team championship in a sport that was first introduced at the provincial level in 1967.
“I’m confident in my players, but golf is a tough sport,” said Saints’ head coach Kevin Corriveau, who is in his 23rd season. “Some days you have it and some days you don’t.
“There are peaks and valleys, but they did a great job.”
The Saints erased a seven-shot deficit to vault from third and into the gold-medal spot on the final day of competition on Wednesday at the Barrie Country Club.
“I knew we would be competitive,” said Corriveau, who guided the team to its first Division I medal since 2008 last year with a bronze-medal finish. “I was confident in a medal.”
St. Clair also produced its first individual medalist since 2008 as well with Spencer Higginbottom, who had the lead after the opening round, taking individual bronze with a three-day total of 11-over par 227.
“He had a chance to win, which is all you ask for going into the last round, but I’m excited for him,” Corriveau said. “A great athlete and a competitive one.”
Higginbottom closed with a final round of four-over 76 to finish with a three-day total of 227, which was two-shots back of top spot. Higginbottom saw his St. Clair teammates rise to the occasion on Wednesday. First-year golfer Cale Marontate had his best round of the tournament with an even-par 72. Steven Hill, who is in his first season with the team, shot a two-under par 70. Simon Moir and Owen Laverty each closed with an eight-over par 80 score.
That left the Saints with a team total of 56-over par 920. It gave the squad a five-shot victory over Humber and Fanshawe, who tied for second place.
Aside from Higginbottom’s medal, Hill finished tied for fifth place overall with a 13-over par 229 total while Marontate was one-shot back in seventh place.
Meanwhile, the duo of Alyssa Cowling and Justine Gorham put the Saints back on the podium on the women’s side with a silver-medal performance win the team competition.
“We don’t have a third (player) to count, so with the top two scoring, it puts on a little extra pressure,” said Corriveau, who also gave credit to assistant coaches Chris Meloche and David Byrne.
St. Clair finished with a total of 506, which left the team 35 shots back of champion Humber, but 25 shots ahead of host Georgian, which took third. It marked the fourth year in a row that the Saints secured the silver medal.
Cowling had three-day total of 31-over par 27 to finish fifth overall. Gorham placed sixth with a total of 43-over par 259.
“I’m excited for the OCAA because (the championship) was competitive,” Corriveau said. “We saw some good teams and great players and just happy (the three medals) happened.”
The St. Clair men’s team, along with Cowling or Gotham, now advance to the Canadian Collegiate Athletic Association National Golf Championship, which will take place Oct. 15-18 in King City.
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