Fanshawe Athletics, with notes from Jeffrey Reed, Editor, LondonOntarioSports.com
Photos: OCAA

At the Ambassador Golf Course in Windsor, Ontario, the 2023 OCAA Provincial Golf Championships wrapped up on Wednesday evening. Earning the men’s individual gold medal was Fanshawe Falcons’ Ben Landers of Delaware, a member of The Oaks Golf and Country Club and past champion on the Junior Tyson Tour.

Ben Landers (centre) with his Falcons teammates. Photo: OCAA.

The Falcons men’s team was awarded the silver medal.

This is Landers’ second OCAA individual medal in two years, improving from his silver medal last season when he finished behind teammate Mitchel Hampson. This year, with an impressive score of 207, Landers also set a new Fanshawe Men’s Golf record for best three-day score at an OCAA championship. He was named to the OCAA All-Ontario Team after posting rounds of 71-67-69–207 (-6), four strokes ahead of his nearest competitor.

With a team total of 882 (+30), the Falcons finished the tournament ahead of the host St. Clair Saints by 15 shots to secure the team silver medal. Brent Schidowka of Komoka (222, T9), Luke Evans of Georgetown (226, 14th), Griffin Rowe of Ailsa Craig (229, T17) and Austin Kuiack of London (237, T23) made up the rest of Fanshawe’s podium-finishing team.

Fanshawe advances to the CCAA National Championships October 17-20 at the Club de golf Lorette in Loretteville, Quebec.

OCAA:

Reigning national champion Hayley McCallum (Mississauga) of the Humber Hawks made history at the Ontario Colleges Athletic Association (OCAA) Golf Championships on Wednesday, becoming the first person to win five OCAA individual medals in the sport.

McCallum, who began the final round of the competition with a two-shot lead, fired a one-under 70 to win by 13 strokes. McCallum was back-to-back OCAA women’s champion in 2019 and 2021 (no competition was held in 2020), and a silver medalist in 2018 and 2022. No women’s golfer has more than three OCAA individual medals, with only Ryan Hughes of Durham College winning four straight men’s individual titles between 1988 and 1991. McCallum is also the first individual to win three individual women’s gold medals.

Bryden Dilley (Barrie) of the Georgian Grizzlies, who led the competition after shooting one-under 70 in Monday’s opening round, chased McCallum the final 36 holes but was awarded an individual silver medal for the effort. Dilley finished four strokes better than defending champion Madison Ouellette (Amaranth) of Humber who took bronze. Ouellette is now a three-time individual medalist with a silver in 2021 to complete the set.

With the efforts of McCallum, Ouellette and teammate Elaine Surjoprajogo (Brampton), Humber easily defended the OCAA women’s team title, winning for the fourth straight competition. McCallum, Dilley and Ouellette are members of the OCAA All-Ontario Team, as is Shannon Coffey (Windsor) of the St. Clair Saints after finishing fourth, one stroke behind Ouellette.

Three individuals shot better than par in the final round of the men’s competition, and all three took home medals. Clubhouse leader Ben Landers (Delaware) of the Fanshawe Falcons shot a tournament-best four-under 67 on Tuesday, and followed this performance with a 69 on Wednesday to win the competition by four shots. Landers was the runner-up at last year’s tournament.

A trio of Humber Hawks took the remaining medals. Matt Morris (St. Catharines) shot a one-under 70 in the final round to earn silver, while Trey Ross (Winnipeg, Man.) matched Landers’ 69 to climb into a tie for the bronze medal with Daniel Talmage (Toronto). Talmage was also a bronze medalist last season.

The four medalists are joined by Humber’s Ryan Holwell (St. John’s, Nfld.) and Matt Bremer (Toronto) as members of the OCAA All-Ontario Team. Holwell and Bremer tied for fifth place.

With five Humber golfers placing in the top six, it is not surprising that the Hawks won the men’s team championship shooting even-par for the competition, 30 strokes better than second-place Fanshawe. After four straight years of winning the men’s Division II crown, St. Clair took home bronze as all teams remained in a single division this year.

The 54-hole tournament featured student-athletes from 10 Ontario college campuses, including Confederation, Durham, Fanshawe, Georgian, Humber, Loyalist, Niagara, St. Clair, St. Lawrence and Sault.

The top OCAA golfers and teams will move on to compete at the 2023 Canadian Collegiate Athletic Association Golf National Championships presented by PING. The event takes place at the Lorette Golf Club in Quebec City from Oct. 16-20.