Reed On The Greens Aug. 20, 2025
Robertson’s Departure Leaves Big Shoes To Fill
by Jeffrey Reed, Editor, LondonOntarioGolf.com

Photo (above): Colin Robertson (far right) and the 2024 CCAA bronze medal-winning Fanshawe Falcons. Photo: CCAA.

After a decade of highly-successful collegiate tournament golf, Fanshawe Falcons head coach Colin Robertson has stepped down from a post which saw him win team and individual accolades at both the provincial and national level.

In fact, Robertson put his blood, sweat and tears into the Falcons program as a varsity golfer at Fanshawe before taking the head coach reigns in 2015 and turning the college into one of Canada’s collegiate golf powerhouses.

Robertson told LondonOntarioSports.com in an email today, “I had to resign because the college recently informed employees that we cannot be under two separate union contracts, and since I am also a professor in the Golf and Club Management program, I had to make the difficult choice to keep that role. I did not want to have to make this choice.”

Colin Robertson

Named Coach of the Year in 2018 by both the Ontario Colleges Athletic Association (OCAA) and Canadian Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA), Robertson added, “I truly loved serving as head coach of the Falcons golf team for over 10 years, and it was an honour to work with such dedicated athletes and see all of their hard work and accomplishments. I wish the team all the best moving forward, and I’m excited to continue supporting the game through my role as professor.”

Falcons director of athletics and recreation Ian Foss said Fanshawe is “currently in the recruiting process for a new head coach and will be providing a media release once the successful candidate is selected.”

The loss of Robertson is a big blow to the Falcons athletics program, which Foss admitted is already “in a rebuilding year … but that is collegiate sport! Get to the top then start at the bottom.”

Certainly, Robertson, 40, has navigated some ebbs and flows with the Falcons during the past decade. Rob Foster, coordinator of the Golf and Club Management program, told LondonOntarioSports.com in 2023 that, in recent years, Robertson had been frustrated with how the college had hampered his ability to recruit golfers.

Robertson is one of Southwestern Ontario’s most respected PGA of Canada teaching professionals. At Fanshawe, he earned a double diploma in Golf and Club Management and Business Marketing. As head coach of the golf squad, he saw the program consistently climb the OCAA rankings. Robertson led the Falcons to OCAA medals for the sixth consecutive season in 2024-25 – a season which saw Fanshawe’s Luke Evans win the CCAA individual championship, a Falcons first, and the team win CCAA silver.

That memorable 2018 season saw Robertson lead the Falcons women’s squad win their first provincial championship in program history. But by 2021, the women’s squad had totally collapsed – you can read that extensive story here.

The Falcons, led by coach Colin Robertson (far right) celebrate their 2022 OCAA gold medal victory. Photo: OCAA.

“Growing women’s golf is something we’re trying to do right across the OCAA,” Robertson explained in a 2019 interview. “At Fanshawe, this is something we absolutely need to do.”

In recent years, Robertson – instrumental in bringing numerous OCAA golf medals to Fanshawe – has coached the Falcons program to two CCAA bronze medals in ’22 and ’24. Golfers including Ben Landers, who won OCAA individual gold in 2023, and Mitchel Hampson, the 2022 CCAA individual silver medalist and 2021 bronze medal winner, have spoken highly of Robertson’s knowledge of the game and coaching ability.

Former Falcons standout Alyssa Stoddart said of Robertson during her time at Fanshawe, “Colin is an unbelievable coach.”

In a 2019 interview, Robertson, the consummate professional, reflected much of the Falcons’ golf success to former Fanshawe manager of athletics Nathan McFadden who he said “had done a fantastic job doing what he wanted to do, and that is really putting Fanshawe athletics on the map. Golf was something that, for a lot of years, was not showcased as well as it could have been. But we hosted the (2018) OCAA championship, and now (in May 2019) the best university and college varsity golfers will be right in our backyard competing (at the CCAAs), and we’re excited to be the host college for this national event. Our success and our hosting shows just how far we’ve come.”

Colin Robertson with the 2019 Junior Tyson Tour champions. Photo: Jeffrey Reed/LondonOntarioGolf.com.

That year, Robertson was instrumental in partnering the Golf and Club Management program with the Junior Tyson Tour with $500 tuition credits for junior golfers aspiring to study at and play golf for Fanshawe – read more about that here.

Before the 2018-19 school year ended, Robertson – living with Crohn’s disease – underwent Gastrojejunostomy and Ileocolic resection surgeries, but always kept a caring eye on the Falcons golf program. He was fiercely proud of the program, just as he is of his extensive background as an assistant pro at Redwood Meadows in Calgary, Fairmont Jasper Park Lodge, London Hunt & Country Club and Sunningdale Golf & Country Club. Today, he operates Robertson Golf Academy and the Gold Tee Golf Performance Centre near Delaware.

There is no shortage of skillful golf coaches in Southwestern Ontario, but with Robertson gone there are big shoes to fill at Fanshawe.

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Award-winning writer and broadcaster Jeffrey Reed is one of Canada’s senior golf journalists. Since 1980, he has written about the sport in Southwestern Ontario. Reach him at jeff@londonontariogolf.com.