Stratford, PE – On a bone chilling day in Stratford the 2008 CCAA Golf Open Championships wrapped up with two dream finishes.

A great week capped off with two great finishes; Humber, Thompson Rivers take Team Gold; Tanguay and Vanderwal Win Individual Titles during the 2008 PING Canadian Colleges Athletic Association (CCAA) Golf Open Championships hosted by Holland College Oct. 13-17 in Stratford, P.E.I.

In women’s action the Humber College Hawks took home the Gold Medal in the team competition maintaining their 10-shot lead from yesterday with two rounds of 78 and a 76 from the team of Shauna Wilde, Bev Peel and Maggie Trainor respectively. 

In the women’s individual chase for Gold, today got a whole lot more interesting. Playing as a twosome were the leaders going into the day Maggie Trainor from Humber and Anne-Catherine Tanguay from Champlain St. Lawrence. Trainor had a four-shot lead going into today’s action, but Tanguay made up the difference quickly shooting a one-under par 35 on the front-nine. An impressive number in any condition, but with the cold and high winds taking over the course, this was a tremendous feat. 

With Trainor going two-over on the front that made for a three shot swing and the lead was down to one. The two players battled back and fourth on the back nine, playing great golf hitting fairway after fairway and green after green.  

Trainor and Tanguay came to the 18th tee tied for the lead. They both stepped up and hit great drives and great second shots on the long par 5, but it was Anne-Catherine’s wedge shot from 80 yards out that would lead her to victory. With a sand-trap between her and the pin she hit a tremendous shot landing it five feet from the pin. Trainor couldn’t get her long birdie attempt to go and Tanguay stepped up and rolled in the winning birdie putt that gave her the Gold medal. 

In men’s action it was a very similar story as the Thompson Rivers Wolfpack were able to hold on to the six stroke lead they had going into the day and secure their Gold Medals. 

The Wolfpack relied on a team effort the entire week and Head Coach Bill Bilton talked about his team saying, “I’m speechless right now. We didn’t even have a team at TRU on August 10th. To be able to bring this group together and win a National Championship is incredible. I’m really proud of how the guys played.” 

“This has been an awesome week. The hospitality we’ve received has been tremendous everyone we’ve met, the volunteers, the staff at the course, it’s just been great, added the ecstatic coach.” 

The men’s individual championship needed a 55th hole to decide the winner as the leader going into the day Mitch Lock from Fraser Valley sat tied with Shawn Vanderwal from Thompson Rivers after 54 holes in the three-round championship.

The two players went back up the 18th for their playoff. Both players hit solid drives off the tee and Lock was away, and was first to play for their second shots. He crushed his 3-wood into the wind landing it on the front of the green. Vanderwal decided to go for it on the par-five as well but didn’t quite get up onto the green as his well struck 3-wood stayed straight and landed in the bunker. 

That’s when the magic happened. Vanderwal stepped into the bunker and hit a tremendous shot, leaving his ball two feet from the pin with basically a tap-in. Lock gave his long eagle putt a go at the hole, but hit it a bit too hard leaving himself a tough putt coming back. He wasn’t able to get it to go and Vanderwal rolled in the birdie for the win and the CCAA Championship.

Vanderwal was three shots behind going into the day and shot a final round 72. The two players were tied at one-over par for the 54-hole tournament. 

Shawn also talked about winning the tournament saying, “I’ve never really played golf this late in the year so I didn’t know how I was going to play in the colder weather. I had a great time, played pretty well all week and it feels great to come out on top.” 

For the host Holland Hurricanes it was somewhat of a disappointing week, but the Hurricanes had two young teams and competed hard from start to finish. The women finished in fourth and got a final round 82 from Jessica Norris. The men finish in seventh and were lead by Alex Egan's 75 on day three.

Official Final Standings:

Men’s Individual – Top 5

1. Shawn Vanderwal, Thompson River University (BCCAA) 217 (74, 71, 72)
2. Mitch Lock, University of the Fraser Valley (BCCAA) 217 (71, 71, 75)
3. Kolby Kniel, Mont Royal College (ACAC) 218 (71, 73, 74)
4. Mark Hoffman, Humber College (OCAA) 219 (75, 70, 74)
5. Charles Coté, Champlain St. Lawrence (FQSE) 219 (72, 72, 75)

Women’s Individual – Top 5

1. Anne-Catherine Tanguay, Champlain St. Lawrence (FQSE) 221 (75, 75, 71)
2. Maggie Trainor, Humber College (OCAA) 222 (76, 70, 76)
3. Bev Peel, Humber College (OCAA) 226 (74, 74, 78)
4. Shauna Wilde, Humber College (OCAA) 232 (78, 76, 78)
5. Danielle Dunlop, Niagara College (OCAA) 234 (74, 79, 81)

Men’s Team

1. Gold - Thompson River University (BCAA) 880
2. Silver - Humber College (OCAA) 886
3. Bronze - University of the Fraser Valley (BCAA) 896

Women’s Team

1. Gold - Humber College (OCAA) 448
2. Silver - Champlain St. Lawrence (FQSE) 458
3. Bronze - Red Deer College (ACAC) 510

A male and female were also selected as recipients of the PING CCAA Fair Play Award:

Men’s Fair Play Award:

• Kolby Kniel, Mount Royal. (ACAC)

Women’s Fair Play Award:

• Alexandra Fortier, Champlain St. Lawrence.(FQSE)

It was a great championship week from start-to-finish with great weather especially given the time of year and potential for some unbearable conditions.

Many of players will probably take away the memories of the island hospitality as well as the notorious Fox Meadow Foxes, who took several players balls during the week and could be found very close to the players as they passed the sixth hole.

The CCAA would like to thank Albert Roche of Holland College and the Fox Meadows Golf and Country Club for hosting such a great event.  Albert Roche, Tournament Chair and his Host Organizing Committee organized an exceptional and memorable tournament for athletes, coaches and fans alike.

The CCAA and the Host Organizing Committee would like to thank our national sponsors for their support and efforts in making these Championships possible, including PING Canada – Title Sponsor and Sport Canada.

For more information and complete results, please visit the 2008 PING CCAA Golf Open Championships Official website:
http://www.hollandcollege.com/2008_ping_golf/

Release (Abridged) prepared by Jeff Walker of Holland College

Colette Struthers
CCAA Communications and Events Coordinator
Tel: 613.933.6080 ext. 2211
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