HOFFMAN, HUMBER WINS OCAA MEN’S GOLF CHAMPIONSHIP

CORNWALL, Ont. - While it is no surprise that the Humber Hawks won their sixth consecutive Ontario Colleges Athletic Association (OCAA) men's golf team championship on Wednesday, it was defending men's individual champion Mark Hoffman who stole the show.

Hoffman came back from eight strokes down to claim his second OCAA individual gold medal, one shot better than Humber teammate Adrian Cord. Hoffman posted a four-under 68 on Wednesday for a three-day total of 216.

Although he put on an impressive performance, Hoffman was more excited about Humber's team championship than his individual accomplishment.    

"The team competition is, by far, more important," he said. "I like to see my team succeed, winning the individual competition is a bonus."   

Golfers were faced with windy conditions in the final round of competition, something Hoffman used to his advantage, having travelled to Scotland to play golf before.

"I've played on windier days than this," he said.

Hoffman is a fifth-year professional golf management student at Humber.

Cord's double-bogey on the Par 5 eleventh hole ultimately cost him a chance at individual gold. Cord settles for silver for a second straight year after shooting two-over 74 for a three-day total of 217. Both Hoffman and Cord represented Canada last August at the Summer Universiade in Shenzhen, China.

Sharing individual bronze were Brennan Smith of St. Lawrence-Kingston and Alex Dumais of Humber with identical totals of 222. Dumais was tied with Cord for second place at the start of competition Wednesday, but fell back with a Round 3 score of 79. Smith finished the competition strong with back-to-back scores of 73.

Ben Bell of Humber fell one stroke out of medal position with a 54-hole total of 223.

With four golfers in the Top 5, Humber dominated the team competition, completing its six-peat with a total score of 873, thirty-two strokes better than runner-up Georgian. Eric Adamo led all Georgian golfers with a total score of 224, good for sixth place overall. Durham earned team bronze with a score of 909, four strokes behind Georgian.

This year's championship was hosted by St. Lawrence College at the Cornwall Golf and Country Club.

Two strokes separated first from third in the men's Division II competition. Fleming-Peterborough won the team title with a three-day total of 982. Kirk Bartley led all Fleming golfers, finishing tied for 13th place with a score of 228. Mohawk fell one stroke short of team gold with a 983. Mohawk was led by Curtis Henshaw who shot 239, good for 35th overall. Confederation won team bronze with a total score of 984. Confederation's Adam DeLong shot 240, good for 36th overall.

Humber will look to defend its national men's golf championship later this month. The 2011 PING Canadian Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) Golf National Championship, hosted by Holland College, will take place Oct. 18-21 at Brudenell River Golf Course in Roseneath, P.E.I. Hoffman and Cord are the defending CCAA individual silver and bronze medalists, respectively.

With files from St. Lawrence College

2011 OCAA GOLF CHAMPIONSHIPS LEADERBOARD
Men's Individual
Men's Team Division I
Men's Team Division II

- OCAA -

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