HUMBER LEADS AFTER DAY 1 AT CCAA GOLF NATIONALS

OSHAWA, Ont. - Katherine Gravel-Coursol of Lionel-Groulx broke a course record at the Oshawa Golf and Curling Club on day one at the 2012 PING Canadian Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) Golf National Championship hosted by Durham College.

Gravel-Coursol of Saint-Jérôme, Que. carded a 1-under 71 to beat the previous course record of 72 by one stroke. She had five birdies in the round including four in her final six holes.

"I didn't know it was a course record until someone in the pro-shop congratulated me," said Gravel-Coursol. "I hit the ball well today and I was able to limit the amount of mistakes. The course is a really nice design and I am looking forward to the rest of the tournament."

Gravel-Coursol leads a pair of fellow RSEQ golfers by six strokes in the individual competition, as Valérie Tanguay of Champlain-St. Lawrence and Elizabeth Asselin of Lévis-Lauzon shot matching 5-over 77's.

In the team competition, the UBC-Okanagan trio of Jennifer Woods, Jessica Kozak and Alana Kent posted a score of 18-over 162 to sit atop of the leaderboard. Holland College (168) trails the Heat by six strokes while Georgian College sits in third place at 178. The two-time defending champion Durham Lords are in fourth place at 179.

In the men's team competition, the three-time defending champion Humber Hawks are in first place after round one with an 8-over 296. Four members of the Hawks are in the top 20 of the individual standings with Alex Dumais leading the way in fourth place with a 1-over 73. Nicolas Fortin and Ben Bell are tied for seventh at 2-over 74 and Ben McFaul is at 3-over 75.

Trailing the Hawks in second place are the Grant MacEwen Griffins who had a 12-over 300. The hosting Durham Lords are in third place at 14-over 302 and the Niagara Knights are in fourth place at 15-over 303.

Kevin Piper of the Griffins had the low round of the day as he carded a 2-under 70. The St. Albert, Alta. native had birdies on two of his final four holes to take the lead after day one.

"I am going through some swing changes with my coach right now so I played a lot better than I had expected," said Piper. "The course is in really great shape but we ran into some rain. I actually left my jacket at the hotel this morning, so I had to grind it out and I guess it worked out okay."

Hugo Bernard of André-Laurendeau and Jean-Francois Robert of Champlain-St. Lawrence are tied for second after shooting an even 72.

The second round of the 2012 PING CCAA Golf National Championship tees off Thursday at 11 a.m. EST. All rounds of the championship at the Oshawa Golf and Curling Club are open to the public to watch.

Championship Results: www.ccaa.ca/golf2012

Source: Durham College