OCAA GOLF CHAMPIONSHIPS RUN INTO OVERTIME

BARRIE, Ont. - What's better than 54 holes of golf? How about 58?

At least it was that way for Humber's Matt Morris (St. Catharines, Ont.) and Confederation's Nathan Lepore (Thunder Bay, Ont.), who finished in a dead heat after three rounds at the 2024 Ontario Colleges Athletic Association (OCAA) Golf Championships.

Needing playoff holes to decide the men's individual champion, Morris finally overcame Lepore on the fourth playoff hole to take the top prize. Morris became a two-time OCAA individual medalist after taking silver last year. Morris is the first Humber golfer to win the men's individual gold medal since 2017.

Beginning the day in an eighth place tie, Lepore had the round of the competition on Wednesday firing a 69, the only sub-70 score at the tournament. Lepore rocketed to the top of the leaderboard with four birdies compared to just one bogey to move into a tie with Morris at plus-nine. Lepore became the first-ever individual golf medalist from Confederation.

St. Clair's Spencer Higginbottom (Lakeshore, Ont.) held onto the bronze position on the final day, finishing two strokes behind the leaders. Higginbottom still went home with a gold medal, however, as the St. Clair Saints won the men's team title by five strokes over the Humber Hawks and Fanshawe Falcons, who share the team silver medal.

It has been an impressive rise for the St. Clair program, which for years was a perennial Division II champion before the divisions merged into one in 2023. After securing team bronze last year, the Saints are now on top of OCAA.

Defending champion Ben Landers (Delaware, Ont.) of Fanshawe finished in fourth place one shot out of medal position, while teammate Luke Evans (Georgetown, Ont.) and Steven Hill (Saint Anns, Ont.) of St. Clair placed fifth. The top five have earned an exemption into the 2025 Ontario Men's Amateur Championship.

After three previous trips to the podium as a bronze medalist, Elaine Surjoprajogo (Brampton, Ont.) is finally an OCAA individual women's champion. Beginning the day in a three-way tie for first place, Surjoprajogo had the best score of the final round shooting a 77, good enough for a two-stroke victory over Humber Hawks teammate Susan Chen (China). Surjoprajogo continues Humber's steak of five straight individual women's champions.

Georgian's Bryden Dilley (Barrie, Ont.), who was last year's silver medalist, took bronze finishing six strokes off the pace. Rounding out the top five were Jordon Newlands (Toronto, Ont.) of Humber and Alyssa Cowling (Oldcastle, Ont.) of St. Clair. The top five have earned an exemption into the 2025 Ontario Women's Amateur Championship.

The Humber Hawks successfully defended their women's team title, winning by whopping 35 strokes over the runner-up St. Clair Saints. The Georgian Grizzlies finished in the bronze position.

Sixty OCAA student-athletes competed at the 54-hole tournament at the Barrie Country Club in Barrie, Ont., representing 10 Ontario post-secondary institutions, including Confederation College (Thunder Bay), Durham College (Oshawa), Fanshawe College (London), Georgian College (Barrie), Humber Polytechnic (Etobicoke), Loyalist College (Belleville), Niagara College (Welland), St. Clair College (Windsor), St. Lawrence College (Kingston) and Sault College (Sault Ste. Marie).

The tournament consisted of three 18-hole rounds. The men's and women's player posting the lowest gross score through 54 holes won their respective individual championship.

Men's teams consisted of four or five golfers, with the top four individual scores of each round contributing to the total team score. Women's teams consisted of two or three golfers, with the top two individual scores of each round contributing to their total score. Schools with the lowest aggregate of gross scores after 54 holes won the respective team titles.

The Barrie Country Club is the oldest private golf club in the area. The traditional style golf course, with its rolling fairways and beautifully manicured greens, provides a first class golfing experience for golfers of all levels. The 72 par course has a yardage of 6,706 yards for the men's championship, and 5,534 yards for the women.

The top OCAA golfers and teams will move on to compete at the 2024 Canadian Collegiate Athletic Association Golf National Championships presented by PING. The event takes place at the RedCrest Golf Club in King, Ont., from Oct. 15-18 and will be hosted by Humber Polytechnic.

OCAA GOLF CHAMPIONSHIPS WEBSITE: OCAA.com/golf

GOLF ONTARIO RESULTS WEBSITE: www.golfgenius.com/pages/10917486798624049321

PHOTO GALLERY: ocaa.smugmug.com/2024-25-OCAA-Championships/Golf

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