The Fanshawe men’s golf team combined to take home the silver medal at the OCAA provincial championships.
The team finished with a team total of 882 (+30), helping them to finish the tournament ahead of St. Clair by 15 shots to secure the team silver medal.
“The experience was great,” says Ben Landers, who came away with not just the team silver, but also came home with the individual gold medal at the event as well.
“The golf course was in fantastic shape as always, I’ve played in a couple events at Ambassador before, St. Clair did a really good job of it.”
Landers was also named to the OCAA All-Ontario Team after posting rounds of 71-67-69 to finish six under par, four strokes ahead of his nearest competitor.
“It’s all fun and great to get an individual win, but getting second with the team was a lot of fun,” says Landers.
“The boys played really well. It’s those things that I know in the future I’m going to look back on and wish I could go back to do it all with these boys again.”
Brent Schidowka, Luke Evans, Griffin Rowe, and Austin Kuiack round out the remainder of the podium-finishing team.
With the individual gold medal, this is now Landers second year in a row medaling at the event after finishing with the silver medal in last year’s effort.
“I stuck to it, worked a little bit harder over the summer. Going to the gym and getting more in the right mindset. It was kind of a night and day difference picking out the little things that made the big difference.”
(Credit: Fanshawe Athletics) The men’s golf team finished with the silver medal, punching their ticket to the CCAA Nationals.
Even with the experience medaling last season and with the hard work during the off-season, Landers still says it’s still hard to contain the butterflies at these bigger events.
“The nerves are there until after I hit the first tee shot on the first day of the tournament. I get so amped up before that first shot. As soon as I hit it, I’ll settle in and find my pace.”
Landers goes on to say that once the event got rolling, his confidence helped to carry him through. Understanding the standings and where he stood throughout the tournament.
“I wasn’t really too stressed out, I knew I had a one shot lead going in. I was playing with Daniel (Talmage) from Humber and it was one of those things where I’ve been in that position before. I knew I was in control, so it wasn’t anything new.”
While the improvement from silver to gold is a spectacular achievement for the athlete, Landers also goes into detail on some of the other changes from last year to this year, including the difference in taking on more of a leadership role.
“When I was a rookie last year, the older guys kind of pushed me to get to where I am. I kind of like taking on that role now to push them to reach their full potential.”
With the team’s silver medal finish, they now head to the CCAA national championships at the Club de golf Lorette in Loretteville, Quebec.
Landers says he has clear expectations heading in, both for him and the team.
“I’m going to the tournament to essentially try to win it, to try and help the team do the best we can and hopefully we can come out on top. Just trying to keep my mindset in the same frame I had it with the OCAAs.”
Landers ends by saying exactly how he approaches every match, from the start of the season, to the OCAAs, now heading to the national championships.
“It’s a marathon, not a sprint,” says Landers.
“You can’t win it on the first day, but you can certainly put yourself in a good position to win it. It’s just going to be a matter of keeping a good pace and staying patient.”
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