Day one is complete at CCAA Golf National Championship

The opening day of the 2016 PING CCAA Golf National Championship wrapped up at Fox Meadow Golf & Country Club in Stratford, Prince Edward Island. It was a windy autumn day with mostly sunny conditions, reaching 19 degrees Celsius.

RDC Golf Assistant Coach Jeff Willmer, who is coaching the team this week in P.E.I., recognized that the wind played an integral role.

"The wind was a huge factor today," said Willmer. "It swirls on the east coast and with the changing directions you can almost have the wind in your face daily."

After the first day the Red Deer College Women's Golf team sits in 10th place, while the RDC Men's team is in 14th in a competitive field that had all golfers battling the wind. The Georgian College Grizzlies lead the women's teams. The Humber College Hawks and Cégep André-Laurendeau are tied for first place out of the competing men's teams.

While there were some positive signs from the RDC golfers, Willmer hopes to see some better scores on the final two days.

"The team overall has room for improvement tomorrow," said Willmer. "The wind isn't supposed to blow as hard as today which will be welcomed."

Each day the women's teams count their two best scores out of their team of three. The RDC Women's Golf team is comprised of two student-athletes and count the scores of Shaye Leidenius and Hayley Phillips. The men's teams count the four best scores of the five members. Cole Morrison, Ryan Skoreyko, Cody Clipperton, Mitchell McKinnon and Colton Craner make up the RDC Men's Golf team.

There were some impressive individual performances from the Red Deer College student-athletes. As the day progressed Ponoka native, Shaye Leidenius, elevated her game. The Kinesiology and Sport studies student sits tied for 6th with Lorelle Weavers of Niagara College. Leidenius shot an opening round of 78, only four strokes back of the leader Becky Martin of Medicine Hat College.

Leidenius shot a 41 on the first nine holes and improved on the final nine holes, shooting a 37. In her Wednesday round she accumulated nine pars and two birdies and will look to carry that strong finish into competition on Thursday. Leidenius will tee off Thursday at 9:45 a.m. while teammate Hayley Phillips follows at 9:55 a.m.

The top individual RDC male golfer on opening day was Cole Morrison who sits tied for 22nd. The second year student-athlete shot an opening round of 74, seven shots back of leader Josiah Dixon of Niagara College. Morrison sat one under par after the first nine holes, capturing an impressive three birdies in a row. The Red Deer native also added ten pars on the day. Thursday, Morrison is set to tee off at 8:30 a.m., followed by Ryan Skoreyko at 8:40 a.m., Cody Clipperton at 8:50 a.m., Mitchell McKinnon at 9:00 a.m. and Colton Craner at 9:10 a.m.

Willmer is proud of the compete level and is optimisitic moving forward.

"There is a lot of golf still left in the championship," said Willmer. "The team did a great job of grinding out every stroke today."

Twelve degrees is the projected high on Thursday in Stratford, P.E.I. with the wind possibly being a factor once again. Competition continues Thursday and wraps up on Friday, with a 70% chance of rain.