Jefferson Hagen / MacEwan Athletics
Ranked fifth in the nation, the MacEwan Griffins women's golf team will try to sneak into the medals when the 2017 Ping Canadian Colleges Athletic Association national championship gets underway in Durham, Ont. on Tuesday.
Elizabeth Stewart, Daniela Donnelly and Hailey Turcotte will tee off at Royal Ashburn Golf Club for the first of four rounds as they aim for both team and individual success amongst a tough field of golfers from 11 different institutions across Canada.
"We're looking forward to this, just for the fact that we've got three girls who can contribute," said Griffins head coach Jodi Campbell. "Not every team can say that. We've had some good practices leading up to the trip.
"Our mental strategy is going to be strong. In many ways, that's the biggest element about going into a national championship. We're feeling confident in that preparation."
In contrast to a year ago when the Griffins sent somewhat rusty men's and women's teams to nationals in P.E.I. because they were unable to practise properly the week before when Edmonton was blanketed with snow, Campbell's team has had both indoor and outdoor work in the past week.
"That definitely hindered us last year," he said. "Ironically enough, we actually practiced indoors (on Thursday night) at the Golf Den. It was only 3 degrees and windy, so we decided there was no reason to subject the women to the cold conditions before going on a trip.
"Last Tuesday, though, we were outside and the week before we were outside. So, there's definitely an advantage to having some better weather around Edmonton."
The nationals have traditionally been a three-round tournament, so with it moving to four this year, that adds another element to the challenge, let alone tackling the course itself. Royal Ashburn has earned a degree of legend from pros and amateurs around the nation for its U.S. Open-type toughness
"The majority of our events are two days, so having the players compete for four days, it's going to be competitive, grueling, exhaustive," he said. "It will be a tough week for the women, for sure."
Before the competition starts, Stewart will be among those feted with a CCAA All-Canadian award at the tournament banquet on Monday night. This marks the second time in her five-year university career that she is receiving the distinction.
"They put on a pretty good show at the CCAA nationals," said Campbell. "One of the highlights is definitely going to be seeing Lizzie get her All Canadian award at the banquet. So, we're looking forward to that. It's a great accomplishment.
"Overall, I think the girls are just really excited to take in the whole experience. It should be a great week."
The Griffins are the fifth-ranked team behind Champlain St. Lawrence (RSEQ), Humber (OCAA), UFV (PacWest) and Georgian (OCAA). Other teams competing include Medicine Hat College, UBC-Okanagan and the University of New Brunswick.
As for where they will finish? Campbell isn't making any predictions.
"I guess our expectations are specific around our process goals that we've set," he said. "I have zero expectation about how the results are going to be.
"However, I think every woman that's going to be on this trip is committed to following a process that will allow for their best games to come out. We'll just let the results look after themselves."
Edmontonians Stewart and Donnelly are competing in the final CCAA nationals of their university careers before graduating. Turcotte, a freshman from Fahler, AB, will be playing in her first.
