Golf team wins, converts player to a coach for national finals

She’s still part of one of the best women’s golf teams Medicine Hat College has ever put together, but Ciara Bonogofski won’t be using her clubs anymore, even though the Rattlers’ next test is hosting nationals.

The fourth-year nursing student finished 16th individually at the Alberta Colleges Athletic Conference championships in Red Deer over the weekend, while the team including Becky Martin, Sierra Zukowski and Nicole Schultz combined for a two-shot win over the host Queens. She’ll move into an assistant coaching role for nationals Oct. 1519.

“It came earlier than I expected,” said Bonogofski of becoming a coach. “You’ve got to get all four of us in there somehow.”

After going to nationals last year in Ontario, Bonogofski returned to a team bolstered by the return of Martin, who didn’t play for the Rattlers in 2017 after winning an ACAC title in 2016.

Martin ran away with another ACAC crown, shooting rounds of 74 and 76 at Alberta Springs Golf Course in cold, windy weather. Runnerup Kennedy Turcotte of Concordia was 16 strokes back. Martin was named ACAC female golfer of the year Sunday.

As Medicine Hat can only bring a three-woman team to the Canadian championships in two weeks’ time at Desert Blume, Bonogofski was the odd one out. Instead, she’ll serve as an assistant under head coach Trevor Moore.

“She’s playing the best golf of her career,” said Moore, who already has ex-Rattler Zach Zubrecki as another assistant. “I’m not willing to lose her prescence at the national championships... because I think she’s a valuable resource in more ways than that fourth playing spot.”

Bonogofski is all too happy to help, especially as her team, ranked second nationally, will be among the favourites.

“I wouldn’t say there’s expectations of it, but it’s in the back of our mind,” she said. “I knew from Day 1 that this was going to be a strong team, a strong bond on and off the course.”

Not only did the Rattlers take the women’s individual and team banners, they also finished second in a brand new event — the mixed division. It was done as a test event last year and became a full medal event this year, and Red Deer won, though no scores were released by the ACAC.

Augustana’s Michael Harrison won the men’s title by six shots with rounds of 72 and 73, while MacEwan won men’s team gold, 25 better than Concordia and Red Deer.

Medicine Hat’s men were sixth out of seven teams, led by a sixth-place individual finish from Matthaus Taylor (7975).