2011 SU Update: National Champions highlight Canadian Golf Selection

OTTAWA – Canadian Interuniversity Sport announced Wednesday the 11 student-athletes and four staff members who will represent Canada in golf at the 26^th Summer Universiade inShenzhen,China, in August.  

This will mark the second appearance for golf at the World University Games. The sport made its Universiade debut in 2007 in Bangkok, Thailand, but was not part of the program in 2009 in Serbia.

The Canadian men finished 12^th in the team competition in Bangkok, while the women’s squad placed 13^th. Thailand (men) and Mexico (women) are defending Universiade champions heading into the tournament set for Aug. 17-20 at the Mission Hills Golf Club. 

Highlighting the red and white roster for the Shenzhen Games are the University of British Columbia’s Kylie Barros and Humber College’s Mark Hoffman, who captured the women’s and men’s individual titles at the 2011 Canadian University/College Championships conducted by Golf Canada earlier this month in Ashburn, Ont.

Barros, a 19-year-old native of Edmonton who is also the reigning NAIA national champion, scored a nine-shot victory at the tournament held at The Royal Ashburn Golf Club to lead the UBC women to their third straight team banner.

Hoffman shot a 3-under par 69 in the final round and was 1-under par for the tourney as he guided Humberto the men’s team title. The 22-year-old from Thornhill, Ont., won the Trinidad and Tobago Amateur Championship in 2010 and finished third at the Scottish University Championship in 2009.

Rounding out the five-member women’s squad for the Universiade are a trio of University of Victoria Vikes including Anne Balser of Digby, N.S., Alyssa Herkel of Port Alberni, B.C., and Megan Woodland of Victoria, as well as Devon Rizzo, a University of Waterloo student from Brantford, Ont.

Balser finished second at the University/College Championship, Herkel andWoodlandtied for third, and Rizzo placed fifth.

On the men’s side, the six-member team is completed by two of Hoffman’s Humber teammates, Gregory Belsito of Thornhill and Adrian Cord of Etobicoke, Ont., as well as UBC teammates David Sheman of Newmarket, Ont., and Jack Wesche of Calgary, and UVic’s Darren Hupfer of Edmonton.

Belsito was fourth at the University/College Championship, Sheman and Wesche tied for fifth, while Cord and Hupfer tied for ninth.

Balser, who won the University/College title a year ago, is the only returnee from the 2007 Universiade in Bangkokwhere she finished 46^th. She also has FISU World University Championships experience, having placed 12^th in 2010 in Spain and 31^st in 2008 inSouth Africa.

The top Canadian performers in Bangkokwere HumberCollege’s Michael Zizek with a 15^th-place finish on the men’s side and UVic’s Christina Spence, who was 27^th in the women’s tournament.

Ray Chateau fromHumberCollege, who was TeamCanada’s head coach inBangkok, will act as team leader in Shenzhen. Chateau coached the Canadian entry at the 2004 FISU world championships and was team leader at the event in 2006, 2008 and 2010.

The coaching staff for Shenzhen is comprised of Dave Hollinger and Carla Munch, both from the University of Waterloo, and Chris Dickson from the University of Western Ontario.

Hollinger (2006, 2010) and Munch (2008, 2010) both have FISU WUC experience.

(Source: Michel Bélanger  CIS Manager Communications & Media Relations)