Falcon golf program ready to soar
The Fanshawe College golf program
is the Rodney Dangerfield of
the London golf scene. Living in
the shadows of the University of
Western Ontario Mustangs — 2010
Ontario University Athletics men's
champions and fifth-place
women's finishers — won't get you
much respect.
But according to Falcons head coach Andy Shaw, his team is poised to tee it up at some greener fairways in the very near future.
Shaw should know. At age 44, he's an emerging leader on the local sports scene. This was his ninth season as Falcons head coach, and 24th as a CPGA pro. Amongst his duties, Shaw is convenor of the highly-regarded Junior Tyson Tour, and professional manager at Fanshawe and River Road golf courses.
Shaw's wife, Kim Shaw, who coaches the Falcons women's squad, is the daughter of Mike Olizarevitch. He recently retired as head pro at Fanshawe GC after a half-century of duty with the London municipal golf system. Pro Shop manager at Willows GC in nearby Nilestown, Kim was the first female to play golf on the allmale team at London's Clarke Road High School, and later founded London's first all-girls junior golf beginner classes.
Falcons Better Than Their Record
On paper, the Falcons golf teams didn't produce spectacular results this fall. Under Shaw and associate coach Jamie MacDonald, the men's team finished eighth at the Canadian Colleges Athletic Association championship October 12 to 15 at The Dunes in Kamloops, B.C. The women's team finished last amongst four teams at the Ontario Colleges Athletic Association tourney October 4 to 6 at The Raven at Lora Bay, while the men finished fifth.
"It's difficult to get competitive girls out," said Shaw of a stillmaturing women's golf program. "I think from an early age … golf is (simply) fun, not really competitive. There's no one really to play with. So it's a real process." Yet Shaw has seen much improvement in the last few years. And at the college level, many female golfers "are starting to break 80 now," which he said bodes well for the future.
A former Falcon and 1986 OCAA individual golf champ, Shaw said it won't be long before the men's team is challenging again for OCAA gold — captured just twice by the Falcons, in 1986- 87 and 1992-93.
"We have some very strong players," said Shaw. "The competition is getting better every year. Scores that finished eighth at the CCAA championship would have won it in previous years."
During the championship round at The Dunes, the Falcons soared past a number of teams with four rounds in the mid-70s. London Laurier grad Steve Bridgeland and Sarnia's Corey Nathan posted final-round 75s, while London Lucas grad Travis Blake and Midland's Ryan Stewart posted 76s. Taylor Booth (London John Paul II) — Tyson Tour overall champ in 2007 — shot a final-round 78.
As Shaw and Kim prepare for the 2011 season, he said the duo already has a solid building block on which to tee off.
"One of the highlights of our year was the comeback at the Canadians. We jumped past a lot of schools that day — we didn't implode."
Jeffrey Reed is a professor in the corporate communication and public relations post-graduate program at Fanshawe College, and an award-winning journalist.
But according to Falcons head coach Andy Shaw, his team is poised to tee it up at some greener fairways in the very near future.
Shaw should know. At age 44, he's an emerging leader on the local sports scene. This was his ninth season as Falcons head coach, and 24th as a CPGA pro. Amongst his duties, Shaw is convenor of the highly-regarded Junior Tyson Tour, and professional manager at Fanshawe and River Road golf courses.
Shaw's wife, Kim Shaw, who coaches the Falcons women's squad, is the daughter of Mike Olizarevitch. He recently retired as head pro at Fanshawe GC after a half-century of duty with the London municipal golf system. Pro Shop manager at Willows GC in nearby Nilestown, Kim was the first female to play golf on the allmale team at London's Clarke Road High School, and later founded London's first all-girls junior golf beginner classes.
Falcons Better Than Their Record
On paper, the Falcons golf teams didn't produce spectacular results this fall. Under Shaw and associate coach Jamie MacDonald, the men's team finished eighth at the Canadian Colleges Athletic Association championship October 12 to 15 at The Dunes in Kamloops, B.C. The women's team finished last amongst four teams at the Ontario Colleges Athletic Association tourney October 4 to 6 at The Raven at Lora Bay, while the men finished fifth.
"It's difficult to get competitive girls out," said Shaw of a stillmaturing women's golf program. "I think from an early age … golf is (simply) fun, not really competitive. There's no one really to play with. So it's a real process." Yet Shaw has seen much improvement in the last few years. And at the college level, many female golfers "are starting to break 80 now," which he said bodes well for the future.
A former Falcon and 1986 OCAA individual golf champ, Shaw said it won't be long before the men's team is challenging again for OCAA gold — captured just twice by the Falcons, in 1986- 87 and 1992-93.
"We have some very strong players," said Shaw. "The competition is getting better every year. Scores that finished eighth at the CCAA championship would have won it in previous years."
During the championship round at The Dunes, the Falcons soared past a number of teams with four rounds in the mid-70s. London Laurier grad Steve Bridgeland and Sarnia's Corey Nathan posted final-round 75s, while London Lucas grad Travis Blake and Midland's Ryan Stewart posted 76s. Taylor Booth (London John Paul II) — Tyson Tour overall champ in 2007 — shot a final-round 78.
As Shaw and Kim prepare for the 2011 season, he said the duo already has a solid building block on which to tee off.
"One of the highlights of our year was the comeback at the Canadians. We jumped past a lot of schools that day — we didn't implode."
Jeffrey Reed is a professor in the corporate communication and public relations post-graduate program at Fanshawe College, and an award-winning journalist.
