OTTAWA (CIS) – Canadian Interuniversity Sport announced Wednesday the six student-athletes and two staff members who will represent Canada in golf at the 2015 Summer Universiade in Gwangju, South Korea (July 3-14).
Summer Universiade website: www.gwangju2015.comTeam Canada website: http://english.cis-sic.ca/universiade/summer/2015/index Golf will make its third appearance at the biennial world university games. The sport made its Universiade debut in 2007 in Bangkok, Thailand, and returned to the program in 2011 in Shenzhen, China.
On the women's side, the red and white roster is comprised of Western University's
Jessie Mercer of Plainfield, Ont., University of Waterloo's Devon Rizzo of Waterloo, Ont., as well as University of Victoria's Brynn Tomie of Bedford, N.S.
The men's lineup is made up of Queen's University's Russell Bowie of Mississauga, Ont., University of Waterloo's Dylan Cave of Kitchener, Ont., and University of the Fraser Valley's Aaron Pauls of Chilliwack, B.C.
The women's team will be led by coach Robin Stewart from the University of Alberta, while the men's squad will be mentored by Chris Bertram from Fraser Valley. The pair teamed up at the 2014 FISU world university championships in Switzerland, where Stewart guided the Canadian men to fifth position in the standings and Bertram led the women to an 11
th–place finish.
Tomie will be one of the players to watch in Gwangju as she captured the individual women's title at Golf Canada's Canadian university/college championships in late May in Guelph, Ont. She also placed 43
rd at the 2014 FISU championships.
For her part, Rizzo is the only member of the Canadian contingent with previous Universiade experience as she finished 42
nd in 2011 in China. Like Tomie, she competed at last year's FISU championships, where she ranked 46
th.
Mercer was ninth at the recent Canadian university/college championships.
On the men's side, all three Canadians heading to South Korea cracked the top 10 at Golf Canada's university nationals, with Bowie and Pauls finishing second and third, respectively, while Cave tied for 10
th position.
Pauls was also at the FISU world championships in 2014, where he placed 17
th.
In its first two appearances at the Universiade golf competition, Canada finished 12
th in the men's standings in 2007 and improved to eighth in 2011, while the women were 13
th in their first go-around before slipping to 15
th in China.
The best Canadians four years ago in Shenzhen were Mark Hoffman of Humber College (27
th / +1) and Anne Balser of the University of Victoria (30
th / +3).
The best Canadian individual performances at the Universiade were achieved in Bangkok in 2007. Humber's Michael Zizek finished 15
th in men's action and UVic's Christina Spence placed 27
th in the women's tournament.
Japan (men) and Taiwan (women) hope to defend their team titles at the Gwangju tourney which will run from July 8 to 11 at the Naju Gold Lake Country Club.
CANADIAN ROSTER WOMEN Name University Hometown Jessie Mercer Western Plainfield, Ont.
Devon Rizzo Waterloo Brantford, Ont.
Brynn Tomie Victoria Bedford, N.S.
WOMEN
Name University HometownRussell Bowie Queen's Mississauga, Ont.
Dylan Cave Waterloo Kitchener, Ont.
Aaron Pauls Fraser Valley Chilliwack, B.C.
STAFF
Position Name University HometownWomen's Coach * Robin Stewart Alberta Valleyview, Alta.
Men's Coach Chris Bertram Fraser Valley Chilliwack, B.C.
* Also team leader About Summer Universiade The Summer Universiade is an international multi-sport event that takes place every two years and is second only to the Olympic Games in the number of participating athletes and countries. The Universiade is open to competitors who are at least 17 and less than 28 years of age as of January 1 in the year of the Games. Participants must be full-time students at a post-secondary institution (university, college, CEGEP) or have graduated from a post-secondary institution in the year preceding the event.
