Earlier this week, the Martlets and Redbirds Varsity Golf Team travelled to La Bête Golf Club in Mont-Tremblant to compete in their second Réseau du sport étudiant du Québec (RSEQ) competition of the season. The Redbirds finished fourth out of the nine competing universities in their division, while the Martlets finished third out of six.
The Redbirds kept pace with the results of their first RSEQ outing in August, with Sept. 9’s successes led by Benjamin Blanshay, who recorded 232 strokes across the circuit. Blanshay was closely followed by his teammate, Adley Abols, who finished with a score of 234. Abols recorded the first and only hole-in-one in Redbirds history last season as a rookie.
It was also an exciting tournament for the Martlets. Second-year star Astoria Yen had a fantastic outing, finishing the tournament as a co-winner. She shot 233 strokes over three rounds, becoming the first-ever Martlet to achieve an RSEQ podium finish. This accomplishment reflects Yen’s already-strong play this year, as she finished third during the August RSEQ tournament.
In an interview with The Tribune, Yen described her experience achieving a historic result.
“I didn’t realize until some of the guys came up to me and told me that [I set a school record],” Yen said. “I was just trying to perform and actually do my best to not look at the scores as I go throughout the day. I cannot do anything to change what has already been shot. I didn’t really realize it was such a big deal until after the fact. It didn’t really hit me until a day ago after the tournament ended.”
Yen also highlighted the recent success and prominence of the Martlets Golf program.
“Our girls’ team is really developing right now,” Yen stated. “We went from not having a program to something that [Head Coach] Pierre [Brisebois] has tried really hard to build [and] we saw a lot of potential that helped us secure that third place team title.”
Redbirds golf captain Camden Purboo, who has also represented Jamaica at the national level, discussed the responsibilities that come with being the captain of a successful McGill varsity team.
“Because, as [Yen] said, it is an individual sport, but we play as a team, [helping them know] that the guy beside you or behind you will play for you [is my role],” Purboo said in an interview with The Tribune.
Purboo also emphasized the importance of “picking each other up” and preparing for the next hole when a teammate is having a rough day.
With the Varsity Golf season only being a month long, spanning from August until the end of September, the team is strategic about their training regimen. In a written statement to The Tribune, team member and coach’s assistant Mathieu Sénéchal pointed to the importance of McGill’s golfers working on their mental preparation and gearing up for gameplay scenarios in between RSEQ tournaments.
Sénéchal continued that when the team is not focusing on the mental aspects of competition play, they travel to La Bête Golf Club, 130 kilometers outside of Montréal, or to a nine-hole course in South Shore. During these sessions, Sénéchal shared that training consists of playing either a nine- or eighteen-hole round, followed by practice on the driving range or short game areas.
“During the rounds, [the] coach comes and sees every player, focusing on different little aspects specific to [individual] needs to get better,” Sénéchal wrote.
With their season ending soon and the RSEQ Championship approaching in less than a week, both the Martlets and Redbirds are in contention for Nationals, and look to excel in the postseason. Sénéchal celebrated the team’s strong and unprecedented season.
“We have had solid performances from the veterans on the [Redbirds] team, as well as impressive starts from the newcomers, which have put us in this situation,” he wrote. “As for the Martlets, I believe it is one of the strongest teams we have had, and they are showing off their skills quite well. They are determined and focused.”
It will be exciting to watch McGill’s golf team continue their quest to make school history.
