OSHAWA, Ont. - The Durham College men's golf team erased a 10-stroke deficit in the final round of the Ontario Colleges Athletic Association (OCAA) championship to earn a bronze medal. This marks Durham's first medal at the OCAA championship in Division I since the 2011 season, where they also finished in third place.

The Lords shot a team-total of plus-one 289 to finish with a three-day total 911, ending up in a tie for third place with the Seneca Sting. Trailing Fanshawe by 10 strokes heading in Wednesday's round, Durham ended up beating the Falcons by nine strokes. The team total of 289 was the best round of the championship by any team.

Brent Clements of Pickering, Ont., tied for the lowest round of any golfer as he shot a one-under 71. Clements had a three-day total of seven-over to finish in sixth place overall in the individual competition. After not draining a single birdie in round one, Clements elevated his game combining for 11 over the next two days.

Ben Reid (Ajax, Ont.) and Bill Irvine (Lindsay, Ont.) also played a big role in the Lords' final round success as they each shot even-par 72s while Matthew Perras (Omemee, Ont.) had a two-over 74. Craig Conroy (Bowmanville, Ont.) finished in 16th place overall as he shot a four-over 76 on Wednesday to land a spot in the top 20.

Michael Rizzetto (Brantford, Ont.) of Mohawk College and defending OCAA women's champion Adrienne D'Alessio (Toronto) of Humber College were in the individual competition.

The men's team championship was awarded to Humber for an OCAA-record ninth straight year. It marks the first time an OCAA varsity program in any sport has won that many consecutive provincial titles. Scott Benzoni (Oakville, Ont.), Christian McCullough (Richmond Hill, Ont.), Cole Kent (Peterborough, Ont.), Barrett McCarthy (Burlington, Ont.) and Mike Crapper (Chelsea, Ont.) all contributed to Humber's historic gold medal. St. Clair College won its second women's team championship in three seasons. The trio of Ashley Unrau (St. Thomas, Ont.), Victoria Ducharme (Windsor, Ont.) and Laura Martin (Chatham, Ont.) shot 42 strokes better than second-place Georgian. Humber placed third.

The 54-hole tournament took place at Wildfire Golf Club in Lakefield, Ont. Golfers represented 17 Ontario college campuses, including Centennial, Confederation, Durham, Fanshawe, Fleming, Georgian, Humber, Lakehead (Orillia), Lambton, Mohawk, Niagara, St. Clair, St. Lawrence (Brockville, Cornwall and Kingston), Sault and Seneca.

The Lords will now turn their attention to the CCAA national championship that is scheduled to take place from Oct. 15-17 at Club de Golf Lorette in Quebec.

OCAA Championship Scoreboard: gao.bluegolf.com/bluegolf/gao14/event/gao14310/contest/6/leaderboard.htm

Source: Durham College with files from OCAA Communications