For the first time in 52 years, a St. Clair College Saints men's golfer has claimed the individual gold medal at the 2026 Ontario Colleges Athletic Association (OCAA) Championships at FireRock Golf Club in Komoka, Ont.
Cale Marontate of Harrow came back from one stroke down entering the final day of play, shooting a 73 to finish plus-three for the competition, edging out second round leader Mike McCullough of the Humber Hawks by a single stroke. Marontate dropped a white-knuckle par on the final hole to secure the win.
"Honestly, I just tried to make the putt like any other and then found out right after that it was for the individual gold," Marontate said. "Golf is a mental sport. So yeah, it probably helped that I didn't fully know exactly what was at stake. I just knew it was a big putt."
Marontate shot an opening round of 74, a strong second round of 72, then closed with a 73 in the final round, showing consistent play across the competition.
With the win, Marontate claims the first individual gold medal since Rick Haynes in 1974.
"The last two years, it's been my goal to be in the mix and be in the final group. I was happy with my first two rounds, and it was going to be a tough one and to get it done was a relief," he said.
"It's hard to say when you're out there watching it exactly how close it is. There is some live scoring, but it's only every five holes, so you're making your best guess on what's happening," said Saints Golf Head Coach Kevin Corriveau. "But Cale knew what he had to do. He knows his game and he knows he knows the game of golf very well."
The Saints men's golf team of Marontate, Steven Hill, Jack Zylstra, Nathan White and River Michalczuk narrowly missed the top of the podium as well, finishing a combined two strokes off the lead, securing a team silver medal.
"It was a great team effort, with four scorers playing three rounds. That's 12 rounds in three days. To finish only two strokes back, could it be any closer?" Coach Corriveau said.
Justine Gorham of Amherstburg also had a strong showing, picking up the individual silver medal, improving on her bronze medal performance from 2025. Gorham was also named to the OCAA All-Ontario Team.
"It honestly feels pretty amazing, especially because in my first two years, I placed sixth overall. So just seeing all the improvement that I've done in the past four years finally paying off," said Gorham. "I would say my biggest improvement in my game is my confidence."
Assistant Coach David Byrne has been working with Gorham for several years, and she said the time spent together is paying off.
"I've been working with Coach Byrne for about five years now. So, to have my game grow all the way through, it's just great to have somebody there that can help me through it," Gorham said.
FireRock is a challenging par-72 championship design framed by natural grasses and trees, captivating landforms and ragged handmade bunkers. FireRock last hosted the OCAA championships in 2018.
The top OCAA golfers and teams will move on to compete at the 2026 Canadian Collegiate Athletic Association PING Golf National Championships.
"The same five male players that were at provincials will be making the trip for nationals. And of course, Justine," said Coach Corriveau. "The last few years we finished fourth at nationals. I'm hoping for better than that."
The event takes place at Club de Golf Le Blainvillier in Blainville, Que., from Oct. 13-16 and will be hosted by Cegep Andre-Laurendeau.
"We've got a little extra motivation going to nationals for sure. When we put it all together, we know we can be a really tough team to beat, so that's going to definitely fire us up going to Quebec," Marontate said.
"We definitely think we can be at the top of the leaderboard. We know what we're capable of. It's just going to be a matter of putting it all together."
