Golfing Gold for SHS’s Van Asseldonk

Jemma Dooreleyers | Oct 23, 2024

On Thursday, October 17, Nathan Van Asseldonk, 17, became the highest-ranking high school golfer in Ontario and won Sydenham High School’s first OFSAA gold medal in the sport. Van Asseldonk competed against 120 students across Ontario in Timmons at the Ontario Federation of Athletic Associations’ final tournament and came out on top after shooting a final round of 76.

Nathan, who is an employee at Inverary Golf Club, as well as a grade 12 student at Sydenham High School, only started playing golf 21/2 years ago, and incredible rise in a sport that usually taked a decade or more for even the most talented players to master.

Originally a hockey player, he found the COVID pandemic put a damper on the fun he was having with hockey, but as a naturally inclined athlete, he still needed something to occupy him.

“I needed to find a sport that I liked so I tried golfing because my grandpa liked it, I gave it a shot and I fell in love with it right away,” said Van Asseldonk.

“I love it because some days you can be really good and some days you can be really bad but you will always end up getting that one shot that makes you come back,” he said. “It’s your own individual sport and you don’t have to rely on anyone else.”

While an OFSAA gold medal is never an easy accomplishment, the road to his win at the OFSAA Boys’ Finals was not only physically difficult, it was also a mental roller coaster.

After finishing fourth at the Kingston wide tournament and dominating at Eastern Ontario regional finals with only one golfer finishing ahead of his score of 77, Van Asseldonk and his coach, Mike Love, thought he had a spot at OFSAA. Due to a lack of clear EOSSAA guidelines, while Van Asseldonk had the score to qualify for OFSAA, the way the divisions were categorized, Van Asseldonk was told he would not be moving on to OFSAA.

While this disappointment stung, there was nothing to be done about it so he swallowed his loss and set his sights on next year.

Then Love, a guidance teacher at SHS, received an email on October 8, 2024, two days before the OFSAA registration deadline, saying that there was a mix-up on OFSAA’s end and Van Asseldonk had qualified for OFSAA. After a brief celebration and lots of scrambling to secure a hotel in Timmons, Mr. Love received another email on October 9, 2024, saying that there was yet another mix-up and his offer to compete in OFSAA had been rescinded. After a lot of “unhappy emails” from Love and Bryan English (head of the athletic department at SHS and president of EOSSAA), OFSAA held fast to their regulations and Van Asseldonk, his family and the athletics department at SHS were “crushed”.

However, the next day, October 10, the registration deadline for OFSAA, the athletic department received a final email saying that finally, Van Asseldonk was able to compete.

So, on October 15th, Van Asseldonk and his dad made the 9-hour trek to Timmons. On the 16th, Van Asseldonk shoots an 81 and tied for 5th place. On the 17th, after a three-hour frost delay, Van Asseldonk finally got a chance to play, and shot a 76.

His two-day total of +13 was not only the best score by 3 shots in the high school division, it was also a top ten score in the open division of the tournament, which inlcudes Golf Canada golfers with private coaches and aspirations to play college golf in the United States, and then perhaps proceed to the professional ranks

On Monday, October 21, 2024 Van Asseldonk was celebrated by his peers during a school-wide assembly for the official presentation of his gold medal.

“It’s finally starting to kick in now that the whole school put on an assembly for me,” he said after the presentation. “When I first won it just felt like another golf tournament that I had won but it’s setting in how big of a deal it is.”

Watching the sea of cheering peers and a lineup of beaming staff, it was apparent that the OFSAA win was not just a win for Van Asseldonk, it was also a win for SHS and the South Frontenac community as a whole.

“I’ve been in the school now for four years and haven’t been involved sports wise but to see Sydenham High School on the top of the banner was pretty exciting to see. It feels good to be able to give back to the school in my last year.”

Molly Slate, the principal of SHS expressed her pride and excitement after the assembly.

“We are super proud of Nate and his accomplishments. Only 1 to 2 percent of athletes make it to OFSAA so it is a true accomplishment and we are very proud to say that we have an OFSAA gold medalist at Sydenham High School,” she said.

Van Asseldonk hopes he can continue to practice his game over the winter months and is excited to see what is in store for him next season.

Nate also won the club championship at Inverary Golf Club this past summer.