Horns golf receives donation toward international expenses

By Ry Clarke - Lethbridge Herald Local Journalism Initiative Reporter on December 7, 2022.

The Pronghorns Golf Team, Pronghorn Athletics representatives, and Paradise Canyons representatives celebrate the donation. Herald photo by Ry Clarke

Pronghorns Athletics announced a donation of $10,000 to its golf team Monday from Paradise Canyon Golf Resort, Ron Sakamoto, Matt Barkway, and Jae Maegaard. The donation will go towards travel expenses for both men’s and women’s teams to compete internationally, allowing more coverage for players to tee-off on.

“Competing as a competitive club instead of a varsity squad means the program is responsible for the vast majority of expenses incurred in participating in Canada West golf,” said Neil Langevin, executive director of Pronghorn Athletics. “The Canada West Conference has grown golf in Western Canada. The sport continues to move forward to being a fully sanctioned sport. Since golf has been included in a pilot program in Canada West, the University of Lethbridge has participated, and donations like the one we are announcing today, help grow the sport.”

Excited with the announcement, student athletes are ready for the snow to melt and season to begin. “We hear all the time throughout the season about other teams being able to go and experience that (traveling to the U.S. for tournaments). For us being the U of L, little Lethbridge in southern Alberta, being able to go and experience that level of golf is going to exceed our expectations completely,” said Sophia Makela, fifth-year university student and third year golf team member. “Having that opportunity, we are so thankful to the Paradise Canyon and the donation. I think it’s huge for us, especially speaking for the women’s golf team. We don’t have that many girls on the team but we are slowly building our team members.”

Having to fundraise for a lot of expenses, travelling for a golf team can get pricey. Donations like the one from Paradise help towards less stress and more focus on the short-game. “A lot of our funding comes internally, the University supports us as well. But what separates the golf programs in the fundraising that can be done, and the donations from the community,” said Marcus Meneghetti, coach of the U of L golf teams. “We have definitely had some big contributions in the past, but nothing like this. We are really excited for the opportunities it’s going to give us. Golf is an expensive sport, even when you are competing at the university level. This is going to help us grow. […] The cost of these tournaments to travel with 20 players and to pay the green fees is really high. This is going to give us this starting point to open up our tournament schedule.”

Paradise’s donation will help student athletes focus on the sport, with more time on the greens and less time worry about the green-fees. “By helping our student athletes, we are sending a strong message to all in our community that we value their commitment and we want to ensure their success,” said Langevin.