The men's and women's golf teams at the U of M will see a number of veterans return in 2019, along with some promising fresh faces. But the biggest shift will occur at the head coaching position on the men's side, where 2017 and 2018 PGA of Manitoba Teacher of the Year Derrik Goodwin takes over for program founder Garth Goodbrandson. The latter will still be around for a couple of years though, primarily on the fundraising and administrative side of things.

Goodwin has been part of the program for a few seasons already as an assistant coach and is familiar with a number of the players due to the fact that he also works in the golf industry as an instructor.

"My coaching style is probably pretty hands off. I like to let the players do their own thing. I think golf is a very individualistic sport, so everybody needs to understand what they need to do in order to perform their best and the way that they need to act and play," he says.

"My goal moving forward with the team is to help the players understand that and to help them figure out what their personality styles are in order to help them play their best golf. I'm going to be spending a lot of time listening to them, asking questions and getting to know them so that they understand that I'm there to support them regardless of the results."

Leading the way for the men will be captain Josh Neufeld, one of three fifth-years on the team who helped Manitoba's first team end 2018 with six top-three finishes overall, along with four team tournament victories the year prior. The fifth-year was also instrumental in helping the Bisons place third at the 2018 Canadian University Championships.

"My goal I would say for our number one player Josh Neufeld is to kind of carry the team with a lot of low scores and play really well," Goodwin says. "Another goal for him is to win an individual title at one of our events."

Other players on team one that have the potential make a big impact include fifth-year Aaron McIntyre, fourth-year Stefan Lavallee and third-year Cameron McIntyre.

Aaron has two university wins during his career and experience at the national championships, including last year's third-place finish, while Cameron is a "very steady guy in the tee," according to Goodwin who got the 2019 fall season off to a strong start with a tie for tenth-place finish at the Augsburg Fall Invitational.

Lavallee was just as strong at the Minnesota tournament, finishing in the same spot as his teammate (tenth place). He has the capability to "absolutely bomb it," according to Goodwin.

Younger players to keep an eye out for include second-years Anthony Leicht and Connor Stewart. Leicht is a member of the club that Goodwin works at, so the coach has seen the effort he puts in on a consistent basis. Stewart didn't start playing golf until he was 17, but has "progressed quickly" according to his head coach.

Women's team has new faces

Returning for a third season to coach the women will be Bri-ann Tokariwski. The Assistant Golf Professional at Elmurst Golf and Country Club will have a roster that returns some key members while adding valuable new blood as well.

Anchoring the team is third-year captain Marissa Naylor, the 2017 Manitoba Women's Amateur champion who was Manitoba's top finisher at three different events a year ago including a tie for first-place at the Jamestown Fall Invitational.

The two-sport star has also been one of Canada's best youth bowlers from the age of nine onwards. But this year, she will wrap the bowling side of things.

"It's nice, because I can finally prioritize golf a little bit more," she says. "Even though they're both equal sports and they feed off each other, I think that will definitely help come Canada West and Canadian University Championship time."

Naylor mentioned the Canada West Championships, which will take place between Oct 4-6 in Kelowna. It's the first year that the sport will be acknowledged at the conference level, which comes with its share of excitement.

"I feel like Canada West championships are different because it's not dealing with Golf Canada at all," says Naylor.

"Golf Canada tournaments can be a bit different in terms of ruling and that kind of stuff and they have a background of being strict on time. The vibe is just different. Canada West, we don't know what to expect. We're going in brand new and just taking it bull by the horns and whatever happens, happens which I think is a good thing because you kind of need a fresh look sometimes."

There are just two other golfers on the women's side with more than a year of experience at the university level, in fourth-year Brynn Todd and second-year Dayna Dubnicoff.

With the departure of key performer Veronica Vetesnik, who is off to Europe, Todd is the only other golfer aside from Naylor still left from the original squad that Tokariwski formed back in 2017. Additionally, Dubnicoff started coming into her own in 2018 and Naylor expects her to "shock a lot of people."

The rest of the roster is filled by four first-years, including Kate Gregoire, a multi-sport athlete from St. Mary's Academy who will also play for the women's hockey team. The other rookies are Mikayla Albert, Cora-Lynne Paré and McKyla Poponick.

"McKyla and Kate, they're coming out of juniors and they know how to hit the ball far, which is 100 percent what you need," Naylor says.

"In terms of the smaller, picky stuff I think that's what's going to be tuned up a little bit. That's where it came in for myself when I joined the team and why I think I've been so successful in university golf otherwise. It's the same thing for Brynn."

The men kicked off their 2019 fall season last weekend in Minnesota, with the first team finishing fourth and the second team seventh. The women kick start things on Sept. 9 in Bemidji.