With a veteran men's golf roster that returns ten of 11 players from 2021, optimism is high as the 2022 university season kicks off this weekend with the Augsburg Invitational in Minnesota. 

A quartet of Bisons who showed well at the conference championship a year ago are back and better than ever, led by fifth-years Cameron McIntyre, Connor Stewart and Stefan Lavallee. Third-year Cole Peters, another CanWest veteran who's referred to as the team dad, adds further stability to the core group. 

Fellow returnees such as Nic Fanning, a cerebral player who can hit the ball well from anywhere, Trent Robertson, a self-taught golfer whose play on the green is top-notch and Brent Ingram, who placed third in the Nott AutoCorp Men's Amateur this summer, add depth to a team that's gunning for it all in 2022. 

Chemistry a major factor 
For as much talent as they have, it's their chemistry that'll do wonders this year. There's no egos in the group, most of whom play together during the summer at Niakwa Golf and Country Club. Fanning has also caddied for Robertson in the past, when the former was injured. 

"Niakwa has been pretty big. At first I was the only Bison there, and now, over the last two years almost half the team plays there now," said Robertson, a native of South Africa whose circle of friends has been molded by his golfing endeavours. 

"It's very cool to be checking in on one another and be playing a lot of golf together and helping each other. It's sort of one big family at times. It feels like home now, because I can go out with a different teammate and meet different people. It's been very cool for me."

Robertson and Lavallee – who can absolutely blast it off the tee and was voted by his teammates to be the most likely to hit a hole in one – also battled it out at the Niakwa Club Championships last year over three days. The best friends went five extra holes to determine a winner, adding to the plethora of memories that the team has made both in and out of season. 

"We have so much fun with one another. We understand each other so well, and everyone has a different playing style," noted Lavallee, who has the potential to be a top-ten player during the team's four university events. 

"[Connor] Stewart is an aggressive player. He can make putts and we know he can go low. I'm more of a conservative golfer. I like to place my shots on the fairway and get myself yardages that I'm comfortable with. Trent is an extremely good putter, we have Cole who is very well-rounded and a smart player with experience as one of the oldest players on the team. We have a lot of guys with experience and with different styles of golf games. I think that makes us a team that's a little underrated, but we can produce scores that can win tournaments."

Starting the season off at the Augsburg Invitational from September 3-4 will be Lavallee, Peters, Stewart – who has made unbelievable strides after only picking up the sport when he was 17 – Ingram, Jordan McDonald, Lachlan Allerton and Derek Benson. 

The team has been to Augsburg before, and have players that've done well, including Lavallee, McIntyre and Stewart, all of whom finished in the top 20 in 2019. The Bisons' 'A' team, which included Lavallee and McIntyre finished fourth overall on a course that can be challenging due to not being able to hit with a driver on certain holes. 

After Augsburg is the St. John's Invitational, also in Minnesota, followed by the Twin Cities Classic in Elk River and the Canada West Championships from October 3-4, with the course and details still to be determined. 

Manitoba's depth will be critical at every event, with both their A and B teams capable of putting up low scores. With their accuracy, power and experience at big matches in the past, the sky is the limit. 

"I think that all of us are very good off of the tee. We have more than a few guys on our team that can really get it out there. That's definitely intimidating for other guys to see," said Fanning. 

"I think that we were so close last year. We just had one missing piece. The way that the scoring is set up, we were just so close all the time. I think that this year if we could have a solid top five, we for sure have a chance at CanWest."