Freddy ready for Ontario amateur
Freddy D’Angelo loved his first season of NCAA Division 1 scholarship golf with the Oakland University Golden Grizzlies in Rochester, Mich.
“College is a little different and you have to have a little more stamina because sometimes you play 36 holes in a day, but overall it was awesome,” said the 19-year-old former Fonthill resident and Lookout Point member. “You get a lot of good practice in, a lot of good coaching and you get that competitive nature.”
D’Angelo also visited the University of Texas at El Paso before deciding on Oakland.
“They had great coaching, good practice facilities, and the guys on the team seemed really awesome when I went for my visit.”
The Welland Notre Dame graduate, who is teeing it up starting Tuesday at the Ontario Men’s Amateur Championship at the Otter Creek Golf Club in Otterville, also made a smooth transition to being a student/athlete.
“It was a little bit challenging but there are a lot of people there to help you. There are academic advisors and the team and the coach are there to help you. You can definitely get through it if you just keep grinding.”
D’Angelo and his Oakland teammates played in four tournaments in the fall and he averaged 74.5 strokes per round to rank third best on the team. The squad also played two exhibition tournaments in the spring before the COVID-19 pandemic hit.
“I played a decent first year but not as good as I had hoped. I am happy with it.”
He is more than happy with how his game developed during his first season of scholarship golf.
“It helps when you are always golfing,” D’Angelo said. “Some of these guys are hitting the ball 330-340 yards and you have to catch up to them. They are hitting the ball miles and miles and just playing with these guys week in and week out really helps your game.”
“Everybody is such a very good player and you have to make sure you are on your A Game all the time.”
D’Angelo is scheduled to return to school in early September but the raging COVID-19 pandemic in the United States has him strongly considering not to head back for his sophomore season.
“The States is a little bad right now and I am afraid of going back there,” the London resident said. “I am worried about my health and I could still play a lot of golf here. I am trying to stay safe as best as I can.”
Last year’s 10th-place finisher at the Ontario amateur has a different perspective going into this week’s event.
“I feel great going into every tournament that I play but it is my first tournament of the season so I don’t have high expectations,” the former Team Ontario member said. “But obviously I am going there to win.”
The Ingersol Golf and Country Club member admits it won’t be easy.
“It is a little challenging and I have never experienced anything like this before but I feel that I have a pretty good game plan going into every event,” he said. “It is just practise, I have been to the range a bunch and I’ve been putting and sharpening up all my tools before the event.”
When the Ontario amateur is done, D’Angelo is planning to compete in a few Great Lakes Tour events. There are tournaments scheduled in Port Dover, Milton, Waterloo and a yet-to-be-determined course.
Other Niagara golfers who will tee it up at the Ontario amateur are: Grand Niagara’s R.J. Derhodge; Lookout Point’s Jaret Chipman, Luke DelGobbo and Jake Dupuis; Cherry Hill’s Nolan Piazza; Niagara-on-the-Lake native Jonathon Snook, who plays out of the Glendale Golf and Country Club; and, Brandon McGregor, Ben MacLean and Hayden Molen from the St. Catharines Golf and Country Club.
