Aidan Goodfellow had an impressive rookie year with the Simon Fraser University Clan golf team.
The former Kwalikum Secondary student is back home in Parksville and looking forward to working and also playing rounds of golf this summer.
The Clan’s season came to an end with a 12th-place finish at the NCAA Division II Men’s Golf West/South Central Regional that was held at the Ledges Golf Club in St. George, Utah, May 9-11.
Goodfellow was the top Simon Fraser and GNAC individual as he tied for 16th place on the leaderboard. The freshman climbed two spots with a 70 in the final round and ended with a 2-under-par 214 (75-69-70) over the tournament.
Goodfellow said he was happy with performance but feels a bit disappointed that their season ended.
“I just wanted to do my best,” said Goodfellow. “I wasn’t expecting much but I wasn’t surprised that I did well. I worked really hard on my game all year.”
It wasn’t easy honing his game, said Goodfellow, as he had to overcome a period during the winter months where he could not play golf due to the heavy snowfall in the region.
“The whole of February was basically all snow for us all over in Burnaby,” Goodfellow recalled. “So I didn’t really golf at all. I got one round of golf in all of February.”
Training was mostly done indoors and going to covered driving ranges but Goodfellow said it’s not the same as being out in course and playing.
“I was a bit cold when we hit our first tournament,” said Goodfellow.
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The one thing that has significantly helped Goodfellow, he said, is his teammates and coach who encouraged and motivated him. He regards them as an integral component of his golf development.
One facet of his game that Goodfellow felt he has improved greatly is his driving.
“I wasn’t driving particularly well,” said Goodfellow. “I have not worked on my driving a lot this winter. But I have gotten it back and it is probably one of the strongest part of my game.”
Goodfellow was named to the 2018-19 Great Northwest Athletic Conference Men’s Golf All-Conference Second All-Star Team. He peaked at the right time when he earned a share of second place at the Hanny Stanislaus Invite at the Turlock Golf and Country Club in Turlock, Calif., which Goodfellow said was his best-ever game he has played in his career and was one of the highlights of his rookie year.
“Having the team do well also was all good and a lot of fun,” said Goodfellow. “It did a lot of good for our team as well because we had a really shaky start in the spring in our first two tournaments. We had a lot of pressure on us to turn things around so we could play in the regional championships. I think that’s kind of the turning point for our team. It changed the vibes from negative to more and more positive thoughts.”
Following that performance, Goodfellow then posted a team-high fourth-place finish at the GNAC Championships, carding 71-75-69 for a three-round total of 215 (+2). That helped the Clan advance to the NCAA Division II Men’s Golf West/South Central Regional where they finished 12th overall.
Goodfellow said it was great experience as he was exposed to good competition and had the opportunity to meet some top golfers.
“It was cool,” said Goodfellow.
“I had learned a lot of what it’s like to be down there.”
This summer, Goodfellow, who is taking a communications course at SFU, will focus more on working with a landscaping company and will play golf whenever he can. He does plan to enter three tournaments before preparing for his sophomore year at SFU.