Finding her swing; torn shoulder not slowing Bonogofski down

Ciara Bonogofski, a MHC Rattlers golf veteran, is practicing up ahead of her first trip to the CCAA National Championship in Oshawa, ON.

“Before, I would set the bar higher, but right now, since I’m only at 75%, I can’t expect that much,” she said. “Considering I haven’t been able to play the last two months.”

In August, the third-year Rattler partially tore her right rotator cuff due to excessive training and practice. An ironic repercussion of setting a strict goal to compete at Nationals this fall.

While many would opt out of the rest of the golf season, Bonogofski used it as a positive to work on other aspects of her game.

“The past two months, I’ve been doing a lot of putting drills, rehab, and focusing on my mental game which is something I’ve really struggled with before,” she said, noting she’s worked alongside head coach Trevor Moore consistently during this process. “That was beneficial actually to have that time off.”

More mentally strong, Bonogofski began deploying a plan to qualify, even if it meant not completing a single round in either ACAC regional tournament.

Bonogofski pulled out from the North Regional Tournament in mid-September due to the injury. One week later, at Desert Blume Golf Course for South Regionals, she hit a single tee-shot before withdrawing herself from play.

That single shot deemed enough to count as a round, earning her spot at the ACAC Provincial Championship at RedTail Landing south of Edmonton.

“I was about at 40% then and I knew I wouldn’t be able to play a full round,” she says. “Trevor wanted me to focus on important aspects and moving forward. He said ‘I’d rather you work on healing’.

“That just really helped me out, having Trevor support me through that.”

Two national qualifying spots are awarded at the ACAC Provinicial Championship. Bonogofski joined her teammates, Nicole Schultz and rookie Sierra Zukowksi, in poor weather conditions hoping to capture either gold or silver.

“It was not my usual game of golf, but unfortunately I just had to grind it out,” she continued. “I didn’t really focus on my shoulder, didn’t really focus on the gusts of wind, I just kind of focused on ‘okay hit this next shot… hit this next shot’.

“I kind of tuned out the pain and the wind, I just kind of communicated with Trevor, communicated with my playing partner. It was actually pretty awesome just to ignore (my shoulder) all in all.”

Bonogofski helped her team to a two-day total scored of 363; one stoke better than the Red Deer College Queens to capture silver, booking their tickets to the CCAA National Championship.

Through pain, anguish, uncertainty, and patience, she reached her goal of representing the Rattlers among the best golfers in Canada.

“Me and Trevor were outside, we were doing a little happy dance,” she smiled, recalling the feeling after she found out she qualified. “He said ‘you finally did it, you made your goal, even though it wasn’t the way we both saw that happening, you made it’.”

She’ll fly out to southern Ontario early Saturday morning with her team. They’ll spend a few days enjoying a part of the country she’s never been to, before teeing off at Royal Ashburn next Wednesday. But without Schultz and Zukowski’s help over the last few months, she says none of this would be possible.

“Honestly, I love those girls to death,” she added. “They are phenomenal teammates, they’ve been so supportive though my injury too, which has been really beneficial. They’ve always been there for me.”

After spending nearly two full months away from action, yet still earning her place at the National Championship, Bonogofski is making the most of a chilly October as she gets ready to step on the national stage for the first time.

by Mitch Bach

Finding her swing; torn shoulder not slowing Bonogofski down

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