By Mitch Bach

‘Mentally we just have to ignore it’: Rattlers Bonogofski bracing for chilly nationals

Oct 5, 2018 | 5:01 PM

MEDICINE HAT, AB — Ciara Bonogofski isn’t letting a little cold weather get in her way.

The fourth-year MHC Rattlers golfer battled through relentless playing conditions to help her team to an ACAC Provincial Championship at Alberta Springs GC near Red Deer last weekend.

“On Saturday, it started to snow horizontally,” said Bonogofski, who will tee off in her second CCAA National Golf Championships from Oct. 15-19 at Desert Blume GC. “The wind was terrible. Then on Sunday it was very, very cold and the wind also was very strong.”

Despite dealing with Mother Nature’s tenacious wrath, the Rattlers were able to muster a two-stroke victory over the host Red Deer College Queens, hoisting their second provincial title in three years. Fellow teammate Becky Martin carded two impressive rounds of 74-76 to easily win the individual title; her second as a Rattler.

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“It’s really rewarding,” added Bonogofski. “It shows that we can still bond together and work as a team and stick through it.”

The nursing student’s first provincial team title came in 2016 alongside Martin, then-rookie Nicole Schultz, and Danielle Blackmer.

Blackmer has since graduated from the college, and the Rattlers added Sierra Zukowski to the fold while Schultz is now in her third year with the team.

“This year has been amazing,” continued Bonogofski, noting they’re all great friends on and off the course. “This has been our tightest team ever, and we’re really getting along well together.”

The Rattlers have an automatic berth into the CCAA National Golf Championships as hosts, but proved they deserve to be there in winning provincials. They’re also one of the favourites to take home the national banner, consistently ranked inside the CCAA’s top three best teams throughout the season.

With temperatures routinely dipping below zero degrees, it presents an added challenge for those teeing it up.

But Bonogofski doesn’t see it that way.

“You really separate the playing field (with cold weather),” she said. “Our team is a team that doesn’t let the weather affect us. Mentally we just have to ignore it, move passed it. We’re all playing in that terrible weather and we’re all going to have those terrible conditions, so just move passed it and play your own game.”