By Canadian Press

All business: Savannah Grewal finishes NCAA women’s golf season as top Canadian

May 31, 2023 | 3:42 PM

Savannah Grewal has learned a lot in her time at Clemson University, especially how to put herself and her golf first.

Grewal, from Mississauga, Ont., finished 48th in the women’s individual category at this year’s NCAA Nationals. That is the best-ever finish by an individual in Clemson history and her plus-5 round ties the best round by a Clemson player at the U.S. collegiate championship.

“I feel like I’ve grown a lot over my four years at Clemson and just to see all that hard work coming together was really cool,” said Grewal. “I wish I could have played more with my team at the tournament itself, because we didn’t get to make it to the fourth round as a team. 

“But just to have them out there watching me that last round and to see how much my game has progressed, and how much I’ve grown as a person, was really cool.”

Grewal said that her progress has been as much about her personal development as it is evolving her game. When she arrived at Clemson as a freshman she says she was timid and shy, but now feels much more confident as she has adapted a businesslike approach to her playing.

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“At the end of the day, I’m the CEO of my own golf game. I have the most control out of everyone,” said Grewal. “There’s going to be a lot of people who surround me and their goal is also to help make me as successful as I can be so I need to be able to voice what I need to those people.”

Although the 22-year-old Grewal has completed four years of university, she intends to return to Clemson next fall since the COVID-19 pandemic impacted her education and robbed her of a few years of the normal university experience.

She finished the 2022-23 NCAA golf season as the top-ranked Canadian woman playing U.S. collegiate golf.

“I know there’s a lot of really good up-and-coming Canadians, so it’s cool to see that I’m able to start to fade out from my college career on top,” said Grewal. “It definitely makes me excited for the future. 

“One of my goals is to play in the Olympics, and I know that there’s only one or two spots, so hopefully I can continue on and one day represent Canada at the Olympics.”

GOLF CANADA TRAINING CAMP — Golf Canada held a mini training camp at Weston Golf and Country Club on Monday to show media, sponsors, and donors what kind of work the country’s top players put in to sharpen their skills. 

“The objective was to provide an insight for everybody into the sophistication and the professionalism that the coaching staff and the sports science staff bring to the table and for everybody to gain an appreciation for what is actually required,” said chief sport officer Kevin Blue. “You just saw little slivers of it today, right? But that’s what’s required to play at a world-class level.”

LPGA TOUR — Brooke Henderson of Smiths Falls, Ont., sits ninth in the LPGA Tour’s rankings heading into this week’s Mizuho Americas Open in Jersey City, N.J. Maddie Szeryk of London, Ont., and Maude-Aimee Leblanc of Sherbrooke, Que., will round out the Canadian contingent at Liberty National Golf Club.

EPSON TOUR — Selena Costabile of Thornhill, Ont., is the top ranked Canadian on the second-tier Epson Tour, sitting at No. 35 on the money list. She’ll be in the field at the inaugural Champions Fore Change Invitational when it tees off on Friday at Taberna Country Club. Hamilton’s Alena Sharp and Quebec City’s Sarah-Eve Rheaume will join Costabile in New Bern, N.C.

PGA TOUR — Corey Conners of Listowel, Ont., is 24th in the FedEx Cup standings after he took a week off. He’ll be back in action at The Memorial. Four other Canadians will join him at Muirfield Village Golf Club in Dublin, Ohio. Adam Svensson of Surrey, B.C., Mackenzie Hughes of Dundas, Ont., Adam Hadwin of Abbotsford, B.C., and Taylor Pendrith of Richmond Hill, Ont., are also in the field.

CHAMPIONS TOUR — Calgary’s Stephen Ames is holding steady at No. 4 in the Schwab Cup standings heading into the Principal Charity Classic, which tees off on Friday. He’ll be the lone Canadian in the field at the Wakonda Club in Des Moines, Iowa.

KORN FERRY TOUR — Edmonton’s Wil Bateman and Roger Sloan of Merritt, B.C., are in the UNC Health Championship at the Raleigh Country Club in North Carolina. Bateman is No. 33 in the second-tier tour’s points list and Sloan is 82nd.

LATINOAMERICA TOUR — Myles Creighton of Digby, N.S., and Vancouver’s Stuart Macdonald lead the Canadian contingent into the Inter Rapidisimo Golf Championship at Club el rincon de Cajica in Bogota, Colombia. They are ranked Nos. 16 and 17 respectively on the Totalplay Cup standings and have both been given sponsor exemptions into next week’s RBC Canadian Open. Joey Savoie of La Prairie, Que., Blair Bursey of Gander, N.L., and Max Sekulic of Rycroft, Alta., will join Creighton and Macdonald at the Inter Rapidisimo. 

This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 31, 2023.

John Chidley-Hill, The Canadian Press