KOMOKA, Ont. - It didn't take long for Aaron Petro to shake off the rust.

Having started playing golf again only two years ago after growing up playing the course at Puslinch Golf Course, the student-athlete from Cambridge, Ont. finds himself competing in his first Canadian University Championship. It will be his only one too, as he is set to complete his master's degree before pursuing a career in teaching.

"It's great to soak all this in," said Petro after Thursday's third round. "The (student-athletes) here are really good and deserve to be here. It's cool to be among them."

Petro found his attention turning away from the game for several reasons. With his older brother Jonathan coming home after his academic pursuits, the 24-year-old admitted that a return to the sport "was kind of our time to spend together."

"Every time we play, it's always us playing together. So yeah, it's always fun to have a best friend like that," he said, describing their sibling rivalry as "very competitive but a very loving one". 

"When we play, we want to beat each other. But we push each other to be better and I think that's what helped us, especially with him being a teaching pro now."

In terms of his journey, Petro completed his undergrad at Laurier before moving on to Queen's for his teaching degree. Back for a year at the Golden Hawks' campus, Petro made the team despite not being confident he'd make the cut.
 

"I didn't expect to play in any tournaments even if I did make it, so the fact that I was fortunate enough to play in multiple and then qualify for now, it's just a massive bonus. This is this extra time that I'm grateful for."

With his elder sibling and dad in tow on Thursday, Petro used the extra support to navigate the long, dry, and hot course at FireRock impressively to post his best score so far - an even-par, 72. His round included two bogeys in his first nine holes, but he settled in to make three birdies with only one bogey on his scorecard in his last seven holes for a 34 on the back-nine.

"I just try to keep calm," Petro said of his approach to the game, which he will take into Friday's final round with the Golden Hawks on the fringes of a top-five finish. "If I make a bogey, that's OK. Just try to get it back at the next hole and relax out there. At the end of the day, it's just a game of golf."
 

Round Three Results:

MEN

TEAM:

6. Laurier 285 (+10)
 

INDIVIDUAL:

T7. Conor Gaudet 215 (-2), T14. Matthew Whitehead 216 (+1), T20. Jonathan Cramton 219 (+3), T38. Aaron Petro 226 (+11), T50. Julian Crupi 231 (+13)