LEVIS, Que. -
Kristi Godkin delivered a resilient opening round Tuesday, shooting even-par 72 to sit tied for second at the 2026 Canadian University Championship at Golf La Tempête in Levis, Quebec.
The fifth-year captain from Orleans, Ont., heads into Wednesday's second round tied with UBC's Katherine Hao, trailing only Hao's teammate Keira Hou, who leads the field at 1-under after the opening round.
Godkin's round featured both adversity and momentum swings. She opened with a double-bogey on her second hole but quickly responded with a birdie at the par-3 fourth. After adding two more bogeys across the closing stretch of the front nine, she surged into contention on the back nine.
She recorded an eagle on the par-5 10th hole, followed by a bogey at 11 before carding a birdie on the par-3 12th. Godkin capped her round with another birdie on the 18th to climb into a share of second place.
It was a disappointing day on the men's side, as the OUA champion Golden Hawks opened the tournament in 14th place at 15-over par.
Dayton Price and
Matthew Whitehead led Laurier's efforts with matching rounds of 1-over 73. Price rebounded from an early double-bogey on his fourth hole to post a team-high four birdies, while Whitehead continued his steady play on the national stage.
Patrick Holloway, competing in his first national championship, added a 2-over round in a strong debut showing.
Adam Brenton carded an 8-over round, while team captain
Conor Gaudet battled through illness to finish at 9-over 81. Under tournament scoring rules, only the top four individual rounds count toward the team total, meaning Gaudet's score was excluded from Laurier's combined score.
The Golden Hawks will look to close the gap on the leaderboard as play continues Wednesday, with teams positioning themselves among the top nine in order to make the cut following the third round.
Laurier Golden Hawks tee times - Round 2 (ET)
