Ravens hire Dave McBain to lead golf program

The Carleton Department of Recreation and Athletics is pleased to announce the hiring of Dave McBain as the new head coach of Ravens golf ahead of the 2017-18 season.

McBain, who has been with the Ravens golf program since 2013, previously acted as the team's mental strength coach and a mentor to student-athletes. McBain will replace Andrew Donaldson at the helm of the varsity golf team.

"Although I have huge shoes to fill after Andrew's departure, I'm really excited to tackle the challenge of providing our players with the best university golf experience available in Canada," said McBain. "Like all coaches in Canada, my goal is to improve our competitiveness nationally, while ensuring the program is sustainable."

While McBain is highly motivated to take the reins of the program, he took time to offer praise to his former colleague, Donaldson, who has moved on to pursue a professional opportunity in Toronto.

"Andrew Donaldson brought experience, leadership and passion to our program for the past 12 years, and all the players he helped have benefitted immensely."

With strong bonds already forged with the current corps of Ravens golfers, McBain is thrilled to continue his work at Carleton this fall.

"The team has made great strides in the last five years and I want to continue ensuring that we identify the best players studying or considering studies at Carleton, provide them with a positive atmosphere so they can be their best, and create as many opportunities as we can to compete provincially, nationally and internationally," he said. "Following the graduation of key players over the last couple of years, a real focus this year is re-building our women's program."

McBain, an advocate of emerging golf technologies, will implement the cutting-edge BodiTrak golf system into training sessions this season, which will provide analytics as well as biofeedback training to the team's student-athletes.

"I'm really pleased to announce that BodiTrak Sports has gifted a "pressure mat" to the Carleton Ravens golf program," said McBain. "This mat is state-of-the-art technology that will allow our players to better understand their swing biomechanics and train to optimize their balance, tempo and power. Being fully portable, it's an ideal addition to our suite of golf training analytics and aids. The team would like thank John Thorp from BodiTrak Sports."

An alumnus of Carleton University, and one of two student-athletes to be awarded the first Sports Canada scholarships ever offered for golf in 1971, McBain also serves as the coordinator for the National Junior Golf Development Centre at the Marshes Golf Club in Kanata, ON.

Source: Carleton Ravens