By Shane Donaldson
Associate Athletic Director, Communication and New Media

KINGSTON, R.I. - Josiah Tong was a highly accomplished athlete on the international stage before he ever took his first swing for Rhode Island. But it was not in golf, the sport where he has led the Rams to back-to-back national postseason appearances in each of the last two seasons.

A native of Alberta, Canada, Tong was a renowned badminton player. He was a national team level player, competing internationally. Then the COVID pandemic changed life as we knew it, and Tong found himself looking for a new challenge. That challenge came in the form of golf.

"One thing we could still do was golf, so I really took it up then," Tong said. "That summer, I went from shooting 102 in my first tournament to even (par) by the end of the summer. It was a pretty dramatic improvement, which I wasn't expecting. That really jump-started me into golf.

"In golf, there are certain specific physical dimensions that you have to have. My athleticism from badminton really helped my transition into golf in terms of hand-eye coordination, fast-twitch muscle and that sort of stuff. But good golfers come in all shapes and sizes."

Because school was largely online due to COVID early in his high school career, Tong was able to spend a lot of time in Florida, playing and honing his craft. Even when school returned to in-person, Tong missed about 50 percent of his Fall semesters those two years while traveling for competition.

Though he proved to be a quick study in the sport, Tong was a bit behind the eight ball when it came to the recruiting process. Besides being from western Canada - an often-overlooked area in terms of college recruiting - nobody in has family had been through the process before. When Tong made the decision to pursue college golf, it was October of 2022, and half if his class had already long been committed.

Despite the late start, he had options. One place continued to emerge for Tong. Head coach Gregg Burke and the Rhode Island Rams proved to be the right fit for Tong, despite being a 42-hour drive from home.  

"Coach Burke hates it when I say this, but before I started the recruiting process at all, I couldn't point out Rhode Island on a map," Tong said with a laugh. "I grew up in western Canada and had lived there my whole life. I had never been to New England before, never mind Rhode Island. So it was not even a consideration when I first started playing golf. Actually, college golf wasn't even a consideration when I first started playing."

A Dean's List student in Business Management, Tong has always fared well academically.

"I went to private school my whole life, which kind of fine-tuned me on the academic side," Tong said. "When I looked at the Canadian schools I got into, it would have been a good experience, but it would not have been a particularly unique experience. Did I want to go down the familiar, easy path? I know Toronto. I've been there before. It would have been easier for me to go there, do it and move on with life.

"Or, I could try something different, become a student-athlete and put my foot somewhere far out the door and see where I could go. When I realized I wanted to try playing collegiate golf, there was a lot of ambiguity there. It was nerve-racking, especially going through a recruiting process I'd never gone through before. Some things changed later in the recruiting process, and Rhode Island emerged as the right fit.



"The stereotypes of college here, for someone coming out of Canada, were the big football games, big facilities, big campus, big community. I wanted all of that. The other places I was looking at were either developing state schools or small, private institutions. I wanted the full college experience with access to everything. Smaller institutions are great, but you don't get access to the same type of facilities that you do at a state school like URI. That played a big role."

The team also played a big role. Tong saw the competitive program Burke had built. He wanted the challenge of playing for a winning program, and Rhody has won 11 team titles in 39 tournaments during Tong's career. Each of the last two years, the Rams qualified for the National Golf Invitational, finishing in third place last season.

"Our team, especially these last couple years, has been one of the longest, if not the longest (off the tee) in the NCAA. Everyone on the team hit with at least 180-miles-per-hour ball speed, which is sort of unheard of. We had guys hitting in the high 180s and nearly 190.

"I thought I hit the ball far coming out of high school. Then I got here and I was like, 'Oh, I do NOT hit it far. These people are on a different level.' It goes back to being athletic. I am a taller guy, so I can leverage my swing more in terms of speed. I don't do it as well as I should, as well as others guys do, but I am happy with the spot I am in."

He has been a fixture in the lineup for four years, and has the respect of everyone in the program. Tong is the team captain this year after serving as assistant captain last season.  

"Rhode Island fit everything that I was looking for. I told myself when I was coming to play college golf, academics was no longer the primary focus. I knew I could go and do that part whenever I needed to," Tong said. "The focus for me, if I was coming to the U.S., was to play college golf. Once I came to that realization, it narrowed my focus on Rhode Island.

"The coaches have been instrumental to our success. Coach Burke has done so much from a recruiting aspect, as well as the fundraising he does on our behalf. Those are the things that really build a program. Coach Brandon Gillis, you talk about the things that people don't see. It's him being in the hitting barn with us at 8 in the morning or 10 o'clock at night. It's him doing everything he can to do the things that allow us to be successful. Without them and the work they put in to position us, I can't imagine what it would look like."

Still, there is a lot that goes into being a college athlete that most people don't see. While Tong's father Timothy has been able to travel to see him compete regularly, his mother Barbara has never been to the campus. She and Tong's younger brother Solomon got to see him play for URI once during his freshman season, but the distance and cost of travel makes it difficult.   

"I am from just outside of Calgary. I drive my car there and back each year, and it's a 42-hour drive," Tong said. "If I were to fly, it's a full day of flying. It's not close. My freshman and sophomore year, I didn't go back home at all during the school year. Last year I was able to go home for about a week during Christmas, but that's it. My family is very supportive and always has been, but I'm never home. This is my home now. It's fun to have these different experiences, and I am really, really grateful for them."