Two Years, Two Straight Titles For Vikes Men At Vikes Golf Shootout, UBC T-Birds Second
The Host UVic Vikes Defended Their Team Title At The Vikes Golf Shootout Beating Out A Powerful UBC T'Birds Squad - Image Credit Liane Funk/UVic Athletics
VICTORIA – Two days of rain couldn't put a damper on a strong tournament for the men's golf team, as the UVic Vikes picked up their second straight victory at the Vikes Golf Shootout October 18th. The individual champion was UBC's Evan Holmes, whose T-Birds came in 2nd to their rivals from Vancouver Island.
Holmes opened the event with a 5-under 66 before finishing with a 3-under 68. His final result of 8-under 134 was six shots better than Craig Bokenfor from the University of Alberta while the Vikes' Andrew Funk, who entered as the two-time defending champion at the tournament, shot two solid rounds to finish tied for third with teammates Bruce Tomie and Lawren Rowe.
Funk, Tomie and Rowe all finished with one-under-par 141's.
"The guys are really meshing well - Lawren and Andrew and Bruce have been consistent to say the least this year," said Vikes head coach Justin Clews. "They're making themselves easy to take to every event if they keep playing this year."
"I'd say the course was playing three or four or five shots harder today [because of the weather]," said Clews. "Credit to Holmes, those scores were pretty remarkable here and he should be acknowledged for those scores here and the course set up."
The win helped lift a burden off UVic's back. This was a team that opened the year with a win at the Coastal Collegiate Classic, but that wasn't against UBC. The Thunderbird men have been unstoppable in 2016 but couldn't put together the team effort needed to win.
"We kind of looked at them as one of the elite teams to beat and now we're half the time beating them instead of one-third the time," said Clews. "I think with our performance this week they now realize that we can contend with them quite easily."
The Vikes had a four shot lead heading into Day 2 and didn't let up, adding five shots to that total. All four of UVic's scorers finished in the top six, rounded out by rookie Jacob Hayes. Fifth player Mike Griffin also finished in the top 20, shooting an eight-over-par 150 to finish in 16th.
"If we're dropping a 73 or 74 or 75 as our high score that usually equates to a top five finish in every event because you're going to be around par with the other guys," said Clews of his team's depth.