UVic Men, UBC women Capture Canadian University Championship Team Titles
UBC T'Birds Women's Golf Team (Top) & UVic Men's Squad (Bottom) - Image Credit/ (CHRISTIAN BENDER/GOLF CANADA)
By Brad Ziemer, British Columbia Golf
Justin Clews got to experience winning a national title as a player when he helped the University of Victoria Vikes win the inaugural Canadian University/College Golf Championship in 2003. Twenty years later, he got to experience it as a coach.
The Vikes men’s team won their fourth national title — and first since 2006 — in impressive fashion Friday, as they closed the 72-hole event at FireRock Golf Club in Komoka, Ont., with their best round of the week.
The Vikes were 10-under par in the fourth round and finished the tournament at 14-under, 13 shots better than second-place Laval. The University of B.C. won its sixth straight women’s title by a whopping 63 strokes.
“It’s my first national win as coach,” Clews said in a telephone interview. “It feels pretty good. It hasn’t totally set in.” Reminded about his win as a player, Clews chuckled. “To be honest I forgot about what year it was,” he said. “So it’s like a 20-year anniversary to the month. It’s pretty cool to do that.”
The Vikes were led by Liam Mosher, who finished second in the individual competition at nine-under par. Victoria had two other players — Zachary Ryujin (T4) and Robin Conlan (T7) — finish inside the top 10. Aiden Craig-Steele and Chase Basanta rounded out the Victoria team.
“It was a full team effort,” Clews said. “Everyone contributed at some point. Liam’s runner-up finish was terrific, he had a really good week. I knew the team we had here was going to be competitive and we had a little bit of motivation after not closing out the NAIA Championship that UBC won a couple of week ago. It was our turn this week.
“The guys deserve it, they work really hard, they were really motivated. It's a huge accomplishment for our program.” The national tourney was the final event for Conlin, Victoria’s team captain.
“I was really happy for Robin,” Clews said.
“He spoke on behalf of the team at the closing ceremony and he got a little emotional. He’s pretty hooked to his team and his teammates and it was fitting he was able to do that after our win.”
UBC’s women’s team win capped another remarkable season by the Thunderbirds, who last week won their second straight NAIA championship. The T-Bird women have now a total of 16 Canadian championships.
Sonja Tang led the way for UBC. The Victoria native won the individual title with a 72-hole score of four-under par. That was five shots better than teammates Elizabeth Labbé and Grace Bell, who tied for second. Bo Brown, the fourth member of the UBC team, tied for sixth.
“They played really well,” coach Chris Macdonald said of the UBC women. “To see Grace and Elizabeth, our captains, tie second and Sonja have such a solid event was great. She was just really good every day. The team showed amazing consistency.”
The Canadian championship was Tang’s final event for UBC. She is transferring this fall to the University of Oregon.
The men’s individual title was won by Jackson Jacob of the University of the Fraser Valley. The 21-year-old from Langley beat the field by eight shots with a score of 17-under par that was highlighted by a course record nine-under 63 in Thursday’s third round.
“I had a spectacular round yesterday, but today was a tough grind,” Jacob said of his three-under 69. “I am super proud I was able to finish with four rounds under par. That was a great accomplishment.”
Jacob said he and coach Aaron Pauls have been working hard on developing a game plan for each course he plays. “We have been working to find a way for me to work my way around the golf course that takes risk out of the equation and plays to my strengths, which is my ability to execute shots,” Jacob said.
“Coming to the team, I was a bit young and I was able to shoot low rounds, but I would also have higher rounds from taking unnecessary risks. Over the last three years we have been working to look at golf courses differently and find a way I can play the course to my strengths and still be aggressive but also take out some of that unnecessary risk.
"It has been a work in progress and this week we really matched up the game plan with the execution and I am super proud of the way I played so consistently.”
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CHIP SHOTS: UFV finished third in the men’s team competition. UBC tied for fourth with McMaster, while UBC-Okanagan was seventh. . .Victoria finished second in the women’s team competition, while UBC-Okanagan was third and UFV fifth.