UBC Women Win Another NAIA Championship As Jessica Ng Claims Individual Title Tor T'Birds
UBC Women's Team Celebrate The NAIA Championship - Image Credit: Jaime Crawford/JC Sports Photography
By Brad Ziemer, British Columbia Golf
(May 16, 2025) - In what was a last hurrah of sorts for four departing seniors, the University of B.C. women’s golf team won another NAIA national championship.
The No. 1-ranked Thunderbirds lived up to their billing as they won going away, topping second-place Keiser University by 24 shots.
UBC was led by third-year Jessica Ng of Vancouver, who won the individual title with a 72-hole score of five-under par.
Senior Una Chou of San Diego closed the tournament with a sensational six-under 66 to finish solo fourth.
The T-Birds led from start to finish and completed the event at Eagle Crest Golf Club in Ypsilanti, Mich., with a team score of 17-over par. It is the third national championship for Chou, Grace Bell of Calgary, Bo Brown of Mississauga and Elizabeth Labbe of Quebec City, who are in their final year of eligibility. They will wrap up their collegiate careers at next month’s Canadian University/College Championships at Rivershore Golf Links in Kamloops.
“I am just so happy for the four of them to get another championship in their graduating year,” said longtime UBC coach Chris Macdonald. “Keiser got us last year and to come back and win this one it’s a really nice way to add some memories to their careers. Three out of four years they won the U.S. championship. They are definitely our most successful team.”
This championship comes after another solid season, which saw the T-Birds compete well in a number of NCAA Division I and II events and once again dominate their Cascade Conference championship tourney. “They have a lot of skill,” Macdonald said of his squad.
“They are different people, they are very respectful of each other. Outside the golf, they really do their own thing, they are interested academically in different things. But they really come together on the course. If you look at our record with these women the last four years, you see different winners at different times.
"To me that says they are supporting each other, they respect each other, they are willing to play for each other. They have always performed. I think at the end of the day they are just a very skilled group for a NAIA team.”
Individual Title Winner Jessica Ng - Image Credit: Jaime Crawford/JC Sports Photography
Ng won the individual title by three shots and acknowledged battling some nerves in the latter stages of the final round. “It was definitely getting to me the final few holes,” she said. “I didn’t even check the leaderboard until just before my tee shot on 18 because I just didn’t want to know until then. It was definitely a grind. I was really nervous on the last hole, but I got it together.”
Ng was delighted to win the team title with the four teammates who are finishing their collegiate careers. “The four seniors graduating have been so good to be on a team with, so it is special to win again with them. They have become some of my best friends, sisters, people I definitely look up to and they inspire me.”
Chou recorded the round of the week with her six-under 66 and said this national title has some special meaning as she and three of her teammates wrap up their collegiate golf careers. “This one was definitely a little bittersweet,” Chou said. “I think we all cried a little knowing this was like our last ride. I think we did a really good job this week of handling those emotions and playing well.”
Chou credited sharp iron play with helping her match her career-best competitive round. “I was able to stick many of my approach shots to inside 15 feet so I had a chance to go at it,” she said. “When Una gets in that zone she is a unique player,” Macdonald added. “We haven’t had many players like her in our program’s history. When she gets into good tempo, especially with short irons, you almost expect her to hit it to tap-in range.”
The only disappointing part of the day for Chou was the 18th hole, which she bogeyed. “I really wanted that bogey-free round,” she said with a chuckle. “And it would have been my career-best round.”
The win in Michigan was the eighth national championship in program history for the UBC women’s team. The UBC men, currently ranked 10th, play in the NAIA men’s national championship May 20-23 at TPC Deere Run in Silvas, Ill.