It’s said that the only thing harder than winning a championship is defending it, and by that standard, what the University of the Fraser Valley golf teams accomplished on Sunday was extremely impressive.
At the conclusion of the final tournament of the PacWest conference golf season – hosted by UBC Okanagan in Kelowna – the Cascades men’s and women’s teams both found themselves atop the cumulative rankings.
It’s the second straight year that both UFV teams have won provincial gold, and the men’s streak of PacWest titles is now at three seasons and counting.
“It means a lot, because it seems to get harder and harder every year,” enthused UFV golf coach Chris Bertram. “The competition in our conference is so good, but we keep getting better every year and we fight tooth and nail to get it done. It’s a credit to our players, both on the men’s and women’s side.”
The Cascades men finished third at the UBC-O tournament, combining for a score of 603 to finish behind the host Heat (580) and the Camosun Chargers (595).
But that steady performance was more than enough to win – the UFV men held a 21-stroke lead on Camosun going into the finale, and they ended up winning the overall title by 13 strokes (2,381 to 2,394).
Chilliwack’s Aaron Pauls was the top Cascade on the weekend, finishing tied for sixth overall after carding rounds of 75 and 74.
VIU’s Matt Haddad won the overall individual championship with a total score of 580, but UFV showed its depth by placing three players in the top five. Connor O’Dell (586) was second, Zach Olson (588) was third, and Pauls took fifth (590).
Up next for the Cascades golf teams are the PING CCAA Golf National Championships, which run Oct. 14-17 in Quebec City. UFV is the defending champion on both the men’s and women’s sides.