The University of Victoria Vikes golf teams capped off the fall season in style on Tuesday at Cordova Bay Golf Course.
Both the UVic mens and womens squads were victorious in the team event at the Vikes Shootout, winning the Bobby Ford Trophy. Ford was a member at Uplands Golf Club for 77 years.
For the women, it was their fourth consecutive win, while it was the first for the men in the nine-year history of the event.
Both teams needed some wins to complete the fall season, said UVic coach Bryan Carbery. Both teams played solid to win the titles.
The UVic men, led by Jesse Terons 3-under 68, captured the team title with a three-round total of 879, three ahead of Concordia University of Portland.
Our first round was a little rough but we recovered and played better as a team, said UVic golfer Sam Holland. Jesses 68 really helped us in the team event and the rest of the team put together some solid efforts.
The other members on the UVic mens team were James Holland, Alex Cartwright and Matthew Broughton.
Jed Dalton from Concordia easily won the individual title with a three-round total of 206. Dalton started with a 1-over 72 but then ran away from the field with back-to-back 67s. He was 11 shots in front of Mike Belle from Simon Fraser.
After the first round, I was able to make some putts and that led to birdies, said Dalton. I have played at Cordova Bay for four years now and it is one of my favourite courses. This was my last time coming here and it was great to be able to play well and finish it off with a win.
After we had so much rain on Monday, the grounds crew here did a great job in getting it back into shape for our final round.
The UVic womens team of Megan Woodland, Emily Nicol, Brynn Tomie, Michaela Abey and Shannon Raina defeated Concordia by nine strokes for the crown.
Woodland, the current National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics champion, lost the individual title in a one-hole playoff against Sunshine Powers from Concordia. Woodland had rounds of 75 and 73, while Powers shot a 76 and a 72.
After my tee shot on the playoff hole, I was 139 yards from the pin, said Powers. I decided to power an 8-iron and my heart was racing when I hit it.
Her approach shot was a thing of beauty, stopping about 10 feet from the pin. Woodland was in the middle of the fairway with her drive and a little closer than Powers but her approach shot came up short, leaving a long, tricky putt. Woodland left her putt about four feet away from the hole while Powers drained the birdie putt for the win.
I had a downhill putt with a little bit of movement, said Powers. I aimed for the right edge of the cup and it went in. I didnt want to be short on that putt because I would have been giving away the hole.
At last years Canadian University/College Golf Championships at Cordova Bay, Woodland lost the individual title to Devon Rizzo from Waterloo in a three-hole playoff.
She [Sunshine] made a great second shot and I knew that she would sink that putt, said Woodland. Im a little bit disappointed with my round as I was
3-under at one point before running into trouble on a couple of holes.
Im really proud of our team as we found a way to grind out some good scores.
