After uncharacteristic struggles in the second week of PacWest league play, the University of the Fraser Valley golf teams got back on track in Week 3.
The Cascades men and women both emerged victorious at the Douglas College tournament at Kings Links in Delta, Sept. 27-28.
The UFV men combined for a two-day score of 574, outdistancing the UBC Okanagan Heat (581) and the Camosun Chargers (595). Aaron Pauls led the way, carding rounds of 67 and 72 to finish at five under par for the tourney, tied for top spot individually with Steven Hayes of the host Douglas Royals.
The victory enabled the Cascades men to expand their lead in the PacWest overall standings – with just one event to go (this weekend’s UBC Okanagan tourney in Kelowna), they have a 26-stroke cushion over Camosun for top spot. UFV is at 1,773 strokes through six competitive rounds, while Camosun is at 1,799.
In the overall individual competition, Matt Haddad of Vancouver Island University is the leader with a cumulative score of 433, but UFV’s Connor O’Dell (435), Zach Olson (437) and Pauls (441) are within striking distance.
“It was great to see the guys get back on track this past weekend,” said Cascades coach Chris Bertram said. “Once again we had really strong performances from Aaron Pauls, Connor O’Dell and Zach Olson. More importantly, the win at Kings Links gave us some breathing room in the conference chase heading into the final weekend at UBC-O.”
On the women’s side, the Cascades edged UBC Okanagan by a slender two-stroke margin, 320 to 322. That gives them a little more margin for error in the overall standings – they’re at 966 strokes for the season, 15 strokes better than UBC-O (981).
UFV’s Jen Woods (two-day total of 158) and Natasha MacKenzie (165) finished second and third, respectively, in the individual competition at King’s Links, behind Carolyn Lee of UBC Okanagan (156).
Woods and UFV teammate Kelley Dalzell are locked in a fantastic battle with Lee for the conference’s individual title – Woods leads at 484, one stroke up on Lee (485) and two strokes better than Dalzell (486).
“Once again the ladies pulled out a close one, and kept their winning streak alive,” Bertram said. “It was a real team effort this week, and nice to see Natasha step up and give us some good rounds when we really needed them.”
The UBC Okanagan tournament runs Oct. 4-5 at Okanagan Golf Club, and the Cascades will be seeking to defend their PacWest team titles on both the men’s and women’s sides. The following week, they’ll be heading to Quebec City for the CCAA National Championships.
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