The University of the Fraser Valley men’s golf team continued its early-season roll, crushing the field at the UBC Okanagan Invitational in Kelowna on the weekend.
Playing at Okanagan Golf Club, the Cascades finished with a two-day total of 568 – 17 strokes better than the runners-up, the host UBC Okanagan Heat (585).
Individually, Wyatt Brook of the Vancouver Island University Mariners took first place, opening a four-stroke lead after firing a 64 on Saturday and hanging on after carding a 72 on Sunday. But Cascades golfers finished second, third and fourth overall: Daniel Campbell (68-70=138), Kyle Claggett (71-68-139) and Zach Olson (71-69=140) led the charge for the team champs. UFV’s Cody Stewart (77-74=151) tied for 12th, while Ben Whiton (81-78=159) tied for 23rd.
Victories have been standard fare for this core group of Cascades, which won the PACWEST, CCAA, and Canadian University/College titles last season, and won the 2018-19 season-opening Langara Invitational last week. But their degree of difficulty was a bit higher this week – they were unable to play a practice round at Okanagan Golf Club due to the fact they were hosting the Nick Taylor Charity Pro-Am last Thursday and Friday.
But in the end, it mattered little for the No. 1-ranked team in the Canadian Collegiate Athletic Association.
“The team played really well,” noted head coach Chris Bertram, whose squad is on a five-tournament win streak in PACWEST play dating back to last season. “We drove in a little bit last-minute, but fortunately all our players knew the golf course. We got in a good work session Saturday morning, and it seemed to pay off.
“We played a solid round on Saturday, but on Sunday we played exceptionally well. Some bad weather blew in on the last few holes on Sunday, but we were able to close it out.”
The Cascades are off this week, before returning to action Sept. 29-30 as they host the UFV Invitational at Chilliwack Golf Club.
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