The UFV Cascades golf teams triumphed by every metric last weekend at the Kwantlen Polytechnic University Invitational tournament, winning the men’s team gold, women’s team gold, individual men’s gold, silver, and bronze, as well as the individual women’s gold and silver. The victory extends the men’s team’s winning streak to five PACWEST tournaments stretching back to October 2012, while the women’s team has yet to suffer a conference loss in the two-year history of the program.
The KPU Invitational took place at the Northview Golf and Country Club in Surrey, and was attended by varsity athletes from UFV, VIU, UBCO, KPU, Camosun College, and Douglas College. The tournament was the first of four that will constitute the PACWEST golf season, and the victory was UFV Golf’s first step towards repeating as PACWEST and CCAA champions.
Connor O’Dell
On the men’s side, Connor O’Dell played his way to a first-place individual finish, tallying 135 (9 under) over the two-day tournament. O’Dell has now won the last two PACWEST events he has played in (stretching back to last season). He narrowly edged out Cascades Zachary Olson (140) and Aaron Pauls (141), who took second and third respectively. The UFV team set a program record by shooting a combined 14 under on the second day of the tournament.
Kelley Dalzell
The UFV women competed without last year’s PACWEST Female Golfer of the Year and CCAA All-Canadian Dani Shap (who is pursuing a professional golfing career), yet still dominated the field. Second-year Cascade Kelley Dalzell picked up the first gold of her career, shooting a combined 157. Teammate Jen Woods finished two back at 159 to grab second place, leaving the women’s bronze as the only podium position not claimed by UFV during the tournament. The UFV women’s team finished a full ten strokes ahead of their nearest competitors, the UBCO Heat.
“We worked really hard preparing for this first event, and it was nice to see that work pay off,” said Cascades coach Chris Bertram. “The competition in PACWEST has gotten better once again this year, so we are going to need to keep working hard in the weeks ahead.”
The UFV golf teams will hit the links again next weekend (Sept 13-14) at the 2nd PACWEST Invitational hosted by VIU.
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