VANCOUVER – The UBC Thunderbirds men's golf team are Golf Canada champions for the seventh time in program history, securing an eight stroke team victory to secure the Canadian University title at Quebec's Chateau Bromont Saturday afternoon.
Led by
Aidan Schumer who won the individual title with a one-under par 71 in his final round, the T-Birds collectively shot five-over par on Saturday for a four-round total of seven-under, the only team to finish in the red through 72 holes.
Appropriately, the course played it's toughest on Saturday, but the T-Birds were still the best team on the course on the final day as Laval shot a +7 in their final round.
Schumer's 71 ensured a two stroke victory at -11 for the tournament as the freshman was the only golfer to complete every round under par. His even-par 36 back nine Saturday featured an eagle on the par-four 10
th hole.
Fellow Thunderbirds rookie
Russell Howlett shot a two-over 74 in his final round, moving up one spot to finish ninth overall at +2 for the tournament.
Mackenzie Bickell's one-over 73 on Saturday moved him up nine spots on the leaderboard, finishing the championship tied with three others for 11
th overall, including teammate
Ethan de Graaf whose final round 75 equalled his score from Friday.
Dylan MacDonald rounded out the T-Birds contingent with a five-over par 77 in his final round, good for a share of 17
th.
While it was a tremendous week in Quebec for the Thunderbirds, the tournament was a boon for the Canada West as a whole with the Victoria Vikes claiming third place and the Fraser Valley Cascades finishing fourth, a testament to the strength of the conference.
The victory allows UBC to finish their 2021-22 season on a high, a year that saw the team also claim the Canada West and Cascade Collegiate Conference titles along with several other tournaments on both sides of the border.
Clinching the program's fifth Golf Canada Championship in the last decade with four of the team's five competitors in their first season with the blue and gold certainly bodes well for what's expected to be continued success for one of the country's premiere programs.
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