HENDERSON, Nev. – The UBC Thunderbirds golf teams both earned their first victories of 2024 in a combined sweep of the RMC Intercollegiate at Reflection Bay Golf Club, hosted by Rocky Mountain College.
For the women's team, the result never appeared in doubt. NAIA No.1-ranked UBC led from start to finish, firing a combined +29 (300-294-299) to win the event by a whopping 36 strokes over second place OUAZ, and end at least 47 strokes ahead of the rest of the eight-team field.
Bo Brown took home medalist honours, shooting even par (71-73-72) to finish first in the event by two strokes.
Una Chou +8 (78-73-73) was alone in fourth, while
Jessica Ng +9 (72-74-79) was alone in fifth; all five T-Bird women finished 11
th or better in the dominant showing.
FULL WOMEN'S LEADERBOARD
The men ultimately earned the same result, but it certainly did not come nearly as easily. Following a scoring correction late on day one, the NAIA No.5-ranked 'Birds + 5 (290-291) sat third heading into the final round on Wednesday, one stroke behind host RMC +4 (286-294) and six behind NAIA No.3-ranked OUAZ -1 (287-288).
UBC then showed their quality on the final 18, posting the best total of the day with a +3 (291) to leapfrog RMC +7 (295) and tie OUAZ +9 (297), forcing a two-team playoff.
All five golfers from each school had to replay the difficult 18
th hole, a 429-yard par four with a right-to-left dogleg where golfers risk the waters of Lake Las Vegas by cutting the corner, but also have little room to miss right without going out of bounds. Further adding to the challenge, UBC had shot a combined +5 on that hole over the course of the tournament whereas OUAZ was a combined +1, with no Spirit golfer even bogeying it since the first round.
'Birds captain
Mackenzie Bickell stepped up to the tee first and smacked a 300+ yard drive down the middle of the fairway, setting the tone for his team. All four other Thunderbirds then managed to keep their drives inbounds. OUAZ did not fair as well, as one Spirit golfer found the water and was forced to take a penalty drop.
With the pin in a tricky spot at the back of the green, UBC struggled to snug in their approach shots, with Bickell again leading the way by dropping his within 15 feet of the cup. OUAZ produced a similar result, spraying their approaches in the area but not leaving themselves with any prime birdie opportunities.
The two sides went stroke for stroke with their putters, two-putts all around save for one player on each team who went for three. That meant that the penalty stroke off the tee proved to be the difference, as OUAZ had three pars and two bogeys for a combined +2 while UBC's four pars and one bogey was good for +1 and a hard-earned victory on the tournament's 55
th hole.
Bickell, the day one leader, was one stroke off of joining Brown as a medalist, settling for second after carding a spectacular -6 (70-68-72). With him in the top 10 was
Dylan MacDonald, coming in eighth at +3 (71-76-72). All five T-Birds finished in the top half of the 46-player field.
In all, the men's side shot a combined +8 (290-291-291) for the win, edging out OUAZ at +8 (287-288-297) and RMC at +11 (286-294-295) while finishing far ahead of the other six teams in the tournament.
FULL MEN'S LEADERBOARD
Next up for UBC Golf is another non-conference tournament for the men, as they will attend the nearby Seattle U Redhawk Invitational at Chambers Bay Golf Course in University Place, Washington on April 1-2. Then both teams participate in their penultimate Cascade Conference event this season at the Warrior Invitational hosted by Lewis-Clark State College (Idaho) at the Lewiston Golf & Country Club April 15-16.
