BURNABY, B.C. – The UBC Thunderbirds (899, +35) held off a final round charge from tournament host Simon Fraser University Red Leafs (903, +39) to win the 2024 True North Classic by four strokes.
The T-Birds held the lead for most of the three round event, but the Red Leafs were never far behind. UBC was up by five strokes after the first round, then the lead was cut to three by the end of round two, before the Red Leafs briefly took first place more than halfway through Tuesday's final round. In the last few holes the 'Birds stormed back, taking a late lead and eventually winning their second consecutive tournament to begin the 2024-25 season.
UBC and SFU finished well ahead of the rest of the field, with third-place UBC Okanagan (931, +67) more than 30 strokes off of the T-Birds' pace.
Individually, the blue and gold had two of the top three in the 65-player field as well as, counting UBC athletes who entered as individuals, six within the first 11.
Grace Bell (+4) was the top T-Bird as runner-up at the event, finishing five strokes behind medalist Julia Alexander-Carew (-1) of the UBCO Heat. UBC's
Bo Brown (+7) rounded out the podium with a third-place finish.
Amid plenty of impressive performances, the highlight of the tournament came from a first-year, competing in her first ever event as a Thunderbird.
During the second round, 18-year-old
Sienna Harder stepped up the 11
th tee, hit a clean shot with her eight iron and watched in amazement as the ball found its way directly into the hole for an ace.
The 'Birds busy start to the season continues next week as the team is playing in Seattle University's Harbottle Invitational September 30 – October 1. The NCAA DI event is taking place at Tacoma Golf and Country Club.
