PORTLAND, Ore. – So far, so good for the UBC Thunderbirds, as the men's and women's golf teams each look to earn their fifth straight Cascade Collegiate Conference Championship.
Day one of the three-day, three-round event at Glendoveer Golf Course was not always smooth for the blue and gold, at one point early on the men sat in seventh place, but by the end of the first 18 both UBC teams held the lead.
The T-Birds men (+2) eked their way to a one stroke lead over Lewis-Clark State (+3), two weeks after the Warriors took the 'Birds to a playoff in their last event together, setting up a tasty two-day battle between the budding rivals for the remainder of the tournament.
Coming off of an incredibly dominant 49-stroke win in their previous CCC event, the T-Birds women (+10) could not shake the field as easily this time around, but still hold a fairly comfortable nine stroke lead over Oregon Tech (+19).
As far as early individual standouts, UBC captain
Mackenzie Bickell (72,-1) shot bogie-free back nine to propel him into a tie for second, one stroke off the lead held by Southern Oregon's Riley Kirk (71,-2).
One the women's side, reigning CCC Player of the Year Elizabeth Labbé (73, E) is atop the field by one stroke, holding off Oregon Tech's Quincy Beyrouty (74, +1), who ate into her advantage late in the round and now sits only one shot back.
Both sides are back at it on Glendoveer's East Course at 8:30 a.m. (PT) for a shotgun start. The third and final round will be a split tee start on Wednesday, after which all-conference honours and awards will be handed out.
