The Thunderbirds golf teams are back in action, continuing a busy start to their fall season as the first UBC teams to compete for a conference title in 2026-27 at the Canada West Championship in Lethbridge, Alberta.

The women's team has held the conference crown since its inception, aiming for their seventh straight CW win, while the men will look to become the first three-time winners of their side of the event. The two-round tournament is being held at Paradise Canyon Golf Resort, October 5-6.

"I'm pleased with how we've been playing to start the year, I'm excited!" said UBC head coach Cory Renfew, ahead of his first conference championship leading the program. "Both teams are off to a great start.

"It's going to be a quick championship with just 18 each day. So a key thing is to remember that you can't let a round go and think you've still got two rounds to get it back, you have to be sharp from the get go and not let up."



The UBC women have picked up right where they left off in Cascade Collegiate Conference play this season, earning a comfortable 17-stroke win at the Oregon Tech Invitational to start the year. The young team won the Canada West Championship by six strokes over UBCO last season, with the Heat seeming likely to be their chief competition again this year. Katherine Hao returns to the event as the reigning medallist, with a Thunderbird having taken the individual title in five of six seasons.

"We have to play really solid golf and be very intentional with our decisions and targets," noted Renfrew.

"The wind is going to a big challenge, which is something we don't always get in Vancouver with so many tree-lined courses. The altitude too, we'll be three thousand feet above sea level, so you're going to see the ball travel further than we're used to and have to be ready to play some different shots."

UBC's men will be looking for a bounce back at the Canada West Championship, having failed to win the event for consecutive seasons for the first time ever. The T-Birds will be aiming to take down the two-time defending champion UBCO Heat, as both programs vie to become the first ever to win three CW men's golf titles.



Remarkably, no Thunderbird has ever been medallist on the men's side of the championship.

Coach Renfrew believes that's about to change, after the team set a Cascade Collegiate Conference scoring record in its first event this season, led by the second-best 54-hole showing in program history (201, -15) from reigning CCC Player of the Year Jake Houston.

"Jake was great in our first event, but I'm gonna go out on a limb and call Aneesh Kaura as the guy to take that first individual title for us this week!" declared an enthused Renfrew. "Being an Alberta player, he's played and says he loves the course. It's windy and he's got a low ball flight. I also think he's going to have a great focus, so I'm calling him."

The Canada West Championship has a somewhat unique scoring format. Each team will play one round per day, but while the men compete with the more standard five-count-four scoring system, the women play five-count-three, meaning only the three top scores from the women's side in each round will count toward the team's total.

The conference is expected to release the draw and opening round tee teams by Sunday afternoon.