Four talented, young golfers are joining the UBC Thunderbirds for the 2026-27 season, as the program makes its first moves under newly named head coach Cory Renfrew.
 
Three new recruits will be joining the women's team, while the men's team will add one new player to its roster.
 
"I've very happy about who we have coming in," commented Renfrew. "We have four great talents joining the Thunderbirds and every one of them has had a great junior golf career so far. We're extremely excited to add them to our roster to continue our pursuit of excellence."
 

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The UBC women did not skip a beat this past season, despite losing four longtime starters from the year before. The T-Birds swept the Cascade Collegiate Conference season series once again, on the way to defending their titles at CCC Championship, Canada West Championship, and Golf Canada Canadian University/College Championship.
 
With the team's lone senior, and one of the most decorated Thunderbirds ever, Jessica Ng, forced to move on, three local recruits will help the perennial powerhouse program form its new identity under Renfrew.
 

 
Cadence Ko comes to UBC as a transfer from Simon Fraser University, where she competed as a Red Leaf for the last two seasons. Ko had three top-10 individual finishes in five collegiate events last year, earning Great Northwest Athletic Conference Player of the Week in April soon before helping SFU secure the GNAC Championship.
 
More recently, the Richmond native had another top-10 finish at the BC Women's Amateur Championship in June.
 
"We're ecstatic to have her," began Renfrew. "She brings a ton of golf experience as well as leadership experience from being on a team at the collegiate level already. She has a wealth of knowledge and I expect she could slide right in to a co-captaincy role with some of our other leaders."
 
"I think my consistency and work ethic are my biggest strengths," noted Ko. "On the course, I'm most effective when I stay in the moment and trust my game plan."
 
An honour roll student for the last two semesters, Ko plans to study Commerce at UBC'S Sauder School of Business.
 


Joining Ko on the women's team is Hui Yu, coming to UBC from North Burnaby Secondary School.
 
An honour roll student who plans to study Kinesiology, Yu turned down multiple offers from schools in the United States in order to attend UBC and represent the Thunderbirds.
 
"She comes not only with a ton of natural golf skill, but also a hard worker and a great person," praised Renfrew. "I've seen her shoot low and then maintain that level of play for a few days to finish off a tournament. She'll add a new layer to our team."


 
Among her achievements on the course, Yu broke Gorge Vale Golf & Country Club's course record with a round of 64 (-9) on her way to winning the 2025 B.C. Junior Girls Championship by 13 strokes.
 
"I think my best attribute is my attitude," reflected the Burnaby native. "I always try to approach things with a simple and clear head, don't over think it, don't over do it. I believe I excel most in lag putting; long, languid putts that require lots of cognition."


 
The third member of the women's team recruit class is true first-year Mandy Wang, who was raised in Vancouver and just graduated from Surrey's Southridge School.
 
With an ambitious goal of achieving a dual degree in Computer Science and Commerce, Wang said that UBC offered everything she was looking for when selecting a school.
 
"UBC stood out to me not only for its strong athletic program but also the incredible academic program, while being close to home," said the 2026 Senior Academic Passion Award recipient. "I wanted a school that provides a high-performance environment where I can develop both academically and athletically at a high level, which UBC perfectly fulfills."


 
When she's not excelling in academic competitions across North America, Wang is busy building her budding skills on the golf course. At just 16 years old, she took 14^th place at Golf Canada's 2025 Pacific NextGen Championship. She also shot a career-low four-under 68 at a more recent tournament.
 
"Mandy first got on my radar when, as a 15 year-old, she won a tournament against some 17, 18, and 19 year-olds," added Renfrew. "Her talent showed early and she's continued to work hard. She'll be another exciting player to see develop as a Thunderbird, and she's also a really good person. We're building a team of great golfers and really good people as well."
 

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With no seniors and half of the team's roster comprised of first-years, the UBC men still delivered five tournament wins in 2025-26, including taking three of four conference events.
 
Joining the ascending group as this year's lone new recruit is Aidan Liu. Hailing from Richmond, B.C., Liu is coming off of a BC School Sports Vancouver Sea to Sky Zone Golf Championship with the Magee Secondary School Lions. He has also picked up three wins on the Zone 4 Junior Tour over the past two seasons and competed for the Team BC Junior Squad.
 

 
"The opportunity to compete for the Thunderbirds while earning a degree at Sauder School of Business was what stood out most to me," said Liu, when asked why he chose UBC. "It's the perfect place to continue growing as both an athlete and a student while still being close to home."

"He comes with a ton of consistent play and a consistent scoring average," noted Renfrew. "A raw talent and a hard worker in both academics and on the golf course. I think he's really excited to always be in competition and we're happy to have players like that who are hungry to compete."


 
The Thunderbirds will begin the 2026-27 Cascade Collegiate Conference season on September 7^th, when they head to Klamath Falls to compete in the Oregon Tech Fall Invitational at Running Y Golf Course.