Vikes men’s golf team goes local

The University of Victoria Vikes men’s golf team is taking the term home-grown talent to new heights.

Coach Justin Clews’ crew heads out to the Olympia Golf and Country Club in Washington on Thursday and the entire fiveman travelling team features Victoria-born and raised players, led by fourth-year veteran Matt Broughton, a graduate of Reynolds Secondary.

Second-year teammates Lawren Rowe and Michael Griffin (both of Mount Douglas), Andrew Funk (Parkland) and Jake Hamilton (Lambrick Park) round out Clews’ selections from his nine-man team, in which just five travel.

“If we’re looking at born and raised Victoria guys, then yes, it probably is the first time ever,” said Clews. “That makes it pretty special and what makes it even more special, for me, is three of them are Uplands members.”

Clews is also an assistant pro at Uplands where Griffin, Rowe and Hamilton (who actually redshirted last year but is considered a junior by NAIA rules) play.

Griffin (an All-Canadian last year), Rowe and Funk carried the team at times last season, said Clews.

“We have a lot of talent and we were ranked first in freshman players for the longest time last year,” said Clews, who selects his travelling unit based on qualifying play in events held before tournaments. “We have the qualifier the week before with nine guys playing for the five spots.

“I take the top three and then there are two coach’s picks. We have a pretty deep team and any combination of the nine would be strong.”

Play begins Friday at the St. Martin’s Fall Classic at the Olympia GCC with 36 holes and concludes Saturday with 18. The team then moves straight to the Western Washington Invitational in Bellingham with 36 holes on Monday and 18 on Tuesday.

The Vikes women’s team begins play with an exhibition match Sept. 27 versus Simon Fraser University at Cordova Bay. The UVic Shootout, involving both men’s and women’s teams, is slated for Oct. 18-20 at the same course.