UVic men defend Shootout team title
Evan Holmes took a three-shot lead into the second and final round of the Vikes Shootout at Cordova Bay Golf Course on Tuesday and turned it into a six-shot victory.
The UBC Thunderbirds senior followed up his opening 5-under 66 with a 3-under 68 on a very wet day. His 134 total was six shots better than Craig Bokenfor of the University of Alberta, who sneaked into second with his second consecutive 1-under 70.
“I played pretty consistent today, not many mistakes,” said Holmes. “It feels pretty good. I was hitting it well and had a couple of putts fall, which is always nice.”
Bokenfor edged out a trio of UVic Vikes in Lawren Rowe (69-72), Andrew Funk (70-71) and Bruce Tomie (71-70) who all finished tied for third. Jacob Hayes recorded rounds of 73-72 for a 145 total to place sixth for UVic and helped the Vikes defend their men’s team title with a 566 total.
Kat Kennedy, a co-winner last year at the Shootout, claimed the women’s title and helped the UBC T-Birds to the team crown as she turned in rounds of 1-over 73 and 2-over 74 for a 147 total, four strokes better than teammate Barbara Neto-Bradley.
Laura Ferreira of UVic was tied for third with UBC’s Claire Emery at 156. Ferreira as was eight shots better on her second day with a solid 74.
Holmes was easily the best player over the two soggy rounds as the field, which included the University of Calgary, University of Manitoba, Skagit Valley College and Corban University played lift, clean and place due to the conditions.
“It was nice to have a bit of a lead after the first day. You don’t usually get that in tournament golf,” he said of bringing the three-shot advantage over Rowe into Day 2. “Lawren is a pretty good player, too, so I knew it would be close all day.
“I was a little flat out of the gate and Lawren played pretty well to start. I think it was only a one or two-shot lead with four or five holes to go.”
Holmes, 22, is in his senior year and he’s glad to tuck a title away under his belt for the T-Birds, who are ranked No. 3 in the NAIA, just ahead of the Vikes.
For Rowe, 20, it was a bit of struggle, although he has had a fabulous year to date.
“It was frustrating. I couldn’t really get anything going. I wasn’t putting well and couldn’t find the fairway off the tee,” Rowe said of his 1-over 72. “He [Holmes] pulled through later on in the round. I knew I had to make a bit of a move. I started out OK, but couldn’t keep it going.”
Conditions didn’t make it conducive to posting a low score as players were caught in a deluge in the late morning.
“It played really soft, which made it play a lot longer than what we’re used to out here, but the greens were receptive, so you could stick it close,” said Rowe.
Vikes’ coach Justin Clews was delighted to come out with one of the four trophies as the men’s team pulled through.
“The guys are riding the momentum from the beginning of the year. Last year they may have felt a little bit more like underdogs to UBC, but this year we’re only one spot behind them in the NAIA rankings, so we knew we were a contender to defend,” said Clews.
Quinn Fitzgerald (80-81) and Nicole Garagella (79-82) tied for seventh for the Vikes women.
The NAIA event was also a Canada West qualifier and the Vikes will now head to the San Diego area this weekend to compete in a NCAA Div. II event at San Marcos.