Fort Langley’s Jackson Jacob and the University of the Fraser Valley men’s golf team are coming home with medals from the Canada West championships.
Cascades men, the defending team champions at the conference tournament, battled their way to a silver medal over two days and 36 holes at Squamish Valley Golf Club on Monday, Oct 4 and Tuesday, Oct. 5.
The UFV squad’s combined score of two under par left them well behind the gold medal-winning squad from UBC (-25), but their performance was enough to fend off a stiff test from joint third-place finishers Calgary and Victoria (both -1). Calgary took the bronze based on tie-breaking criteria.
READ ALSO: Fort Langley’s Jackson Jacob to play for University of the Fraser Valley men’s golf team
Cascades head coach Aaron Pauls called it “a little bittersweet. We were in the thick of a battle between three teams at the very end, and we were able to pull out the silver. That was nice for us leaving today.”
“Not winning this week is a bit disappointing for us, though – I wouldn’t say we played our very best golf. Part of it was how we played, and part of it was how well UBC played. UBC, as a team of five, put up such quality scores across the board, and what they’re doing right now is pretty impressive.”
Jacob led the charge for the Cascades. He carded a 68 on Monday and a 70 on Tuesday to finish at -6, just one stroke back of Calgary’s Ethan Banks and UBC’s Russell Howlett, who tied at -7 through 36 holes with Banks claiming the individual gold on the second playoff hole.
Jacob and UBC’s Mackenzie Bickell shared the bronze.
READ ALSO: A record-setting performance by Fort Langley golfer Jackson Jacob
“Jackson had a bit of a ragged start today, and he was probably five shots down in the early going,” Pauls related. “But he stuck with it, and on the 18th, he hit an amazing shot into the green, and had a putt hang on the lip which would have gotten him into a playoff. He did everything he could today.
“We said at the start of the season, for our team to be successful, we needed Jackson to put up consistently good scores. That’s what he’s done for us all fall.”
Cascades women’s team, CW bronze medalists in 2019, battled their way to the brink of the podium only to settle for fourth.
The bright spot was the play of Lucy Park. She fired rounds of 76 and 79 to finish at +11, good for solo eighth place.
“She’s having a good year,” Stewart enthused.
“She’s going to be one of the better players in Canada West. It’s a matter of time, and a matter of experience.”
UFV golf teams wrap up their fall schedule over the weekend, visiting Kelowna for the UBC Okanagan Invitational, Oct. 10-11 at Okanagan Golf Club.
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