Komoka, Ont. – The drive for six straight team championships for the University of British Columbia (UBC) Thunderbirds women’s team couldn’t have started any better after the opening round of the 2023 Canadian University/College Championship presented by BDO.
The Thunderbirds were powered by Sonja Tang who shot a 5-under, 68, while the team shot a 9-under, 210 and lead by 20 strokes after day one at FireRock Golf Club in Komoka, Ont.
Tang’s impressive round featured an eagle on 16 (back nine start) and five birdies, “I think today I was just following my game plan. I was hitting greens and then on longer putts just lagging it up there for a two putt so there were opportunities, and I took advantage of them. Overall, I’m really happy with how I played,” said Tang.
The Thunderbirds are seeking their sixth straight team championship and Tang credits the team’s spirit for their strong start on Tuesday, “We push each other all the time, on the course, off the course, in the gym, and its just really fun playing with these girls and they really push me to be better.”
Université Laval Rouge et Or currently lead the men’s team division after recording a 1-over, 289 collective score and take a one shot lead over the Victoria Vikes into the second round on Wednesday.
Jackson Jacob (Fraser Valley Cascades) and Jonathan Vermette (Laval Rouge et Or) sit tied atop the individual leaderboard in the men’s division after opening with rounds of 4-under, 68.
“Going into this week, I saw all the guys were peaking at the same time with their game. We all knew that we’d be close to the top of the leaderboard after round one and hopefully it’s still going to be the same thing tomorrow and the next couple of days because even though our score is good, we can all play better definitely. It’s going to be fun to watch,” said Vermette.
Jacob, coming off a win at the SWOCC Invitational earlier this month, recorded two eagles during his opening round, “Not very often you make two eagles in a round, that was fun to do. The wind picked up for the last five holes and things got a lot more challenging than they did in the morning, but I kept it together,” said Jacob.
After hitting two consecutive drives out of bounds on the back nine Jacob was able to battle back for bogey on both, “That to me was almost bigger than the two eagles because you can lose a lot of shots there and those are huge momentum savers,” he added.
Another highlight during the morning flight saw Ryan Massicotte, representing Bishops’ Gaiters record a hole-in-one on the par three, 8th hole. Massicotte finished with a 1-over, 73.
After the third round on Thursday, the field will be cut to the top ten (10) men’s teams and the top six (6) women’s teams, including any team within 15 shots of the lead. Individuals within ten (10) shots of third place, including any player within the top 10, will also make the cut.
Full the full leaderboard click here.
For second round tee times click here.
Top-5 Women’s – Individual
| POS | NAME | SCORES | TOTAL |
| 1 | Sonja Tang | 68 | -5 |
| T2 | Élizabeth Labbé | 71 | -2 |
| T2 | Grace Bell | 71 | -2 |
| 4 | Lexie McKay | 72 | -1 |
| 5 | Lucy Park | 74 | +1 |
Top-5 Men’s – Individual
| POS | NAME | SCORES | TOTAL |
| T1 | Jackson Jacob | 68 | -4 |
| T1 | Jonathan Vermette | 68 | -4 |
| 3 | Robin Conlan | 69 | -3 |
| T4 | Jack Deighan | 70 | -1 |
| T4 | Andrew Rouble | 70 | -1 |
| T4 | Nicolas Dessureault | 70 | -1 |
Top-5 Women’s – Team
| POS | NAME | SCORES | TOTAL |
| 1 | University of British Columbia Thunderbirds | 210 | -9 |
| 2 | University of British Columbia – Okanagan Heat | 230 | +11 |
| 3 | Humber College Hawks | 232 | +13 |
| T4 | University of the Fraser Valley Cascades | 237 | +18 |
| T4 | University of Victoria Vikes | 237 | +18 |
Top-5 Men’s – Team
| POS | NAME | SCORES | TOTAL |
| 1 | Université Laval Rouge et Or | 289 | +1 |
| 2 | University of Victoria Vikes | 290 | +2 |
| T3 | University of British Columbia Thunderbirds | 295 | +7 |
| T3 | McMaster University Marauders | 295 | +7 |
| 5 | University of the Fraser Valley Cascades | 299 | +11 |