VANCOUVER – The UBC Thunderbirds have won the 25th NAIA Women’s Golf National Championship in record-setting fashion.
Bettering the 72-hole tournament record from 2014, the Thunderbirds topped the field with a four-round score of 23-over-par 1,175 (294-296-294-291), which is also a new school best. Oklahoma City, this year’s host school, posted the previous best score of 1,209. The team also set 36-hole (590) and 54-hole (884) records for the event.
On Friday, UBC held off a charge by NAIA No. 1 Keiser (Fla.) thanks to some clutch play on the final three holes at the par-72, 6,050-yard Lincoln Park Golf Club West Course.
Senior Avril Li holed out with a wedge from just off the green on the par-5, 493-yard 16th for one of the greatest shots in school history.
Cecile Kwon recorded a birdie on No. 17 and Kate Johnston birdied her final hole to help the T-Birds post a final-round result of 291, which was calculated by adding the four best scores from the team’s five individual rounds on the day.
It is the fifth NAIA women’s golf national championship for UBC, and the fourth for head coach Chris MacDonald, who had high praise for his players.
“It was so difficult today, the winds blowing 45 at spots, they just stayed with their game plan, they just didn’t beat themselves all day,” he said in an interview with the NAIA. “It was just so impressive to see them hang in there, and then in the end, Avril launched a wedge in the hole on 16, and Cecile made a great birdie on 17 that kept us just enough ahead.”
The Thunderbirds entered the final round with a five-stroke advantage over Keiser, and that was the margin between the teams at the end of the day. However, the Seahawks of West Palm Beach, Fla., closed to within two shots a couple of times, including late on the back nine. Both teams tied for the best round of the day.
Veterans Li and Johnston led the way for UBC with top-three finishes, and spots on the All-Tournament Team.
Li, a senior from Port Moody, B.C., was second in the individual competition with a final score of 1-under 287 (71-73-74-69). In addition to her eagle, Li’s final round included a run of three-straight birdies, on the third, fourth, and fifth holes, as well as a birdie on No. 11.
Her 287 is just three shots back of her own school record set at last year’s Golf Canada Championship.
Johnston placed third at even-par 288. The team captain, and junior from Ayr, Ont., fired a second-consecutive round of even-par 72. Her Friday included five birdies, including three on par-5s (Nos. 5, 7, and 13). She also birdied the par-3 10th, and the par-4 18th.
Both were 2-under for the final nine holes of the championship, and both were under the individual record for lowest 72-hole NAIA tournament total coming into this week (291 – 2014).
Rookie Esther Lee was impressive in her NAIA national tournament debut tying for 18th. The Maple Ridge, B.C., golfer who is originally from Sao Paulo, Brazil, had a score of 8-over 296 (73-79-71-73) for the tournament. She got birdies on the par-4 fourth and eighth holes, as well as on the par-3 12th.
Sophomore Shania Remandaban (Coquitlam, B.C.) was 45th at 16-over 304 (75-75-77-77). She had birdies on the par-4 fourth, the par-5 fifth, and the par-3 ninth holes.
At 23-over 320, Kwon, a sophomore from Maple Ridge, B.C., tied for 84th. She had rounds of 78, 82, and 83 before finishing off with a 5-over 77 on Friday. In addition to her crucial birdie on the par-4 17th, Kwon also birdied the par-5 fifth hole.
The NAIA championship is UBC’s ninth tournament win this season, an incredible campaign that has one more event. The Thunderbirds will go for win No. 10 at the Golf Canada Canadian University/College Championship May 28-31 in Komoka, Ont.
- with files from the NAIA