SILVIS, IL – Through one day of competition at the 2023 NAIA Women's Golf Championships, the UBC Thunderbirds have served notice that they have no intention of relinquishing their stranglehold on the NAIA golf landscape. Tuesday morning in Silvis, Illinois, the defending champs kicked off the four-round competition with a combined score of 293 (+9) and sit first in the overall team standings, leading Keiser University by four shots. Individually Jessica Ng (E, 71) started strong with a score of even par and is tied for first position after Day 1.
TEAM LEADERBOARD
INDIVIDUAL LEADERBOARD
Chris MacDonald's crew entered this week's tournament with the #1 ranking, and showed why on Tuesday. The group of: Jessica Ng, Sonja Tang, Una Chou, Grace Bell and Elizabeth Labbe combined for 12 birdies on the day. Five of those birdies came from Ng whose best sequence of golf came between holes 10 and 14. The first-year product of Vancouver, B.C. recorded three birdies in that five-hole stretch, and went 10 straight holes (5-14) without a bogey.
Una Chou had the next best round for UBC. The San Diego, CA native recorded two birdies against two bogeys, to sit at +2 (73).
Sitting one shot back at +3 (74) is Grace Bell. The second-year Calgarian carded two birdies and 13 pars during her opening round, and heads into Day 2 within striking distance of the lead.
Sonja Tang, the reigning Cascade Collegiate Conference Player of the Year, fired a +4 (75).
Rounding out the competition for UBC was Elizabeth Labbe. The second-year athlete from Quebec City finished +7 on the day (78).
The UBC Thunderbirds will tee off a little later in the day tomorrow during Day 2 of the NAIA Women's Championship tournament. The 'Birds will take to TPC Deere Run between 10:00 a.m. and 10:40 a.m. PT.
Following Day 2, the top 17 teams will advance to the final two days of competition. You can follow along all week long using the above live stats links.