DALTON, Ga. – After winning the event for the first time in 15 years a season ago, the No.6-ranked UBC Thunderbirds (+59) finished sixth at the 2024 NAIA Men's Golf Championship at Dalton Golf & Country Club.
The blue and gold fired a combined 309 (+21) on Friday and ended up 28 strokes behind host and eventual champion Dalton State (+30). The hosts carded a remarkable final round 292 (+4), the best single round of any team at the event, to snatch the top of the table after never leading prior to the final 18. Day two and three leader Texas Wesleyan (+31) was one stroke from forcing a playoff, while day one leader and newly crowned NAIA Women's Golf Champion Keiser University (+40) finished third.
Though the 'Birds were in the top five for most of the event, it seemed everything was stacked against UBC repeating as national champions. The T-Birds travelled as far as any team, diagonally across North America and through three time zones to the Georgia tournament. With only a day to recalibrate, UBC was given the earliest possible tee times to start the event, beginning at 4:30 a.m. (PT) on Tuesday, and the first T-Bird had to tee off before 5:00 a.m. Vancouver time in three of the tournament's four rounds. In addition, the championship was played on a course with sticky Bermuda grass, which is not found in the pacific northwest, an experience that one UBC coach likened to "playing on the moon".
Despite all of that, the 'Birds managed to match their finish with their ranking, pulling to within 12-strokes of the lead at the end of the third day before falling back following a difficult round on Friday.
Individually, the steady play of Cascade Conference Co-Player of the Year Dylan MacDonald (+11) saw him improve his position after each round and ultimately finish as the top T-Bird, in a tie for 20
th overall.
Close behind MacDonald were captain Mackenzie Bickell (+16) tied for 37
th and the other Cascade Conference Co-Player of the Year, freshman dynamo Manu Gandhi (+18) tied for 43
rd. Rounding out the Cascade Conference Champions were John Paul Kahlert (+23) and Hudson LaFayette (+23), who tied for 59
th.
Bickell had the best single round at the event for UBC with his even-par 72 in the opener. MacDonald was incredibly consistent, carding between 74-76 in each of his four rounds, including a team-best 74 (+2) on Friday. Bickell was brilliant on par 5s, shooting -3 on those holes over the course of the championship, a top-10 mark. LaFayette tamed the course's difficult par 3s, his mark of +2 on those holes was also top-10. The lone eagle for the 'Birds belonged to MacDonald, who holed out on the par-4 15
th in the first round.
Next up for UBC is another national championship, this time north of the 49
th parallel. The Thunderbirds' final event of the 2023-24 season is the Canadian University/College Championship taking place at Idylwylde Golf & Country Club in Sudbury, Ontario June 3-6.