The University of Victoria men’s and women’s golf teams stood atop the podium as the 2022 Canada West Championships came to a close on Tuesday (Oct. 4).
Teams from nine universities across Western Canada faced off on Oct. 3 and 4, playing 18 holes each day of the event hosted by UVic for the first time at the Cordova Bay Golf Course in Saanich.
UVic sports information coordinator Alexis Chevalier told Black Press Media that it was an honour getting the chance to host the championships, which debuted in 2019.
“It’s really important for us that we could set a foundation and set a standard for this championship going forward, because it’s still so new and there’s a lot of room to do that,” she said.
The top four men’s and women’s teams at the end of the western championship qualify for nationals which take place every spring, she added.
Tamir Shamji said the tournament is perhaps the most important for him and his UVic teammates. “The Canada West (Championship) qualifies us for nationals,” he said. “It’s our goal to come out and play well here and hopefully get into nationals in the spring.”
After an hours-long fog delay prompted a shotgun start on the last day of competition the Vikes men came out on top – finishing 3 over par collectively with rounds of 293 and 278 to take home gold and capture their first team conference banner.
UVic’s women just fell short of the University of British Columbia in team competition – finishing 25 over par with combined rounds of 226 and 225 to win silver and finish second overall in the conference.
The Vikes scored high individually as well. Sukriti Harjai improved on her silver medal showing at the 2021 conference championships, earning the individual gold medal with a 3 under par total. Robin Conlan also made the podium, dropping three strokes off his first-round score to capture the bronze medal in individual competition.
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