By Brad Ziemer, British Columbia Golf

You can’t win them all, which the University of B.C. women’s golf team discovered last week in Illinois. The Thunderbirds entered the NAIA national championship tourney at TPC Deere Run looking for what, officially, would have been a three-peat.

Unofficially, they were attempting to win their fourth straight title. In addition to their 2022 and 2023 crowns, the T-Birds also won the national championship in 2019. The event was not played in 2020 because of the Covid pandemic and UBC was not permitted to travel to the tournament in 2021.

This year, the top-seeded T-Birds had to settle for third place. UBC finished 27 shots behind the winning team from Keiser University of Fort Lauderdale, Fla., and 11 shots behind second-place Oklahoma City University.

“I thought we played well,” said UBC coach Chris Macdonald. “Unfortunately, we played poorly for two nine-hole stretches and that took us out of contention. Third place is a good result, there are a lot of teams in the NAIA, but we have a very strong team.”

UBC’s Elizabeth Labbe tied for eighth in the individual competition, while teammate Grace Bell tied for 14th. Macdonald said fatigue may have been a factor for his team. Two of the Thunderbirds, Una Chou and Jessica Ng, had played in the nationally televised PGA WORKS Collegiate Championship the previous week. Chou won the event.

“Maybe that handicapped us a bit,” Macdonald said. “It took them some time to get their energy back. To win that tournament you really need all five of your women playing perfect golf. Keiser and Oklahoma City are fantastic teams, so full credit to them.” The University of Victoria women’s team finished 15th.

The UBC men head into this week’s NAIA national championship in Dalton. Ga., as the No. 6 seed. The five-man UBC roster includes Hudson LaFayette, J.P. Kahlert, Dylan MacDonald, Mackenzie Bickell and Manu Gandhi. The NAIA allows a substitute player and Forrest Van Alstine will fill that role for UBC at the nationals.

“I thought this group was really good at our conference championships,” Macdonald said of his men’s team. “They were 27-under at Loomis Trail (in Blaine, Wash.) which is not an easy course. That bodes well. They are quite confident right now, they have been playing lots of golf. They seem really ready for the event.

"The only thing that is going to be an adjustment for us is playing on the Bermuda grass, not so much off the fairway or in the rough, but more if they are in green-side rough. But I feel like if we play really well we could be a top-three team here. That’s the goal.”

The University of Victoria also qualified for the national tourney by winning their third straight Continental Athletic Conference Championship. Owen Croft, Zach Ruyjin, Aiden Craig-Steele, Daniel Kirby and Shunkichi Yamamoto are expected to be coach Justin Clews’ starting five in Dalton.

BEST OF B.C.: Surrey’s Adam Svensson was the best of the three British Columbians at the PGA Championship at Valhalla Golf Club in Louisville, Ky. Svensson tied for 43rd at six-under par, 15 shots behind winner Xander Schauffele. Svensson earned $59,800. Abbotsford’s Adam Hadwin tied for 60th at four-under par and made $27,660. Abbotsford’s Nick Taylor missed the cut. Svensson is in the field for this week’s Charles Schwab Challenge at Colonial Country Club in Fort Worth, Tex. The RBC Canadian Open goes the following week at Hamilton Golf & Country Club, where Taylor will defend the title he won in dramatic fashion last year at Oakdale Golf & Country Club.

COLOMBIA CUTS: It was not a banner week for British Columbians in Colombia at the final event of the Latin American portion of PGA Tour Americas. Victoria’s Jeevan Sihota missed the cut and finished outside the top 60 on the tour’s points list. That means he will not have exempt status when PGA Tour Americas begins its 10-event North American swing next month in Victoria. However, Sihota will likely get a sponsor’s exemption into The Beachlands Victoria Open at Uplands Golf Club in Victoria.

Vancouver’s Stuart Macdonald also missed the cut at the Inter Rapidisimo Golf Championship in Bogota. Macdonald had started the event third on the points list and could have earned conditional status on the 2025 Korn Ferry Tour if he had finished the Latin American first or second on the points list. His missed cut dropped him to fourth. He will be fully exempt for the North American swing. Victoria’s Lawren Rowe was a late withdrawal in Colombia and dropped to 53rd on the points list, but remains exempt for the North American swing.

JUNIOR ACHIEVEMENT: Three British Columbia juniors were among 24 players invited to play in the American Junior Golf Association’s Mizuho Americas Open, which was held alongside the LPGA Tour event at Liberty National Golf Club in New Jersey. Vancouver’s Anna Huang tied for second in the Stableford scoring event with 147 points. Vancouver’s Vanessa Zhang tied for 11th with 134 points, while B.C. Junior Girls champion Amy Lee of Langley tied for 13th with 133 points.

OPEN SEASON: Wyatt Brook of Kamloops was co-medalist at a U.S. Open local qualifier in Pullman, Wash. Brook, who played collegiate golf at the University of the Fraser Valley, fired a four-under 66 at Palouse Ridge Golf Club to tie Sam Renner of Bend, Ore., and earn one of four spots into next month’s 36-hole sectional qualifying. Former B.C. Junior Boys champion Riley Wheeldon of Comox shot a three-under 67 and was one of four players to advance at a U.S. Open qualifier at The Country Club at DC Ranch in Scottsdale, Ariz. Sectional qualifying for the U.S. Open will be played at 10 sites on June 3.

CHIP SHOTS: Luke Bogdan shot a course record eight-under 64 to win the Vancouver Golf Tour’s Riverway Classic in Burnaby. The Chilliwack Golf Club pro beat the field by eight shots in the one-day event. Khan Lee of GreenTee Country Club in Langley was second. . .Delta’s Mary Parsons finished 20th at the FCA Women’s Championship in Broken Arrow, Okla., on the Annika Women’s All Pro Tour. Port Coquitlam’s Yeji Kwon tied for 26th.