By Nathan Hutton (Contributor) – Email
Print Edition: October 9, 2013
Golf is a game of mistakes; the winner is the one who makes the fewest, and this weekend the Cascades made none.
Both the men’s and women’s Cascades golf teams closed out their regular season this past weekend hosting the UFV Invitational at the Chilliwack Golf and Country Club. The two-day weekend tournament featured some of the best talent from the PACWEST conference and acted as the precursor to the national championship tournament occurrig in two weeks in eastern Ontario. A win would give both the men and women the number one seed in the PACWEST conference, providing them with a serious target on their backs for nationals.
The women teed off late in the morning hours with the men following in the afternoon. The men were highlighted by third-year Darren Whitehouse and fifth-year Aaron Pauls. The men had a very strong showing over the two days, finishing off their second consecutive PACWEST Championship with a combined score of 1,717, beating out second place Camosun College by 50 points.
The men’s player of the weekend was second-year Connor O’Dell. O’Dell shot a 63 on the second day of the tournament, a remarkable -9 for the challenging course, set up with long roughs and fast greens. Darren Whitehouse and Aaron Pauls capped off a great year, with both finishing in the top five for individual scores throughout the entire season. Darren registered a score of 431 total strokes, good for fourth place. Aaron shot an impressive 428, placing him third in individual scoring and just two strokes off the first-ranked Will Deck from UBC-O, Whitehouse, and Pauls were also named to the PACWEST all-star team for their performances.
The woman’s team also proved how good they were once again. The three-woman team of Kelly Dalzell, Danielle Shap, and seasoned veteran Jen Woods put up great numbers on their way to their first ever PACWEST title. Both Woods and Shap ended the season atop the leaderboards, with Shap registering a score of 474 strokes and Woods registering 480. Not only did Shap dominate all season, leading the conference in scoring, but it was confirmed that Shap was also the best player in the league as she was awarded the annual PACWEST Player of the Year award.
Overall, both teams played extremely well, capturing both the men’s and women’s PACWEST titles. The teams will seek to limit their mistakes as they travel east carrying the flag for UFV when they compete in the national championships hosted by St. Lawrence University.
