The UFV Cascades men’s and women’s golf teams made PACWEST history over the weekend.
The Cascades swept both the team and individual men’s and women’s titles on Sunday at Ledgeview Golf and Country Club, becoming the first program to ever achieve that honour.
On the team front, the UFV women’s squad put the finishing touches on a title run which saw them finish atop the standings at all four PACWEST tourneys.
Their cumulative total of 1,244 strokes was 128 strokes clear of runner-up UBC Okanagan.
On the men’s side, the Cascades trailed their UBC Okanagan counterparts by three strokes heading into the weekend, but made up 22 strokes over the course of Saturday and Sunday’s rounds to win the title by 19 (2,317 to 2,336).
Individually, UFV’s Daniel Campbell became the first-ever Cascade to win the PACWEST men’s crown, and Emery Bardock won the women’s championship.
And their accomplishments were merely the tip of the iceberg for UFV, which accounted for five of the six individual medalists and six of the eight PACWEST all-stars.
Campbell’s 557 cumulative strokes were good for a 69.6 strokes-per-round average, and a nine-stroke margin on teammate Ben Whiton (566) for the men’s overall championship.
UBCO’s James Casorso (574), UFV’s Halen Davis (577) and VIU’s Wyatt Brook (580) rounded out the five-player conference all-star team.
The women’s all-star squad featured three players, and all of them were Cascades. Bardock (625 strokes) led the way, followed by Hannah Dirksen (635) and Maddie Kapchinsky (638).
“It went really, really well,” Cascades head coach Chris Bertram said.
“Our guys team came in here needing to make up a few strokes, and this golf course is a tough one for people who haven’t played it a lot so it was a nice home-course advantage.
“Our ladies team once again played great – they had their best round of the season on the last day of the season, and hats off to them for a gold medal.”
Looking at the UFV Invitational in isolation, Campbell and Bardock both wrapped up their second tourney wins of the fall.
Campbell (68-70=138) edged Whiton (139) by one stroke, and Davis (145) and Kai Ji (146) gave the Cascades men a one-two-three-four finish.
Kyle Claggett (149) tied for eighth, Zach Olson (151) tied for 13th, Cole Briggs (154) tied for 21st, and Jacob Lucki (157) was 23rd.
Bardock (78-76=154) edged Dirksen (156) by two strokes, and Kapchinsky was third at 160.
“We had high hopes going into the fall season, for sure, and we had a bit of adversity in the early going,” Bertram said.
“But both teams really stuck together and banded together as a group, and ended up gelling at the right time. I think we got better each and every tournament, and couldn’t be happier to walk out of here with two banners for the gym walls.”
The Cascades will look to continue their momentum at the PING CCAA Golf National Championships, which run Oct. 17-20 at Royal Ashburn Golf Club in Oshawa, Ont.