Shawnigan Lake School’s golf team played its best golf when it counted most, rallying over the final four holes to claim the B.C. School Sports AA championship at Sandpiper Golf Course near Harrison Hot Springs at the end of May.
Shawnigan went into the tournament seeded third among Vancouver Island teams, but quickly emerged as a contender on the first day of competition. Along with some of the other favourites, however, Shawnigan started to slip on the second day, but picked things up in the late going to finish first.
The team of Adam Hyde-Lay, Nolan Winchester, Ben Bagley, Jonny Raatikainen and Owen Quinn knew going into the tournament that only their best efforts would be enough to compete with the deep provincial field, said David Hyde-Lay, who coached the quintet along with Mark Yorath.
“The team studied the course in detail during the practice round, making copious notes on how to best attack the subtly tricky layout,” coach Hyde-Lay noted. “When the competition itself began the next day, the battle plan was in place and every member of the team (theoretically) knew what to do.”
Bagley’s team-best score of 73 set the standard for the first day, followed closely by Adam Hyde-Lay’s 74 and Winchester’s 75.
Some new teams started to climb the leaderboard on the second day, and with just a few holes remaining, Shawnigan watched some rival teams move ahead of them.
“To say things looked bleak might be the understatement of the tournament,” David Hyde-Lay commented.
Over the last four holes, however, every member of the Shawnigan team stepped up, making sublime shots and sinking crucial putts down the stretch. Bagley matched his first-round score with another round of 73 to lead his team to the provincial title.
Brentwood College School, which won the Independent Schools Association and Vancouver Island AA golf championships this year, placed seventh at provincials. That team included captain Lucas Kulai, Treety Jang, Maxine Pollock, Jagre Knight and Ned Booth, and was coached by Jordan Warner.