Richmond's Stephanie Wong is trying to help the UBC Thunderbirds women's golf team become champions on both sides of the border.
Fresh off their victory at the NAIA Championships in Tennessee, the Thunderbirds are at Cordova Bay Golf Course in Victoria this week to defending their title at the Golf Canada University/College Championship. The 72-hole tournament teed off yesterday and concludes on Friday.
In Tennessee, Wong helped UBC come-from-behind to the win the NAIA title by two shots over Georgia's Savannah College.
The freshman parred her final hole to clinch the championship.
She was also her team's most consistent golfer as she was the only T-Bird to have her result count towards the UBC team score on all four days of play. Her final round 76 (+3) left her with a total score of 299 (+7) and in a tie for eighth.
"We're just elated and surprised," UBC head coach Chris MacDonald said. "We expected to be competing against some different teams, but then we ran up against Savannah, who were just courageous out there. We literally played head-to-head with them for three days. I've never been through anything like that before where it was so close the entire [tournament]."
Wong's overall play for the season also earned her NAIA First Team All-American honours. She led all UBC players with a 78.47 average.
The UBC coaching staff also includes Keri Moffat, who is the Director of Instruction at Mayfair Lakes.
UBC is among 11 schools competing at the Golf Canada Championships.
