Entering his fourth year at Vancouver Island University, Kyler Bourgeault is looking to help ease the Mariners Golf program into life without top golfer, Matt Haddad, who has graduated.
The 22-year-old from Qualicum Beach knows it’s not going to be easy to step in and fill the shoes of the Pac West 2014 male golfer of the year, but he’s up for the challenge.
“Matt’s a guy you can’t replace,” Bourgeault said. “But having that chance to step in and show that I can be the guy to lead this team is really exciting. I feel I’ve got what it takes to be that guy for our team and I’ve been putting in lots of work this summer to make sure I can get my game to the next level.”
Bourgeault graduated from Kwalikum Secondary in 2011 and was part of a KSS golf team that finished second in the province in back to back years. Though it was tough, he has a different perspective now.
“We had a good team in high school,” Bourgeault said. “Not being able to win provincials was tough but looking back on it now, it was pretty cool to get to that point twice.”
“Being able to get there and sort of lay down the ground work for the KSS golf program, looking at it today, means a lot to me. They’ve got a great thing going and to be there when the ball really started rolling is a pretty cool thing to look back on.”
Bourgeault had his share of ups and downs last season, like most golfers, but hopes to turn things around in 2015 for the Mariners, as he’ll be one of the more senior golfers on the team.
“I thought I played alright last season,” he said. “It wasn’t too bad but it definitely wasn’t where I thought I could have been either.”
“I did manage to shoot about an average of 74 out there but I feel like I could do better. As a team, we all need to go as low as we can out there every tournament and I know that I can get that score down there a little more than what it was.”
Looking to come away from VIU with a business major, Bourgeault has two more seasons of golf with the Mariners and is looking forward to leaving it all out there.
“We made nationals my first season here,” he said. “So that’s the goal, to get back to nationals again before I graduate.”
“I think we’ve got what it takes to make it there and we’ve been putting in the work this summer to try and take our games to the next level.”
“It’s lots of fun, travelling through the season to all the tournaments and we’d like to make sure that we get that last tournament to travel to with the nationals.”
