When Kyler Bourgeault of Qualicum Beach was told he was “first alternate” to get into the Canadian University/College national golf championships, he assumed it was a polite brush-off.
But last Friday, while meeting his mother for a lunch date, he received an e-mail from Mary Beth McKenna of Golf Canada saying he had been selected for the 156-player field and needed to call to confirm his attendance.
“Mom was already a little mad because I was late,” Bourgeault said with a sheepish grin after completing the first round of the nationals Tuesday at Morningstar Golf Club in Parksville. “Then I barely had time to sit down when I’m telling her, ‘I’ve got to make a call.’”
The national championships continue through Friday at Morningstar, with the field to be cut following Thursday’s third round.
Bourgeault, a 2011 Kwalikum Secondary School grad now playing for Vancouver Island University, got off to a shaky start with an 8-over-par 80 Tuesday, but rallied with a 3-under 69 Wednesday and stood in a tie for 21st place. Golfers among the top 15 individuals following Thursday’s third round will make the cut to play in the final round Friday.
Bourgeault finds himself on the bubble as the result of a disastrous run Tuesday on holes 9-15, including a stretch of three double-bogeys in four holes.
“I finished the front nine even, after a bogey on nine,” he said. “And that (80) was with pars over the final three holes.”
Kyler Bourgeault of Qualicum Beach follows his approach shot on the 16th hole during the opening round of the Golf Canada University/College National Championships at Morningstar Golf Club in Parksville Tuesday afternoon. Play continues through Friday. — Image credit: J.R. Rardon/PQB NEWS
Scott Secord of the University of British Columbia shot matching rounds of 67 Tuesday and Wednesday to take a six-stroke lead into the third round. He was one of three UBC players in the top five, all of them under par, as the defending champion Thunderbirds steamrolled the field with an 18-under total that left them with a 34-stroke lead in the team standings entering Thursday’s round.
Tiny Camosun College, which won the Canadian Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) national title last fall, was hoping to give the bigger university teams a run for their money. And they did just that Tuesday, sitting in second place among men’s teams. But Camosun coach John Randle, who instructs a golf academy at Morningstar, said his squad’s David vs. Goliath struggle just got a lot tougher with UBC’s giant lead.
“We’re going to need a lot bigger slingshot,” Randle joked. “We’re in the hunt for second, which is the real tournament now.”
The Chargers have previously qualified for the national championships for five of the last six seasons, Randle said, but have not made the trip due to both the cost and the fact that the team plays a fall schedule. But having this year’s tourney on Vancouver Island proved a solid incentive to re-assemble the team for this week.
“This is the first time these guys will have been together as a team since the CCAA championships in October,” Randle said. “For a couple of my guys it’s their last season, so it’s nice to get the band back together.”
On the women’s side, host University of Victoria finished the opening round at 20-over-par, two strokes back of Université Laval Rouge et Or in second place, but struggled Wednesday and slipped to fifth place. The UBC women leapfrogged both schools to join their men’s counterparts at the top of the leaderboard.
Bourgeault’s VIU team, which competes in the Pac West Conference of the CCAA with Camosun College, has not qualified for the national championships since 2004. But his resume — which includes one runner-up finish and a sixth-place showing in league tournaments last season — earned him the individual nod when a spot opened in the field.
He and VIU teammate Robbie Potesta of Powell River, who also qualified as a late individual entry, are the first VIU competitors in the nationals since that 2004 season. VIU is coached by Kevin Oates, who is the head pro at Morningstar, and Morningstar is Bourgeault’s home course.
Coincidentally, Potesta also shot an 80 in round one and a 69 round two to join Bourgeault at +5 for the tourney.
Bourgeault was coming off a victory in last weekend’s Zone 6 qualifier for the B.C. Amateur Championships, at Pheasant Glen Golf Resort. Despite his struggles early on the back nine Tuesday, he maintained a positive outlook toward the next couple of rounds.
“I had a little momentum coming in, and I managed to keep it through the front nine,” he said. “Somebody’s already shot a 67 here, so that gives me something to aim for.”
