The University of the Fraser Valley Cascades women’s golf program has added a pair of talents for the 2021-22 university sports season.
Langley’s Coral Hamade and Alberta’s Ella Gifford make up head coach Cody Stewart’s recruitment class, joining a roster with significant experience and success in the past.
Hamade, an R.E. Mountain Secondary grad, is relatively new to competitive golf, but she boasts a diverse multisport background, having played softball and hockey at the AAA level. She won a provincial championship with the Langley Girls Ice Hockey Association in 2017, and competed at the provincial softball championships every year from 2015 to 2018, highlighted by trips to nationals in 2017 and 2018. She also competed in softball at the BC Summer Games in 2018.
She deepened her passion for golf after joining the Delta Golf Academy at Seaquam Secondary in 2018, and played on Seaquam’s senior golf team in grades 10 and 11.
“I’m excited about Coral,” Stewart stated. “She’s coming from the Delta Golf academy, and she’s got a really good, athletic golf swing with a lot of power. Her scoring average has been coming down over the past couple of years, and she’s shown a lot of improvement. I think she’ll contribute to our team right away.”
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Gifford also has a multisport pedigree, having played basketball and volleyball as well as golf. She’s competed in junior golf tournaments for the past five years, and was part of the Beaumont Bandits high school squad in grades 10 and 11. Highlights included a victory at the Edmonton junior championship, and a bronze medal at the Alberta high school championships.
Gifford also excelled as a member of Edmonton’s Royal Mayfair Golf Club, helping the club’s junior team win the Royal Cup. Individually, she won the Royal Mayfair junior championship, and won the Squires junior and junior of the year awards. She also notched multiple podium finishes on the McLennan Ross Junior Tour and the Maple Leaf Junior Tour.
“Ella has a really good swing, and she’s shown steady progression over the last couple of years,” Stewart noted. “She’s in that range we need her to be in to make an impact next year. The lower end of her scoring range is where it needs to be to compete for us, and she’ll be a really great addition.”
The UFV golf teams last competed back in October during the BC Rivalry Series in Kelowna.
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The next big event for the program is the first-ever Cascades Scholarship Golf Tournament, which occurs on Thursday (June 24) at the Chilliwack Golf Club.
