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Ledgeview Juniors Lead Yale Lions
to a Provincial High School Championship
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It’s official, Yale Lions are a golf dynasty!
Ian Mulder (right) and his Yale Lions teammates, all junior members at Ledgeview G&CC, won an unprecedented second straight provincial title in Cranbrook.
A historic opening round laid the foundation for the championship victory for the Yale Secondary senior boys golf squad.
Led by Nick Taylor’s seven-under 65, the Lions finished three under par as a team during Tuesday’s first round at the B.C. High School Golf Championship, held at Cranbrook Golf Club. The scorching round gave Yale a 13-stroke lead, and the Lions cruised to victory during Wednesday’s final round.
“That’s the lowest round I’ve ever seen for a B.C. high school,” Lions coach Tom Hall enthused. “I’ve never seen a team under par before.”
It’s Yale’s second straight AAA provincial title, a feat that has never been accomplished before. The historic championship was aided by the fact that all five members of the 2005 team – Taylor, Brett Stewart, Cody Kwak, Brett Webster and Ian Mulder – returned in ’06. Yale also won provincials in 2003, giving them three championships in the past four years, and qualifying the school as a full-fledged golf dynasty.
“It’s beyond words,” Mulder said. “We’re the only school that’s ever done it (twice in a row), and we’ll probably be the only school to do that for a long time. This is a once-in-a-lifetime squad. It’s a dream team, pretty much.”
Taylor’s opening 65 was Tuesday’s best round, and teammates Kwak (73), Webster (73) and Mulder (74) all finished within striking distance of par. Stewart shot an 83, but his score did not count towards the team total, as only the top four scores are tabulated.
The Lions cooled off considerably during Tuesday’s second round, shooting seven over par as a team, but maintained their lead. Webster led the way with a 71, followed by Taylor (72), Kwak (75), Mulder (77) and Stewart (83). Richmond’s Charles E. London Secondary was second, 13 strokes in arrears of Yale’s two-round total of 580. Claremont Secondary was third (598), while the host Mt. Baker squad was fourth (601).
Thomas Haney Secondary, which beat Yale by a stroke at the Fraser Valley tournament last week, finished a distant fifth (610). Hall said that the loss, Yale’s first of the season, served to sharpen the team’s focus heading into provincials.
“It gave the boys the realization that there are a lot of good teams around, and that they would have to play their best again,” he said.
Webster’s team-best round on Wednesday was especially impressive, considering that he played without his driver after breaking it after Tuesday’s round. On the driving range, Webster walked into the swing radius of another golfer, who snapped his driver’s shaft in half. As a result, Webster was forced to rely on his three-wood off the tee on Wednesday – a club he typically hates to use.
“I didn’t use it (the three-wood) in the first round at all, but today I had to use it on pretty much every hole,” Webster said with a chuckle. “I didn’t hit three-wood very well, but I hit a lot of good iron shots.”
CHIP SHOTS:
n The University of Washington-bound Taylor finished second overall behind Andrew Robb of Magee Secondary, who shot 68-66. Following the tourney, Taylor hopped a plane for Ontario to play in a Future Links tourney with his national junior squad teammates in preparation for the World Junior Team Championship in Japan.
n The Lions squad will look quite different next year, as four golfers – Taylor, Kwak, Webster and Stewart – are graduating. But with Mulder returning and a crop of promising youngsters coming up, the Lions still figure to be contenders.
“We should still have a pretty good team next year,” Mulder predicted.
By DAN KINVIG
Abbotsford News
Jun 01 2006
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