Connor O’Dell is going to Quebec City next week, to put the finishing touches on a great season of college golf.
The Maple Ridge resident golfs for the University of the Fraser Valley Cascades, and finished second in the Pacific Western Athletic Association PacWest order of merit. He had a cumulative score of 586 after four events and eight rounds, and was named a PacWest all-star.
O’Dell finished six strokes out of first place, behind Matt Hadded of Vancouver Island University at 580.
Over the weekend O’Dell shot rounds of 73 and 78 at the UBC Okanagan in Kelowna.
O’Dell’s UFV Cascades went back to back in PacWest championships.
It’s the second straight year that both UFV teams have won provincial gold, and the men’s streak of PacWest titles is now at three seasons and counting.
“It means a lot, because it seems to get harder and harder every year,” said UFV golf coach Chris Bertram. “The competition in our conference is so good, but we keep getting better every year and we fight tooth and nail to get it done. It’s a credit to our players, both on the men’s and women’s side.”
Up next for the Cascades golf teams are the PING CCAA Golf National Championships, which run Oct. 14-17 in Quebec City. UFV is the defending champion on both the men’s and women’s sides.
The Cascades men finished third at the UBC-O tournament, combining for a score of 603 to finish behind the host Heat (580) and the Camosun Chargers (595). But that steady performance was more than enough to win – the UFV men held a 21-stroke lead on Camosun going into the finale, and they ended up winning the overall title by 13 strokes (2,381 to 2,394). Aaron Pauls was the top Cascade on the weekend, finishing tied for sixth overall after carding rounds of 75 and 74.