Good teammate that he is, Dylan MacDonald of the UBC Thunderbirds was far more tempered in his excitement than one might have expected following his victory in a playoff hole at the 2024 Canadian University/College Golf Championship at the Idylwylde Golf & Country Club on Thursday.
Truth be told, with both the team events as well as the ladies individual leaderboard featuring very little in the way of dramatic finishes, it was left to the men to create a buzz – and that they most certainly did.
The top six men were all within two strokes of one another, with MacDonald overcoming a seven stroke deficit heading into the fourth and final round to secure the win. “I honestly didn’t think I ever had a chance,” suggested the 4th year Philosophy major who hails from Markham (Ontario).
“A bunch of stuff had to unfold for this to happen. It’s a little bit bittersweet for me right now given that two of my teammates really deserved to win. I really do feel for them.”
After shooting an even par 72 to bring his tournament total to one under par 287, MacDonald would find himself dead even with William Forgues (Laval Rouge et Or), the duo heading off to number ten to settle matters once and for all.
For the 23 year-old eventual champion who was making his second visit to Sudbury after playing in a Golf Ontario qualifier at Timberwolf in his youth, this would mean making a quick 180 in his mindset.
“I played really aggressive today because I thought I had to make up a lot of shots,” said MacDonald. “The thought behind hitting the driver on certain holes is to make an eagle or a birdie, but you really can’t do that on a playoff hole because you are risking too much.”
Drawing on the experience of only one previous playoff hole setting - and that against UBC team captain Mackenzie Bickell - the weight of the moment weighed heavy on both MacDonald and Forgues. “I was very nervous,” he confessed. “I tried to hit an iron down the big section of the fairway, just to put some pressure on my opponent.”
“I didn’t do that – but we kind of followed each other around. We went in the rough and then kind of by the hazard. It wasn’t pretty.”
It was a rare “un-pretty” sight for the UBC faithful as the men’s team claimed gold by a whopping 50 shots, with the Thunderbird women not all that far behind, shooting 885 (top three scores) compared to 927 for the UBC Okanagan Heat.
After setting the course record with a round of 67 on day two, Una Chou from UBC claimed her victory by a margin of 14 strokes, with Julia Alexander-Carew (UBC Okanagan) in second and Thunderbird teammates Bo Brown and Grace Bell two strokes further back in third.
On the men’s side, the dominance of the Thunderbirds was once again evident as Mackenzie Bickell and John Paul Kahlart joined Owen Croft of Victoria in a tie for fourth place (289 – one over par), with Anthony Jomphe of the Montreal Carabins garnering bronze at even par.
