The Mount Elizabeth Secondary School golf team had reason to be proud of its performance at the BCSSGA “AA” Provincial Golf Championships in Radium Hotsprings.
The team Kitimat finished tied for 8th place but finished 9th after a countback. That was an improvement of one spot, noteworthy given the very short “season” the team had before heading to the championship - many other schools get to golf year-round.
The team had qualified to represent the Northwest zone after taking top spot at the two day golf zones held at the Skeena Valley Golf Club in Terrace on May 13-14.
For zone play the MESS team was made up of 13 students from Grade 9-12.
Jamie Moran worked with the team holding indoor practices at MESS until the driving range opened.
And students competed in play days held in Prince Rupert, Terrace and Smithers this year with MESS placing second to the Smithers golf team twice.
The top five MESS golfers - Dylan Kerbrat, Brayden Marleau, Craig Vienneau, Dale Egan and Blair Skender - went to the zone playoffs where they turned the tables, beating Smithers by 10 strokes after the first day.
And on day two the left the rest behind, carding a 29 stroke margin of victory.
It was the fourth straight year Kitimat had won the zones.
In the provincials Dylan Kerbrat was on fire early on day one, making the turn four under par. Unfortunately he didn’t carry it to the back nine, ending up with a three over 75. And he duplicated that score in the second and final round.
Brayden Marleau fired an 82 opening day and managed to cut a couple of strokes off that on day two.
Craig Vienneau put a first round of 87 behind, improving eight strokes on day two for a 79.
Dale Egan had identical rounds of 89 while Blair Skender blew away his first day 99 with a final round of 86.
The team thanks everyone who supported their fund raising efforts over the past year. They included sponsoring a school dance, the 50/50 truck raffle won by Greg Blair, two bottle drives and a hot dog sale day.
The Hirsch Creek Golf and Winter Club Men’s club provided the team with golf balls and hats.