It was cool and windy but that didn鈥檛 stop golfers from kicking off the 2018 season of the Bayview Place Vikes Performance Tour on Monday at Cordova Bay Golf Course.
Greg Palmer, assistant pro at Port Alberni Golf Club, racked up three birdies en route to a tournament-best 2-over 73 to claim the $540 top prize.
More importantly for Palmer though, are the Order of Merit points collected as the top three golfers on the Order of Merit just prior to the Bayview Place DC Bank Open, presented by the sa国际传媒, earn entry into the PGA Tour sa国际传媒-Mackenzie Tour event June 7-10 at Uplands Golf Club.
Palmer edged out Kevin Kerrigan of Royal Colwood, Michael Griffin of Uplands and Ben Griffin of Uplands who all fired 74s.
Next up for the Bayview Place Vikes Performance, which includes professionals, amateurs and junior players, is a stop at Highland Pacific on Sunday.
UVic women tee it up in Oregon
The University of Victoria women鈥檚 golf team will be in Salem, Oregon, this weekend looking to out-match their opponents.
The Vikes will take part in the annual Capital City Match Play tournament, an event they won last season. And UVic returns four players from the squad that was victorious at Creekside Golf Course a year ago. Leading the way will be Nicole Gargarella, who went 3-0 in her matches at last year鈥檚 tournament. Also returning are Melanie Murchison, Hannah Diamond and Quinn Fitzgerald.
Winter Games gold for Comox curlers
Gracelyn Richards was rock solid at the sa国际传媒 Winter Games curling competition in Kamloops.
Richards and her Comox Valley rink of Chanelle Meeres, Keelie Duncan and Bryn Woloshyn, capped off a perfect weekend by winning the gold-medal final 9-5 over Holly Hafeli of Kamloops.
After finishing the round-robin with a 3-0 record, the Richards squad knocked off Jensen Taylor of Royal City/Tunnel Town 9-5 in the semifinals.
Craig rink comes up short at sa国际传媒 seniors
Home ice advantage wasn鈥檛 enough to lift Wes Craig to a second straight sa国际传媒 senior men鈥檚 curling title.
Craig fell 7-5 to Cloverdale鈥檚 Craig Lepine in Sunday鈥檚 final at the Duncan Curling Club. Craig and his team of Gerald Poelman, Tony Anslow and Victor Gamble, had gone through the round-robin with an 8-1 record, including a 5-4 win over Lepine.
The Lepine rink will now represent sa国际传媒 at the 2018 Canadian Senior Men鈥檚 Championship March 24-29 in Stratford, Ont.
Island runners to tackle Paper Chase
The 2018 Island Race Series moves to Port Alberni this weekend as the annual Port Alberni Paper Chase 15K goes this Sunday.
The race, the fifth stop on the Island Race Series, begins at 11 a.m. at Cherry Creek Community Centre. Runners can register online at islandraceseries.org until Friday at 6 p.m. There will also be race-day registration.
Following the Port Alberni stop, the series moves to Courtenay for the Comox Valley RV Half-Marathon on March 18.
Rugby鈥檚 next ones head to Vegas
sa国际传媒 Rugby鈥檚 top young sevens players have been assembled for the annual Las Vegas Invitational tournament and several Island players will be front and centre.
One boys team and two girls teams will represent the province in Las Vegas this weekend. The tournament is one of the largest rugby sevens tournaments in North America.
Named to the Elite Youth Sevens Boys Team from the Island are Joshua Elbourne of Esquimalt High, Matt McDougall of Brentwood College, Tom Abercrombie of Oak Bay High, Sion Griffiths of Brentwood College and Zephyr Melnyk of Nanaimo District.
Earning spots on the Elite Youth Sevens Girls U-18 team are Maelle Reed, Brittany Gardiner and Amelia Gordon of Castaway-Wanderers, M.J. Juneau of Cowichan RFC and Ella O鈥橰egan of James Bay.
The Elite Youth Sevens Girls U-16 team will include Samantha Lillywhite and Mikayla Brennan of Shawnigan Lake, Mia Eager of Cowichan, Sierra Gillis of Belmont Secondary and Libby Hogg of James Bay.
