BILTON/VANDERWAL TALK ABOUT WINNING NATIONAL TITLE, STORYBOOK YEAR

For Immediate Release: October 17, 2008

Strathford, PEI--It was the material of dreams. Coming out of nowhere to win a National Championship. Such is the story of the 2008 ThompsonRivers University WolfPack Men's Golf team. Following their six shot victory to capture the Canadian College Athletic Association title,

Coach Bill Bilton Jr and first year player Shawn Vanderwal had time to think about how far they've come. Vanderwal winning the individual title.

The Wolfpack relied on a team effort the entire week and Head Coach Bill Bilton talked about his team saying, "I’m speechless right now.   We didn’t even have a team at TRU on August 10th. To be able to bring this group together and win a National Championship is incredible. I’m really proud of how the guys played. The cards seem to fall right. If someone faltered, others would pick it up."

The WolfPack had a four man, combined 54 hole total of 880. Defending Champion Humber College of Ontario was second at 886, four ahead of the University of the Fraser Valley and Mount Royal of Calgary, Alberta.

Bilton talked about the teams depth, in which all 11 players competed for spots the following weekend for tournament play "There's no doubt it was the key to our success. It'll pay dividends down the road. Those guys who didn't qualify that week would still come out and support their teammates."

The men’s individual championship needed a 55th hole to decide the winner as the leader going into the day Mitch Lock from Fraser Valley sat tied with Shawn Vanderwal from Thompson Rivers after 54 holes in the three-round championship.

Lock had a chance to take the title on the 54th hole, bombing a drive down the middle and hitting an amazing 4-iron to leave him 10 feet for eagle and the win. He gave the put a great effort, but left it on the lip. Tapping in for birdie, he forced the playoff with Vanderwal. The two players went back up the 18th for their playoff. Both players hit solid drives off the tee and Lock was away, and was first to play for their second shots. He crushed his 3-wood into the wind landing it on the front of the green. Vanderwal decided to go for it on the par-five as well but didn’t quite get up onto the green as his well struck 3-wood stayed straight and landed in the bunker.

That’s when the magic happened. Vanderwal stepped into the bunker and hit a tremendous shot, leaving his ball two feet from the pin with basically a tap-in. Lock gave his long eagle putt a go at the hole, but  hit it a bit too hard leaving himself a tough putt coming back. He wasn’t able to get it to go and Vanderwal rolled in the birdie for the win and the CCAA Championship.

Vanderwal talked about the dramatic playoff finish commenting, "I was going to lay-up on the playoff hole, but after Mitch hit such a great 3-wood I didn’t have a choice. I hit a solid shot, but it didn’t cut as much as I needed. That was only my second bunker shot of the whole week, but it’s one of the better parts of my game some I felt pretty confident."

Vanderwal was three shots behind going into the day and shot a final round 72. The two players were tied at one-over par for the 54-hole tournament. Shawn also talked about winning the tournament saying, "I’ve never really played golf this late in the year so I didn’t know how I was going to play in the colder weather. I had a great time, played pretty well all week and it feels great to come out on top."

The WolfPack had four players in the top 10. Adam Gruber and Riley Balson (both 1st year, Kamloops, BC) finished with 220 totals, good enough for sixth spot. both shot 77 on the final day. Brett Martin (1st year, Okanagan Falls, BC) had a final round 79 to finish 10 th overall at 224. The other member of the TRU team was Kevin Ricalton(1st year, Kamloops, BC). He shot 245 through 54 holes.

Bilton sees this victory as only the start of a successful and fruitful journey for his program, one he started when he and his father decided to give back to the community. They are the owners of the Dunes at Kamloops, one of the top courses in the country. The Bilton's donated their time and course space to help make the program viable, aside from looking to the community for financial help.

"This is the first National Championship since TRU became a full university," says Bilton Jr "This will be a huge marketing boost: for the school, for the program and for the Dunes. It's nothing but a positive for us."

(compiled with the aid of JeffWalker, New Holland College)