The Kwalikum Kondors golf team is back at it this week, in Victoria for the Victoria City Police tournament at Olympic View Golf Course, today (April 28) and tomorrow.
After a week of practice the two-day tournament — at the always challenging Olympic View Golf Course — is a change from their usual single day events.
“It can be a good thing and a bad thing,” Grade 11 Tony Trozzo said. “The first day is usually played safe, trying to put up a good score and get a feel for the course. Day two is really when you let it loose and attack most of the pins. If you don’t start off right on the first day, you can lose your confidence pretty quick and that’s a killer at a course like Olympic View.”
Picking up two wins so far this season in the two tournaments they’ve taken part in, the Kondors will look for another strong showing coming out of Victoria.
“We had a good week of practice,” coach Butch Gayton said. “We got to work on a few things, which is always needed in the game of golf. We had a good outing last year at Olympic View, finishing second to Earl Marriott, who wound up as the Triple A Provincial champions last year. There’s over 40 teams in the field so it’s a big test for everyone involved.”
The two-day tournament format is similar to that of the provincial championship, which is the only other two-day tournament the Kondors have been part of in the past year.
“I love it,” Gayton said of the two-day tournament. “It gives it that provincial championship feel, which is great for all involved. It really gives you a good idea of what it takes to play in a tournament like the provincials, the pressure that comes along with having to perform for two days instead of just having the one day to shoot the best that you can. It’s a big challenge but we’ll have three golfers who took part in this tournament last year back at it for us again this year, so they know what to expect.”
Grade 11’s Blair Stewart, Tony Trozzo and Masato Wilson, along with Grade 9 Aiden Goodfellow and Grade 10 Jake Lane will be representing the Kondors at the tournament. For Stewart, Trozzo and Wilson, they’ll be returning and looking to lead the way.
“Those boys have been here before,” Gayton said. “They all have provincial experience and they all have played at this tournament on this course so they know what’s ahead of them. It’s going to be a challenge for everyone, nothings going to be easy about it. We just have to make sure that we can play the sort of golf that we know we’re capable of playing and have some fun while we’re doing it.”