The Chat senior boys completed a solid season on the links with a sixth-place showing at the provincial championships May 30 in Kamloops.
Chat finished with a two-round total of 664 (based on the four top scores from each round). A total of 16 teams from around the province competed at the event. St. Andrews from Victoria won the title with a score of 631.
"When you look at the final numbers and the age of our team, I'm very proud of our finish," said head coach Dean Totten. "Before we left, I thought we could finish in the top five. We weren't that far off the mark."
Chat loses only one senior player next year, so the future looks bright for several years to come.
"If we stay in the AA division, we have a very strong chance of competing highly again," Totten added. "We averaged a score of 83 in Kamloops, which was a little higher than the guys wanted to shoot, but given the fact we played on an unknown course and the pressure of the provincials, they performed very well."
Of particular note was the play of Danny Baker.
"Danny has been our strongest player all year by far," Totten said. "I haven't seen the final numbers, but I'm sure he finished among the top 15 individual players in the province. This year's team was very special. They're a good group of guys and they were committed from the start. The nice thing is, they all enjoy playing the game and want to compete. They're also friends on and off the course. They push each other to perform at a high level."
Totten said plans are in the works for the Coast to host next year's Lower Mainland regionals with rounds at Sechelt and Roberts Creek. Hopes are also high for Chat to host the provincials in 2007.
"We were basically two shots away from finishing fifth. Our goal is to improve next year and crack the top five," Totten added.
