You can add another banner to the impressive wall of honour inside the Elphinstone Secondary School gymnasium as the boys' golf team captured the North Shore championship Monday.
The win marks the first North Shore golf title for Elphi and the second straight year the North Shore title has gone to a Coast school, as Chatelech Secon-dary captured it last year.
On Monday, under ideal weather conditions at the Sunshine Coast Golf and Country Club (SCG&CC), Elphi, Chat and Colling-wood played off for the title in five-person teams with the four lowest scores counting in individual stroke play. Once all the results were in, Elphi was first, followed by Chat in second and Collingwood in third.
"The scores were fairly high," said Elphi coach and SCG&CC pro Kirk Nederpelt. "Summer rules were in effect, which was different from the start of the season. That means that you had to play every shot where it lay. During the season you were allowed to pick up your ball and clean it and get a better lie. I think the summer rules being in effect made it a challenging day for the players."
Elphi is now off to the AA provincial championships set for May 25 to 27 at the Riverside Golf Course in Kamloops.
"The guys are just pumped - they're very excited about winning the title," said Nederpelt. "I figured at the start of the season the guys would have a pretty good chance. We had a solid building year last year and I thought the guys would have another year under their belts and be able to perform. They've worked very hard and are very deserving to be going to provincials."
Nederpelt said in the next week or so the team will be adding in some practice time and choosing the final line-up for Kamloops.
"The top three positions are set, but we'll be having a playoff with the three other guys for the final two positions," he said. "I think we have a good shot in Kamloops. There is always the unknown, as we don't know a lot about the other teams, but I think if the guys don't put too much pressure on themselves and go out and play relaxed golf, they can be successful. On Monday some of the guys were feeling the pressure a bit."
Chat and Collingwood still have a shot at joining Elphi in Kamloops as both teams are in the final regional qualifier this week at the Langara Golf Club in Vancouver.
