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Clan rookie wins program's first NCAA title

St. Thomas More grad Kevin Vigna shot a tournament low 67 in Round 2 and holed out on 18 for an eagle in the final round to finish at even par at the Great Northwest conference golf championships last week
Tom Berridge
Kevin Vigna
SFU freshman Kevin Vigna shot an even-par 213 to win the golf program's first-ever NCAA conference titlePhoto courtesy of Ron Hole

Simon Fraser University’s Kevin Vigna won the golf program’s first-ever NCAA Division II conference title last week.

The Clan freshman shot an even-par 71 in the final round of the Great Northwest conference championship at Coeur d’Alene, Idaho on April 22 to finish at par and win the tournament by seven strokes over co-runners-up Kyle Shrader of Western Washington and Saint Martin’s Ryan Baumgart.

Vigna opened with a four-over-par 75, but rebounded with a tournament-best 67 in round two to head into the final 18 holes just two shots back of Shrader.

In the final round, Shrader ballooned to an 80, while Vigna carded 11 pars, two birdies and an eagle on the 18th hole to earn the conference title.

“I knew where to miss, where not to miss, I was aiming for the middle of the greens, trying to take advantage of the par 5s and make ny birdies there,” Vigna said in a press release. “That weekend, I played well and the weather was great. I had a really good second round, shooting 67. (The final day) was a little bit different, the holes were playing really long. When I holed out on 18 that really put the cherry on top for the whole tournament.

Junior John Mlikotic finished tied for 10th with a 13-over-par 226 to help lead the Clan men to third place overall.

Senior captain and conference player of the year Mike Belle and clan teammate Bret Thompson tied for 14th place both at 228. Freshman Craig Titterington finished at 251.

Earlier, Belle was named the Great Northwest player of the year, while Vigna won rookie of the year honours.

With its placing, SFU earned a spot at the NCAA South Central/West super regional championship in Austin, Texas from May 5 to 7.

The Clan will enter the competition as the fifth seed in the west region.

On the women’s side of the draw, two Clan golfers finished in the top 10 at the conference championships.

Freshman Erin Farner finished in seventh place with a two-round 165, just one shot better that senior captain Nicky Jordan. The Clan women’s team finished fourth overall.

Mackenzie Field was also earlier named to the conference all-academic team, with a 3.94 grade point average in health sciences.