Dylan MacDonald Shatters UBC Scoring Record
By Brad Ziemer, British Columbia Golf
(October 28, 2024) - When Dylan MacDonald reflects on his time as a UBC Thunderbird, he’ll undoubtedly remember being part of NAIA and Canadian championship teams. He will also never forget one very special week in Bremerton, Wash.
Last week at Gold Mountain’s Olympic course, MacDonald played what he called the best golf of his life and won the UBC Men’s Invitational tourney with a three-round total of 17-under par.
That broke the UBC program scoring record for a 54-hole event and MacDonald’s final round of eight-under 64 matched the school’s single-round record.
“This was definitely the best golf I have ever played,” MacDonald said in an interview.
“It was really nice to be able to do that in front of my coaches, Chris (Macdonald) and Jeff (Buder), who have been here with me for all five years and have been so much help to me along the way. It is honestly the best experience I have ever had on the golf course.”
To say MacDonald did not see his record-setting performance coming would be an understatement. He joked that his first practice round at Gold Mountain did not go well. “We played nine holes the first day and one of my teammates beat me by eight shots, so I was not very good,” he said.
MacDonald won the individual competition by eight shots over teammate Aidan Schumer and the Thunderbirds won the team competition by 12 shots over Ottawa University of Arizona. The University of Victoria finished third.
The UBC men headed into this season with high expectations and had gotten off to something of a slow start. MacDonald hopes the Bremerton tourney can be a turning point in their season. “I have been here for five years and this is by far the strongest team that we have had,” he said.
MacDonald, a philosophy major who hails from the Toronto area, gets emotional when he reflects on his time at UBC. He grew up wanting to play NCAA Division I golf, but is so happy he instead opted to head west and play at UBC.
“Looking back, I would not change a thing,” MacDonald said.
“We get to play at Shaughnessy, we get to play a great American schedule. I am really glad that I ended up here. Honestly, it has been the best time of my life. Especially with Chris (head coach Chris Macdonald), he really cares about the development of his players, not only on the golf course, but as people. I think you maybe miss that experience if you go to an American D-I school. It has been the best experience I have ever had and I would strongly advise anybody who is going to go to school for golf to look at UBC.”
MacDonald and his Thunderbird teammates are in Hawaii this week to play in the Kapolei Invitational, a NCAA Division I tourney on the island of Oahu.