For the second time in three years, Daniel Campbell of the University of the Fraser Valley golf program is the Cascades' Male Athlete of the Year.

The fifth-year senior from Bellingham, Wash. put together an outstanding campaign, highlighted by a dominant performance at the inaugural Canada West golf championships in Kelowna in October. Campbell crushed the field, firing rounds of 64 and 68 to win the men's individual title by seven strokes. He spearheaded an equally impressive margin of victory for the Cascades men's team – they finished at -14 for the weekend, 19 strokes ahead of second-place UBC (+5).

Campbell also led the Cascades to tournament victories at UBC and Pacific Lutheran, winning the individual crown at the UBC event and adding another individual podium finish with a third-place result at the UVic Vikes Shootout. He also earned a pair of top-20 individual finishes at NCAA Div. I tournaments in California in the spring of 2020. 

Campbell previously shared the Cascades' male athlete of the year award with wrestler Brad Hildenbrandt in 2018. To celebrate his most recent accolade, we asked UFV head coach Chris Bertram to recall the first time he saw Campbell play, and trace his journey to becoming the Cascades' all-time leader for individual wins (12).
CHRIS BERTRAM: "I'd seen Daniel play a couple times in the 2016 season when we'd gone down to play in some NWAC events and he was still at Skagit Valley College. We'd just recruited his teammate, Halen Davis, to transfer up here. Halen was actually the one who put Daniel on my radar. They'd played together for a year, and Halen had said, 'This is a guy who, you know, he doesn't go super-low, but he doesn't go high. He's just a really steady player.' He thought I should pay some attention to Daniel."

DANIEL CAMPBELL: "The first time I actually met Chris was when I came on a visit up to the school. That was the first time for me. It was in November of 2016, I believe. Halen had been bugging me to come up on a visit and see what it was all about at UFV. It was nice and relaxing talking with Chris – you know how he is. You could tell he knew what he was doing with the golf team. Once he told me what his title was at UFV and what he taught and what he could do for me on the mental side of the game, I was really interested.

"We talked in the student union building for about an hour, and then I went and played Ledgeview with Halen and Connor O'Dell. We kept in touch, and I think it was April when I committed."

CB: "I remember clearly in the spring of 2017, having a Friday group going out on an informal practice day at Chilliwack Golf Club. Daniel drove up just to get to know the guys a little bit and see the golf course. I remember following him around at Chilliwack, and just watching how steady he was – and I don't just mean hitting it straight or hitting putts, but just his temperament. That was the thing that caught my eye the most. 

"When things are going really, really well for him, you can't tell from his body language or from a discussion. When things are going not ideally, you can't tell from either his body language or a conversation. You really have no idea. For someone who's been watching collegiate golfers for 15 years, that's really rare. For some people, you can tell from a mile away how their round is going, almost to the shot. But nothing fazes Daniel. He's just so even-keeled, and I just can't tell you how rare that is for a golfer."

DC: "After I'd committed to the Cascades but was still at Skagit, they came down to play in our tournament (the Skagit Valley Cardinal Invitational at Avalon Golf Links). It was a little bit of added pressure, because I wanted to perform in front of Chris. I didn't play very well in that first round – I shot 81. I was nervous. Avalon's a tough course, and I hit it in a few tough spots. I shot 70 or 71 in the second round, so that helped a little bit. I think that 81 was the highest I shot at Skagit that year. I was a little upset about that."

CB: "I remember that day. (Laughs) It's not surprising, because the same thing had happened a year earlier with Halen. We went down to play in that tournament, knowing he was coming up here, and he had an absolute debacle that day as well. The nerves got the better of Daniel that day, but that might be the only day – other than maybe one other time – that I can think of where he struggled like that. Which is to say, about one per cent of the time I've seen him. Which, for a golfer, to be that steady and consistent is pretty remarkable.

"To be quite honest, I thought Daniel was going to come in and be our No. 2 or No. 3 player and just be kind of a steady presence. The year he transferred here is when it clicked. The scores started to go down, the results started to show up, the wins started piling up. He got on a hot streak – and I don't think we can call it a hot streak anymore. He's turned into a world-class player."

DC: "It's been a lot of practice and hard work. You've just got to keep practicing on the right things, doing the correct things on and off the golf course. Being able to consistently perform has been the biggest area I've improved on. At Skagit, I'd have a good week here and there, and then it would go away for a little bit. But I've definitely increased my level of play over the last few years. Even in the summers when I'm playing other events, my experience at UFV has helped. 

"I'm definitely a little more patient on the golf course – managing my way around as opposed to trying to make as many birdies as I can and taking aggressive tee shots or lines into certain pins. I've always been a pretty aggressive player off the tee because I have a lot of confidence in my driving. But I have a better idea of where to miss, and how to play smarter golf."

CB: "This season, as a snapshot of his career, has been remarkable. It's cemented what we've been saying for the past couple years – just how good he is, especially at big events. He's a big-game hunter in golf. He likes the moment, he likes to be in the lead, he likes to go out and play against really good players. He just proves over and over again that he's up to the challenge. 

"He's won the Canada West championship, he's won national championships, he's finished top-20 in world-class NCAA fields. It's been quite a season for him. And in the big picture, the number of wins he has – it's 12 now – is incredible. We've been fortunate to have some really good players come through our program, but previous to Daniel, the most individual wins was four (Aaron Pauls and Connor O'Dell). And Daniel's got 12 in a little over two-and-a-half years. That's pretty cool."
 

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???? | Daniel Campbell is our Male Athlete of the Year! The fifth-year golfer had a massive 2019-20 season, highlighted by a dominant seven-stroke individual victory as he led the Cascades men's golf team to the Canada West championship! Campbell closes his career as the Cascades' runaway leader in career tournament wins with 12 — next-highest total is four! Check the link in our bio for a feature on Daniel — he and head coach Chris Bertram reflect on his journey to UFV and his development into one of the our all-time greats! #CascadesAwards #WeClimbWeConquer

A post shared by UFV Cascades Athletics (@ufvcascades) on Apr 13, 2020 at 9:31am PDT