The University of the Fraser Valley women's golf team turned in a solid showing this week as they opened their spring schedule at the OUAZ Sterling Grove Shootout in Surprise, Ariz.

Playing under difficult weather conditions, a youthful group of Cascades nevertheless managed to make progress over the two-day event, which saw golfers play 36 holes on Monday and 18 on Tuesday.

Lucy Park and Coral Hamade led the way – Park carded rounds of 80-80-82 to finish tied for ninth overall at +26, while Hamade shot 79-86-78 to tie for 11th, one stroke back of Park. Ella Gifford (92-86-85) tied for 23rd to round out the UFV contingent.

FULL OUAZ STERLING GROVE SHOOTOUT RESULTS

"I'm really happy with how the team performed," said Cascades head coach Cody Stewart, noting that competitors were treated to cold winds in the 30-50 km/h range throughout the tournament.

"Just having the three players on the trip, it allowed us to really focus on some of our process goals and the things we've been talking about at practice with our younger players. With what we were dealing with, I was really pleased. We worked a lot on dialing our process, and the conditions we were playing in made it important to make good decisions – if we didn't, we'd really be punished for it. Our main focus was to execute our process well, and we did a great job of that."

Hamade had the Cascades' low round of the tournament on Tuesday, and Stewart described it as a "rock star" performance.

"Those two rounds (in the 70s) were the best golf I've seen her play as a Cascade," he said. "Multiple times in each round she was faced with adversity, and in the past, some of those would pile up on her. Tuesday was a great example – she had two tough holes on the back nine, but she came back with two birdies in her last three holes. She realized you're going to make some mistakes, but you can make some good shots and get it back. She managed her game and her emotions well, and was able to put up some pretty good scores.

"And Lucy was really steady. She has a ton of skill. She's still on the newer side when it comes to competing in big events . .  but the skill she brings to the table outweighs the mistakes she might make. It was another fairly solid performance from her.

"For me, this was a big development week for our young players. They're coming back with a lot more knowledge, and what seems like more than a weekend's worth of experience. It's going to help them settle into their game, and long-term in any 54-hole events we play. They matured big-time over these rounds."

Up next for the Cascades is the Victoria Vikes Shootout, March 5-7.