The Waterloo Warriors dominated the OUA golf championships in Kingston this week. Their women’s team finished with a combined score of 486 strokes to win the gold medal while the men beat the second-place Gaels by six strokes, 594 to 600.

The Gaels’ women’s team finished sixth with a stroke total of 546.

“It was true to form considering the way the season went,” assistant coach Sandy McBride said. “You could have almost picked the winners a week ago.”

Waterloo’s men’s team had two first-place finishes at invitationals earlier this season — their women’s team had three.

McBride spent the tournament with the women’s team at the Loyalist Golf and Country Club while head coach Bert Kea was with the men at the Cataraqui Golf and Country Club.

The provincial championship spanned Monday and Tuesday, with golfers from 24 universities playing through wet and windy conditions.

“It was a rebuilding year with four new players out of five,” McBride said of the women’s team. “Because of the improvement this year, I’m quite happy with how things are looking in the future.”

McBride said the women’s team would have placed in the top three this week if team leaders Justice Durland and Nina Wan hadn’t left the team at the start of the season because of academic pressures.

Team captain Hailey Ingleson was Queen’s top performer. She finished 25 strokes over par in a three-way tie for ninth overall in her final interuniversity tournament. McBride said the fourth-year player has been a top performer since her arrival in 2008. She was an OUA second team all-star last season.

“She’s a real team player and she’s always there in crunch time,” McBride said. “I was thrilled to have her for four years.”

Karen MacKay, Alexandra Rawn and Jennifer Kates also competed for the Gaels.

The men’s team earned an OUA silver medal but Kea said they were hoping to win gold.

“We thought we could come first,” he said. “Our players have played together more than the other teams coming in.”

Captain Taylor Henderson, Matt Courchene, Russell Bowie, Mark Welsh and Echo Chan were five strokes ahead of Waterloo after Monday’s round, but the Warriors combined to shoot nine over par on Tuesday to take the gold.

Bowie earned an individual bronze medal for the Gaels. He finished the tournament at six over par, four strokes behind leader Waterloo’s Garrett Rank.

“[Bowie] was expected to be my best player,” Kea said. “To shoot a 73 in the second round … he earned that bronze medal.”

Kea said the poor weather affected the tournament’s results.

“If not for the wet and windy conditions, the top players probably would have been under par,” he said.

Kea said both Henderson and Welsh plan to graduate this year and the team will suffer without them.

“Next year will be a rebuilding year.”

— With files from Gilbert Coyle and Benjamin Deans