The University of Manitoba Bisons men’s golf team captured their first-ever national championship, and they did it on home soil.

The Bisons had a two-stroke lead heading into the final round of the Canadian University/College Championship at Southwood Golf & Country Club in St. Norbert.

The herd held onto their lead and added to it, posting a final score of 4-over-par.  That was good enough to finish 12 strokes ahead of the second-place University of British Columbia Thunderbirds – last year’s champion.

"They really deserve it. They've worked so hard,” said Bisons Head Coach Garth Goodbrandson. “They've kind of all came up together and they've worked so hard, both in the winter and the summer. Kind of shows you that hard work does pay off.”

The herd used the home course to their advantage. It was a cool and windy day and some visiting teams struggled on the links-style layout.  But the Bisons are familiar with it and got a great performance from Scott Mazur, who fired a 1-under-71 on Friday, to help guide the team to victory.

"We all came together at the right time and played well,” said Mazur. “National champions, it's awesome."

Individually, Mazur finished in a tie for fifth at 3-over-par while Glenboro’s Josh Wytinck, the team captain, was the top Bison at 1-over-par.

"I'm eligible to play in one more actually, but there's no way I'll be coming back now,” Wytinck said.  “This is too sweet of a way to end it. This is a dream, it's awesome."

Both Wytinck and Mazur were named to the Championship All-Canadian Team.

The rest of the team is made up of Charlie Boyechko, Bryce Barr, and Brodie Gobin.