University of Victoria Athletics

Christina Proteau becomes the first golfer inducted into the Sports Hall of Fame.

After a successful four-year collegiate career at the University of New Mexico, Proteau's future husband discovered that she had eligibility remaining in non-American tournaments if she played for the Vikes.

The Port Alberni golfer spent a pair of seasons with the Vikes and dominated on the links every step of the way.

In 2007, she carded a 298 to be named the individual champion at the Canadian University/College Golf Championship by five strokes. She led the way and helped the Vikes finish second in the team category.

She defended her individual championship the following year when the national tournament stopped at the Cordova Bay Golf Course. This time she shot a 297 to win by 12 strokes and her performance was enough to earn the Vikes their first national team title.

Proteau just wasn't taking electives at UVic during her time with the golf team either. Whenever she wasn't on the driving range, she was in the library studying, as she was working her way through the UVic Faculty of Law.

"It was a little bit of a backwards path for me. Usually, golfers don't get better once they start law school, but that's how it worked for me," said Proteau. "I have vivid memories of training for nationals and then rushing back to study for the bar exam. For a while there, my life was study, play, study, play and then more studying."

Aside from teeing it up with the Vikes, Proteau also represented Canada at the FISU World University Games in Bangkok, Thailand, in 2007. She captained the Canadian squad and finished 27^th overall as the top Canadian. She returned the following to the FISU Games, this time in Sun City, South Africa. Once again, she was the top Canadian on the leaderboard and finished 23^rd overall.

After her time on campus, Proteau embarked on an amateur career that has been highlighted by nine provincial and five national championships. She even appeared in United States Women's Open Championship in 2011, along with seven other U.S. Women's Mid-Amateur Championships. Proteau still competes on the amateur circuit and has a great feeling this year about picking up her first provincial or national title in two years.

"Certainly, Christina is one of the best golfers to ever pass through this program. She is a model of excellence in all that she did as she managed to train and compete as one of the top golfers in the country, all while going though law school and providing strong leadership to her Vikes teammates," said Hamilton.