Friday, September 27, 2013

PORTLAND, Ore. – A trio of GNAC schools will travel to Sunriver, Ore., to represent the conference next week in the Golfweek Invitational.

Western Washington, Simon Fraser and Saint Martin’s men’s teams will return to the course on Monday after competing at the Western Washington Invitational earlier this week.

Montana State Billings’ men’s squad will see plenty of action next week as well, participating in the Rocky Mountain Invitational on Sunday and Monday, then taking on Rocky Mountain College in match play from Oct. 2-3.

Western Washington entered the 2013-14 season ranked No. 9 in the nation in the Golfweek coaches poll, and the Vikings have fallen to No. 14 in the latest rankings, released Wednesday.

WWU INVITE RECAP

Four GNAC golfers finished in the top-10 as Brad Harrelson (Sr., Snoqualmie, WA – Mount Si) of MSU Billings led the way with a third place finish. Harrelson’s 212 total, highlighted by a single-round low of 66, helped the Yellowjackets to a sixth place finish and earned him GNAC Red Lion Golfer of the Week honors.

“Brad has had a great start to the season,” MSU Billings head coach Shawn O’Brien replied when asked about the senior’s early success. “He has always had a lot of potential, and we will continue to look for him to post low scores for us this year.”

With a pair of golfers landing in the top-10, Simon Fraser finished highest amongst GNAC schools, posting a total score of 878 to tie for third place.

Michael Belle (Sr., Burnaby, BC – St. Thomas More) shot a 217 with teammate Bret Thompson (So., Winnipeg, MB – St. Paul’s) right on his heels at 218 to pace the Clan.

As a team, the host Vikings had a disappointing eighth-place finish, but Jack Kelly (So., North Bend, WA – Mount Si) shot a three-round total of 214 to land tied for fourth on the individual leader board.

Ryan Pickthorn (So., Damascus, OR - Clackamas) of SMU finished tied for seventh with a 217 total and low round of 69 as the Saints finished seventh overall. 

Thomas Hanacek (Sr., Portland, OR – Lincoln) was NNU’s top golfer, as he made par on 42-of-54 holes played, the second-highest par total of the tournament.

HOT STARTS

Through five rounds Harrelson is averaging 70.2 strokes, the best mark in the GNAC. Last season was Harrelson’s best year of his career, as he averaged 76.3 and made par in eight of the 27 rounds he played. 

WWU’s Kelly, who averaged 74.3 strokes a season ago, got his sophomore campaign off to a strong start with a 71.3 average through his first three holes of 2013-14.

Belle is SFU’s career leader with a lifetime average of 75.9, and is off to a strong beginning to his senior season with rounds of 76, 71, and 70 this week.

NOTABLE

WWU’s Mark Strickland (Jr., Mukilteo, WA – Kamiak), a first team All-GNAC selection a season ago, had his first round disqualified and his final score was not counted this week…all five GNAC schools were separated on the leader board by just 15 strokes…four GNAC golfers broke 70 in a single round, with Harrelson’s tournament second-best round of 66 leading the conference group.

OCTOBER PREVIEW

All five GNAC golf teams see action in October, with three tournaments in California and one in Hawaii to close out fall 2013 play.

WWU, SFU, MSUB and NNU will all travel to Corning, Calif., to participate in the Chico State Wildcat Classic, while SMU is off until the three-day Dennis Rose Invitational in Waikoloa, Hawaii, from Oct. 27-29.

FALL SCHEDULE

September – 29-30: MSUB at Rocky Mountain College Invitational. 30-10/1: WWU, SFU, & SMU at Golfweek Invitational. October – 2-3: MSUB vs. Rocky Mountain College. 7-8: WWU, SFU, NNU & MSUB at Chico State Wildcat Classic. 14-15: NNU at Sonoma State Invitational. 21-22: WWU at Cal State Monterey Bay Invite. 27-29: SMU at Dennis Rose Invitational.

ROCKY MOUNTAIN INVITE GNAC RECORDS:

54-Hole Total – 206, Jake Harr, MSUB, 65-71-70 (Sept. 28-29, 2008)

Single Round – 65, Jake Harr, MSUB (Sept. 28, 2008)

54-Hole Total, Team – 834, MSUB, 271-280-283 (Sept. 28-29, 2008)

Single Round, Team – 271, MSUB (Sept. 28, 2008)

GOLFWEEK INVITE GNAC RECORDS:

54-Hole Total – 271, Mark Strickland, WWU, 72-72-73 (Oct. 1-2, 2012)

Single Round – 70, Michael Jaeger, SMU (Oct. 1, 2012)

54-Hole Total, Team – 878, WWU, 295-289-294 (Oct. 1-2, 2012)

Single Round, Team – 289, WWU (Oct. 1, 2012)

RESULTS

Western Washington Invitational (Sept. 23-24, 2013 at Bellingham Golf & CC, Bellingham, WA): Team Scores – 1. University of British Columbia 867 (298-290-279); T-3. Simon Fraser 878 (299-288-291); 6. MSU Billings 891 (303-286-302); 7. Saint Martin’s 892 (302-289-301); T-8. Northwest Nazarene 893 (295-303-295); T-8. Western Washington 893 (304-296-293). Individuals  (Top 30) – 1. Kenny You, Dixie State 206 (72-65-69) 3. Brad Harrelson, MSUB 212 (72-66-74) T-4. Jack Kelly, WWU 214 (76-70-68) T-7. Michael Belle, SFU 217 (76-71-70) T-7. Ryan Pickthorn, SMU 217 (76-69-72) T-10. Bret Thompson, SFU 218 (72-71-75) T-13. Kevin Vigna, SFU 220 (75-71-74) T-17. Thomas Hanacek, NNU (75-74-73) T-19. Austin Spicer, SMU 223 (75-69-79) T-19. Austin Westphal, MSUB 223 (74-73-76) 23. Nick Hardy, NNU 224 (76-75-73) 24. Michael Delie, NNU 225 (74-78-73) T-25. Ben Fosnick, SMU 226 (75-77-74) T-25 Brock Sargent, NNU 226 (74-76-76) T-29. Brennan Emory, WWU 227 (75-76-76) T-29. Lucas Gatto, SFU 227 (76-79-72) T-29. Gage Huft, MSUB 227 (79-72-76).

2013 RED LION GOLFERS OF THE WEEK: Sept. 9-15 – Nick Hardy, NNU. Sept. 23-30 – Brad Harrelson, MSUB.