Tuesday, April 19, 2016

COEUR D’ALENE, Idaho – Led by a GNAC tournament record 10-under-par 203 from Brett Johnson, the Western Washington men’s golf team captured their seventh GNAC Men’s Golf Championships trophy in nine years with a three-round team score of 15-under 837.

The Vikings tied the conference record tournament score, shooting a low round of 276 in the opening round on Monday. They ran away with the title, opening up a 13 stroke lead through two rounds, eventually winning by 18 strokes over second place Concordia.

Johnson’s tournament was highlighted by a GNAC Championships record low round of 7-under-par 64 in the opener. Entering the final round in second place, he fired a 5-under-par 66 to win his first conference title.

Chris Hatch tied for third place for Western Washington, carding a 5-under-par 208 over his three rounds. He shot a 6-under-par 65 in the first round, which tied for the second best single round score of the tournament.

Michael Butler tied for sixth for Western Washington at 3-under 210, while Jeffrey Marcum and Cody Roth finished with scores of 219 and 224, respectively, to round out the Vikings’ five.

Saint Martin’s Austin Spicer used a furious rally in the third round to take second place. He shot 6-under-par 207, carding a low round of 6-under 67 on Tuesday.

In their first season in the GNAC Championships, Concordia took second place overall with a team score of 855. Kolton Kyne led the Cavaliers, shooting 5-under-par 208 to tie for third place.

Simon Fraser placed third with a team score of 859. They were paced by Chris Crisologo’s 5-under-par 208 to also tie for third with Hatch and Kyne.

Northwest Nazarene took fourth place at 863, followed by Saint Martin’s at 871 and Montana State Billings at 897.

The NCAA Division II Men’s Golf West Region Championships will be played in Las Cruces, N.M. on May 2-4. Simon Fraser ranked third and Western Washington ranked ninth in the latest West Region poll on Apr. 15.