Thursday, April 7, 2022

PORTLAND, Ore. – If the Hanny Stanislaus Invitational is any indication, the upcoming men’s golf GNAC Championships should be fun to watch.

In a field with 15 West Region teams, including all 11 regionally-ranked teams, and 83 golfers at the Turlock Golf and Country Club in Turlock, California, the GNAC stood head and shoulders over their in-region opponents. Western Washington won the team event with a 54-hole team score of 2-over-par 866, a stroke ahead of Simon Fraser, who finished second but nearly stole the win after making up eight strokes in the final round.

Individually, WWU senior Aidan Thain and Saint Martin’s senior Tyler Fitchett tied for the individual medalist honors, and the two could not have been more even. Both players shot a 70 over the final 18 holes to finish at 7-under-par 209, then remained knotted through four playoff holes before the contest was declared a tie so that teams could make their flights home.

The individual performances didn’t stop there. Simon Fraser’s Ryan Hodgins finished fourth, coolly carding a 69 on the final day to finish at 5-under-par 211. Western Washington’s Conrad Brown led the tournament at 6-under after 36 holes, eventually finishing tied for fifth at 4-under-par 212.

Three teams also went to the RJGA Palm Valley Classic in Goodyear, Arizona. Western Washington backed up its Turlock win with a fourth-place finish at 1-over-par 865. The Vikings were the top-finishing West Region program in a 17-team field. Montana State Billings finished 11th at both the Hanny Stanislaus and the Palm Valley Classic and sent a “B” team to the Hardrocker Invitational that placed sixth. Northwest Nazarene finished 15th at the Palm Valley Classic but dominated their own NNU Intercollegiate tournament the week prior, crushing Spokane CC and College of Idaho to win the team portion by 31 strokes while Lane Strand and Tyler Joplin finished second and third, respectively.

Only one program is competing this upcoming week, as Saint Martin’s will head to the Southern Colorado Masters in Pueblo, Colorado on Monday and Tuesday. Last Wednesday, the Saints tapped alumni Zach Dietz to replace the retiring Kevin Bishop as head coach of the program beginning next season. Dietz was a first-team All-GNAC selection in 2010, 2011 and 2012.

Every other team has their eyes firmly set on the GNAC Championships in Coeur d’Alene from Apr. 19-20. Saint Martin’s will have a target on their backs as they defend their first-ever GNAC title from 2021, but Western Washington will be the favorite as their national Golfstat ranking of 33rd is over 40 spots higher than any other conference program.

PREVIOUS TOURNAMENTS

Hanny Stanislaus Invitational (Mar. 28-29 at Turlock Golf and Country Club, Turlock, California): Team - 1, Western Washington, 866. 2, Simon Fraser, 867. T-3, Sonoma State, 868. T-3, Stanislaus State, 868. 10, Saint Martin’s, 895. 11, MSU Billings, 898. Individual - T-1, Tyler Fitchett, Saint Martin’s, 209. T-1, Aidan Thain, Western Washington, 209. 3, Edvin Backstrom, Holy Names, 210. 4, Ryan Hodgins, Simon Fraser, 211. T-5, Conrad Brown, Western Washington, 212. T-13, Bailey Bjornson, Simon Fraser, 217. T-17, Michael Crisologo, Simon Fraser, 218. T-21, Dawson Strobel, MSU Billings, 220.

NNU Intercollegiate (Mar. 28-29 at Ridgecrest Golf Club, Nampa, Idaho): Team - 1, Northwest Nazarene, 888. 2, Spokane CC, 919. 3, College of Idaho, 945. Individual - 1, Tristan Belue, College of Idaho, 217. 2, Lane Strand, Northwest Nazarene, 218. 3, Tyler Joplin, Northwest Nazarene, 219. 6, Cole Evarts, Northwest Nazarene, 227. T-7, Grayson Giboney, Northwest Nazarene, 228.

RJGA Palm Valley Classic (Apr. 4-5 at Palm Valley Golf Club, Goodyear, Arizona): Team - 1. Midwestern State, 844. 2, CSU-Pueblo, 856. 3, Fort Lewis, 861. 4, Western Washington, 865. 11, MSU Billings, 873. 15, Northwest Nazarene, 900. Individual - 1, Jake Doggett, Midwestern State, 206. 2, Joey Geary, Western New Mexico, 207. T-10, Riley Kaercher, MSU Billings, 214. T-16, Riley Lawrence, MSU Billings, 215. T-16, Aidan Thain, Western Washington, 215. T-21, Lane Strand, Northwest Nazarene, 216. T-25, Devin Andrews, Western Washington, 217. T-30, Conrad Brown, Western Washington, 218.

SD Mines Hardrocker Invitational (Apr. 4 at Arrowhead Country Club, Rapid City, South Dakota): Team - 1, South Dakota Mines, 609. 2, Minot State, 629. 6, MSU Billings, 648. Individual - 1, Bryce Howard, South Dakota Mines, 146. 2, Carlos Caloca, Minot State, 149. T-8, Quinn Haigwood, MSU Billings, 158. T-16, Liam O’Halloran, MSU Billings, 162. T-27, Brady Cady, MSU Billings, 165. T-27, Paul O’Neil, MSU Billings, 165.

AROUND THE GNAC

MONTANA STATE BILLINGS

• Montana State Billings recorded a pair of 11th-place finishes with their top five golfers. At the Hanny Stanislaus Invitational in Turlock, the Yellowjackets compiled a 54-hole team score of 898, three strokes behind Saint Martin’s and a stroke ahead of 12th-place Hawaii Hilo. At the Palm Valley Classic, MSUB had a 54-hole score of 873, two strokes behind Holy Names and three strokes ahead of 12th-place Cal St. Dominguez Hills.
• The Yellowjackets caught fire in the final round at the Hanny Stanislaus, with a team season-low round of 290. That was helped by a 3-under-par round of 69 from Dawson Strobel, who ended as the Yellowjackets' top finisher at 4-over-par 220, tying for 21st place. Riley Lawrence shot 1-under-par 71 in the final round and Caleb Trost shot an even-par 72 over the final 18 holes as both finished tied for 40th at 227.
• Montana State Billings topped that program-low round just a week later at the Palm Valley Classic with a 287 on the final day. This time, it was Riley Kaercher with a 69 to lift him into a tie for 10th place at 2-under-par 214. Kaercher was the top GNAC finisher at the Palm Valley tournament. Lawrence was a stroke behind at 1-under-par 215, shooting his low round of 70 in round two to tie for 16th place.
• The Yellowjackets also sent a team to the Hardrocker Invitational in South Dakota, with five golfers who did not compete in either California or Arizona. The Yellowjackets placed sixth of eight entrants with a 36-hole team score of 648. Freshman Quin Haigwood was the best of the bunch, tying for eighth at 158 with a low round of 78. Liam O’Halloran was the other golfer to break 80 in South Dakota, hitting a 79 in the opening round and finishing tied for 16th at 162.
• Montana State Billings is ranked 95th nationally in the latest Golfstat rankings, third among GNAC programs. They will compete next at the GNAC Championships in Coeur d’Alene on Apr. 19-20.

NORTHWEST NAZARENE

• Northwest Nazarene dominated its own NNU Intercollegiate, finishing first out of three teams with a 54-hole score of 888. Against a deeper field at the Palm Valley Classic, NNU finished 15th with a 54-hole score of 900.  
• At their home tournament, the Nighthawks steadily extended their lead, improving from a 298 in round one to a 296 in round two and a 294 in round three, eventually winning by 31 strokes over the two other teams competing. Lane Strand finished second at 2-over-par 218, shooting two rounds of even-par 72 in the process. Tyler Joplin finished third, vaulting himself into podium contention with a 3-under-par 69 in the final round, the low round of the tournament. All five of NNU’s scoring golfers placed in the top 10, with Cole Evarts in sixth at 227, Grayson Giboney tied for seventh at 228 and Truman Gregory in 10th at 236.
• Strand also starred at the Palm Valley Classic for the Nighthawks, finishing at even-par 216 with a low round of 70 in round one. Strand tied for 21st place. He was 11 strokes ahead of his nearest teammate, Evarts, who tied for 67th at 227 with a low round of 74. Gregory and Joplin were two strokes behind at 229 with Giboney at 241.
• Northwest Nazarene is ranked 146th nationally in the latest Golfstat rankings, fifth among GNAC programs. They will compete next at the GNAC Championships in Coeur d’Alene on Apr. 19-20.

SAINT MARTIN’S

• Saint Martin’s finished 10th at the Hanny Stanislaus Invitational in Turlock with a 54-hole team score of 895. The Saints were two strokes behind ninth-place Cal State San Bernardino and three strokes ahead of MSUB. The Saints finished strong, as their final-round score of 290 was tied for the fourth-lowest final day score in the 15-team field.
• Senior Tyler Fitchett stormed through the 83-golfer field to share medalist honors with WWU’s Aidan Thain. Fitchett finished under par in all three rounds, carding a 70 followed by a 69 and another 70 to finish 54 holes at 7-under-par 209. Fitchett and Thain competed in four playoff rounds but remained tied. Fitchett, the defending GNAC Championships medalist, is looking dangerous once again with under two weeks until the conference tournament
• The next Saints golfer, Dennis Geissler, finished 17 strokes behind Fitchett at 10-over-par 226. Geissler rescued his event with a stunning final round of 5-under-par 67, the second-lowest round of the tournament, to finish tied for 36th. Max Turnquist was a stroke behind Geissler at 227, with Jordan Terada (238) and Ethan Finau (244) rounding things out.
• Saint Martin’s recently announced that alum Zach Dietz will replace current head coach Kevin Bishop when Bishop retires at the end of the season. Dietz advanced to the NCAA Regionals four times on teams coached by Bishop from 2009-2012.
• Saint Martin’s is ranked 114th nationally in the latest Golfstat rankings, fourth among GNAC programs. They will compete next at the Southern Colorado Masters in Pueblo, Colorado on Monday and Tuesday before heading to the GNAC Championships in Coeur d’Alene on Apr. 19-20 as the defending champions.

SIMON FRASER

• Simon Fraser finished second to Western Washington at the Hanny Stanislaus Invitational with a 54-hole team score of 3-over-par 867, a stroke behind the Vikings and a stroke ahead of Sonoma State and Stanislaus State in third.
• The team charged up the leaderboard on the final day, as SFU was in fifth after 36 holes at 6-over, but made up eight strokes on leaders Western Washington over the final 18 holes and nearly caught the Vikings for the win.
• Simon Fraser achieved that team finish by having four of their five golfers place in the top 30, three of whom are freshmen. Ryan Hodgins finished fourth at 5-under-par 211, two strokes behind the medalists. Hodgins was at par or under in all three rounds with a low round of 3-under-par 69 over the final 18 holes.
• Bailey Bjornson finished at 1-over-par 217 to tie for 13th place, hitting two rounds of 1-under-par 71 along the way. Michael Crisologo, the lone sophomore in SFU’s top four, finished tied for 17th at 2-over-par 218, also tallying a low round of 71. Kyle Mayner tied for 26th at 5-over-par 221, shooting even-par 72 on the final day. Junior Jordan Bean rounded out SFU’s five at 236.
• Simon Fraser is ranked 67th nationally in the latest Golfstat rankings, second among GNAC programs. They will compete next at the GNAC Championships in Coeur d’Alene on Apr. 19-20.

WESTERN WASHINGTON

• Western Washington took down a field of 15 West Region opponents, including all 11 teams in the NCAA West Region rankings, to win the Hanny Stanislaus Invitational in Turlock, California by one stroke with a 54-hole team score of 2-over-par 866. The Vikings then finished fourth at the Palm Valley Classic but bettered their score, shooting 1-over-par 865 over 54 holes. The Vikings were honored as the GNAC Team of the Week for the week of Mar. 28-Apr. 3 as a result of their tournament win.
• Senior Aidan Thain shot a 7-under-par 209 to tie for the individual win with SMU’s Tyler Fitchett. Thain carded a 3-under-par round of 69 in the opening 18 holes, then shot back-to-back 70s in the final two rounds. Thain and Fitchett were tied after 54 holes and remained tied through four playoff holes before they were declared co-medalists.
• Freshman Conrad Brown put together an extremely solid showing, leading the tournament after 36 holes and eventually finishing tied for fifth at 4-under-par 212. In a deep 83-golfer field, freshman Seth King finished tied for 29th at 7-over-par 223, junior Jordan Lee tied for 36th at 10-over-par 226 and senior Devin Andrews finished tied for 53rd, carding 230. Andrews finished higher than all but one No. 5 golfer in the tournament, indicative of WWU’s talent and depth.
• At the Palm Valley Classic, Thain led the way again at 1-under-par 215, tying for 16th, while Andrews broke out by carding a 1-over-par 217, tying for 25th. Thain and Andrews each shot rounds of 4-under-par 68 and were tied for fourth after the first 18 holes. Once again, the Vikings’ depth allowed all five golfers to finish in the top 45 of a 98-golfer field. Brown hit two rounds of 2-under-par 70, but a bumpy middle round saw him finish at 2-over-par 218. King shot a 220 and Lee shot a 221.
• Western Washington is ranked 33rd nationally in the latest Golfstat rankings, leading all GNAC programs. They will compete next at the GNAC Championships in Coeur d’Alene on Apr. 19-20.