Friday, March 13, 2015

PORTALND, Ore. – In two tournaments played last week, seven GNAC golfers finished among the top 20 players while Simon Fraser’s Kevin Vigna and Northwest Nazarene’s Samantha Miller earned Golfer of the Week honors.

SFU sophomore Vigna had an outstanding start to his spring campaign, shooting three rounds of 72, 72 and 73 to tie for fifth at the Notre Dame de Namur Argonaut Invitational Monday and Tuesday in Livermore, CA.

Vigna finished fifth out of 93 golfers at the par 72, 7,048-yard course. The Coquitlam, British Columbia native was one of just nine golfers to be even or below entering the third round after paring consecutive rounds of 72.

He wasn’t too far off on the third round either, stroking a 73 to finish one-over for the tournament. The four golfers ahead of Vigna all finished under par.

With help from another top 10 finish from teammate Chris Crisologo, the Clan finished third in the 18 team tournament.  They were just two shots shy of their fourth top-two finish this season.

The 12th-ranked Clan beat three other top 32 teams, including Cal State Stanislaus (31), Colorado School of Mines (32) and the GNAC’s Western Washington (20).

Sixth-ranked Cal State Monterey Bay was the overwhelming champion, finishing as the only team under par and 17 strokes ahead of the second-place. CSUMB also had six top 10 finishes including champion Brandon Hortt who shot a three-round score of 210 (-6).  

SFU senior Bret Thompson and Saint Martin’s Matthew Hedges, the previous Golfer of the Week, tied for 14th with three-round scores of 222 (+6).

Two strokes behind them was Western Washington’s top finisher, Brennan Emory, who had two consecutive rounds of 73 before finishing with a 78, tying for 24th. Emory, along with top 40 finishes from Viking teammates Chris Hatch and Anthony Allen, propelled WWU to a seventh-place finish.

Hedges finished in the top 15 for his third-consecutive event, helping the Saints to a ninth-place finish at the invite.

Northwest Nazarene, which was playing its first rounds since October 31, tied for 12th. The Crusaders were led by senior Connor Magnuson, who finished with two-consecutive rounds of 75 to place 32nd.

Six-hundred miles away in Salem, Ore., NNU’s Miller ended the Corban Spring Invitational with her first top 10 finish of the year.

With three rounds of 80, Miller tied for seventh in the 45 player invite. This was the Crusaders only 54-hole tournament of the year.

NNU also had two other top 20 finishes from Carleigh Sturm and Haley Gochnour, tying for 16th and 18th respectively. This was Sturm’s first top 20 performances of the year.

As a team the Crusaders placed fourth in the event, seven strokes away from a top three performance.

Both Montana State Billings’ golf teams, the last teams to partake in a spring round, will open their 2015 season Monday and Tuesday as the Yellowjackets play cross-town rival, Rocky Mountain College, in a dual match.