Monday, April 3, 2023

PORTLAND, Ore. – Western Washington took a convincing win at the Hanny Stanislaus Invitational in Turlock, California to earn GNAC Team of the Week honors.

Led by the GNAC Men’s Golfer of the Week Jordan Lee, the Vikings took victory by 10 strokes over second-place Simon Fraser to win the tournament for the second year in a row. The senior from Tacoma, Washington also added top individual honors, winning with a three-round score of 4-under-par 212. Lee opened and closed the tournament by shooting 70 in the first and third rounds. He finished two strokes ahead of second-place Luke Duggar of Holy Names.

The win is Lee’s second collegiate tournament victory and marks his fifth top-10 finish in his last seven events.

“This has been a long time coming for Jordan,” WWU Director of Golf Luke Bennett said. “I’m so happy for him, especially against a strong field and on such a demanding course. He stayed patient, played his game and showed he’s one of the best in the country.”

Sophomore Conrad Brown made it two Western Washington golfers in the top three, finishing in a three-way tie for third place. Brown carded a three-round score of even-par 216. His opening round of  4-under-par 68 was tied with teammate Seth King for the single-best round of the tournament.

King was the next scoring golfer for the Vikings, finishing in a tie for 15th with a score of 5-over-par 221. King also opened the tournament by shooting a 68 in the first round.

Rounding out the scoring effort for Western Washington was senior Cody Oakes. The Arlington, Washington native carded a three-round score of 8-over-par 224 to finish as part of a nine-way tie for 25th.

The Vikings’ victory on the course was fittingly dedicated to Steve Card, who retires as Western Washington’s director of athletics this week after 10 years at the helm. Card was the longtime head coach of the WWU golf program and retires after 33 years of work for the athletics department.  

“Steve built this program to the point where it is now and we are honored to have put together such a fantastic team performance in his last week at WWU,” Bennett said. “He loved coming to this tournament and having his teams compete against the best in our region on a great course. Coach has always been an advocate for our student-athletes, and it was a fitting moment for us to win the tournament in his honor and help celebrate an amazing career in college athletics.”