Monday, May 22, 2023
WARREN, Ohio – At the end of one round, it's Western Washington senior Jordan Lee leading the charge for the GNAC at the 2023 NCAA Men’s Golf Championships at the Avalon Lakes Golf Course in Warren, Ohio.
Lee ended the first day of the tournament tied for eighth in the 108-golfer field with a score of 2-under-par 70. The reigning GNAC Player of the Year and PING All-West Region selection is well and truly in the hunt for top honors, just four strokes back from leader Sam Tandy of Harding University. Lee opened the day strong, carding four birdies through the front nine before dropping two strokes on the back nine of a difficult course.
As a team, Simon Fraser leads the GNAC representatives at the NCAA Championships in a tie for 11th place. The Red Leafs finished the first round with a score of 9-over-par 297 and were led by sophomore Bailey Bjornson and senior Jordan Bean’s scores of 1-over-par 73. Bean finished the first day with six birdies, including four in the front nine, while Bjornson had four.
Rounding out the scoring for Simon Fraser on the first day was sophomore Ryan Hodgins in a tie for 50th with a score of 75 and senior Aidan Goodfellow in a tie for 61st with a score of 76. The Red Leafs are level with defending NCAA Champion Lee University after the first round. They are one stroke behind 12th-place Maryville and four strokes clear of 15th-place North Georgia.
Lee’s score led a Western Washington effort that sees the Vikings in 18th at the end of round one with a team score of 304. Following Lee for WWU in scoring were sophomore Conrad Brown and senior Cody Oakes as part of an eight-way tie for 72nd place with scores of 5-over-par 77. Sophomore Seth King rounded out the scoring for day one in a tie for 92nd.
The Vikings six just one stroke back from Chico State and Washburn who are tied for 16th with a score of 303. They are six strokes ahead of 19th-place Southern Arkansas.
The NCAA Championships continue tomorrow morning in Warren, Ohio with the second round of stroke-play. After stroke-play is completed on Wednesday, the top eight teams will advance to two days of match-play that will determine the 2023 NCAA champion.