Monday, April 4, 2022

PORTLAND, Ore. – Western Washington men’s golf entered the Hanny Stanislaus Invitational ranked No. 1 in the NCAA West Regional rankings, signaling themselves as a strong contender at both the upcoming GNAC Championships and West Regional.

With the field at the Turlock Golf and Country Club in Turlock, California featuring all 11 teams to appear in that West Regional rankings among the 15 entrants, the Vikings needed to come out and prove they were deserving of that top spot. Did they ever.

The Vikings led wire-to-wire, holding off furious final-day charges from Simon Fraser and Sonoma State to win the event with a 54-hole team score of 2-over-par 866. Western Washington also featured a co-individual medalist, as senior Aidan Thain shot a 7-under-par 209 to tie for the win with fellow GNAC golfer Tyler Fitchett of Saint Martin’s. For the team and individual victories in a de facto West Regional preview, the Vikings have been named the GNAC Team of the Week.

“Talk about a fantastic team win,” head coach Luke Bennett said. “They all contributed to this victory and I am so happy for them. I’m excited to feed off this momentum as we get closer to conference and the postseason.”

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.

Western Washington came out red-hot on the 36-hole day one. The Vikings shot 2-under-par 286 as a team over the first 18 holes, led by a 4-under-par 68 from Brown and a 3-under-par 69 from Thain, which placed them in second and third, respectively. Over the second 18 holes, Brown and Thain each carded a 2-under-par 70, allowing the freshman Brown to head into the clubhouse with a one-stroke lead over Thain and SMU’s Fitchett, while the Vikings shot 1-under-par 287 to lead the team event by two strokes over Stanislaus State as Monday came to a close.

“After a month off from competition, the guys came ready to play,” Bennett said. “They battled strong winds and rainy conditions for most of the day but didn’t waver.”

Western Washington performed solidly on Tuesday, with a team score of 5-over-par 293 that ranked ninth out of 15 programs in the round, but the Vikings had to sweat out winning the trophy thanks to a 3-under-par team round from Simon Fraser and an absurd 16-under-par team round from Sonoma State that vaulted the Seawolves from seventh to third. The Vikings remained calm and hit some big shots late to ice the win, as Thain birdied three of the last four holes and Brown birdied two of the last three to keep WWU ahead.

The individual trophy took a little longer to sort out. Thain and Fitchett both carded 70s in the final round to advance to a playoff. The two remained gridlocked through four playoff holes before the contest was declared a tie so that teams could make their return flights home.

The head-to-head victory over 14 in-region opponents will give Western Washington tremendous confidence with the season firmly on the back nine. The Vikings are one of three GNAC programs competing at the RJGA Palm Valley Classic in Goodyear, Arizona on Monday and Tuesday as their final tune-up before the GNAC Championships at the Coeur D’Alene Golf Resort on Apr. 18-19.

They will seek to maintain their current streak of 22 consecutive NCAA Championship appearances at the NCAA West Regional from May 5-7 at the Pueblo Country Club in Pueblo, Colorado.