Friday, September 30, 2022

All five of the GNAC men’s golf programs hit the links last weekend to play in the Saint Martin’s Bishop Invitational on Sept. 23-24 before a short turnaround with the WWU Invitational on Sept. 26-27.

While Montana State Billings and Northwest Nazarene took to the course at invitationals earlier in the month, Friday was the first time all teams shared the course this season.

Simon Fraser got its season off to a perfect start, taking both the individual and team victories at The Home Course in DuPont, Washington. As a team, the Red Leafs finished with a two-round score of 7-under-par 569, narrowly beating out Western Washington by two strokes. Senior Aidan Goodfellow led the way for SFU, taking the win with a score of 6-under-par 138 to beat out Western Washington’s Ryan Ho and MSUB’s Strobel Dawson who finished just one stroke behind.

Goodfellow’s performance in leading Simon Fraser earned him GNAC Golf Player of the Week honors.

Two days later, the Vikings got their revenge by winning their own Western Washington Invitational with a two-round score of 12-under-par 852, five strokes ahead of second place Cal State Dominguez Hills. Western Washington was led by Jordan Lee, who placed third in the individual standings. Lee carded a score of 6-under-par 210, one stroke ahead of teammate Seth King, who finished in a three-way tie for fourth place.

Simon Fraser was the second-highest placed GNAC team in the tournament, finishing in fourth place with a two-round score of 3-under-par 861. Bailey Bjornson paced the Red Leafs with a final score of 5-under-par-211 in a three-way tie for fourth place along with WWU’s King.

In addition to the SMU Invitational and WWU Invitational, Montana State Billings sent a four-man “B” Squad to compete in the Beartooth Invitational in Laurel, Montana on Monday and Tuesday. The Yellowjackets finished second with a two-round score of 614. Kevin Kolb won the tournament for MSUB with a score of 2-under-par 142 and was one stroke ahead of second-place finisher Aidan McDonagh of Rocky
Mountain.

LAST WEEK'S TOURNAMENTS

Saint Martin’s Bishop Invitational (Sept. 23-24 at The Home Course, DuPont, Wash.) Team – 1, Simon Fraser 569. 2, Western Washington 571. 6, Montana State Billings 588. 8, Northwest Nazarene 595. 9, Saint Martin’s 602. Individual – 1, Aidan Goodfellow, Simon Fraser, 138. T-2, Ryan Ho, Western Washington, 139. T-2, Dawson Strobel, Montana State Billings, 139. T-5, Bailey Bjornson, Simon Fraser, 141. T-5, Jordan Lee, Western Washington, 141. 13, Michael Chisologo, Simon Fraser, 144. T-14, Grayson Giboney, Northwest Nazarene, 145. T-14, Seth King, Western Washington, 145.

Western Washington Invitational (Sept. 26-27 at Bellingham Golf & Country Club, Bellingham, Wash.) Team – 1, Western Washington 852. 4, Simon Fraser 861. 11, Western Washington “B” 897. 12, Saint Martin’s 901. 14, Montana State Billings 903. 16, Northwest Nazarene 933. Individual – 1, Edvin Backstrom, Holy Names, 208. 3, Jordan Lee, Western Washington, 210. T-4, Bailey Bjornson, Simon Fraser, 211. T-4, Seth King, Western Washington, 211. T-9, Aneesh Kaura, Simon Fraser, 215. T-12, Ryan Ho, Western Washington, 216.

Beartooth Invitational (Sept. 26-27 at Laurel Golf Club, Laurel, Mont.) Team – 1, Rocky Mountain 589. 2, Montana State Billings 614. Individual – 1, Kevin Kolbin, Montana State Billings, 142. T-6, Brady Cady, Montana State Billings, 152. 10, Quinn Haigwood, Montana State Billings, 158. 12, Liam O’Halloran, Montana State Billings, 162.

AROUND THE GNAC

MONTANA STATE BILLINGS

• Montana State Billings has played in the most tournaments of any GNAC team to start the season with four events. The Yellowjackets opened their season Sept. 19-20 by traveling to the Hardrocker Fall Invitational in Rapid City, South Dakota, placing second in the tournament with a team score of 613. A MSUB “B” Team followed in third place with a two-round score 631.

• Dawson Strobel won the Hardrocker Fall Invitational for the Yellowjackets after shooting the lowest score on day one with a 70. He ended the tournament with a two-round total of 6-under-par 138, a comfortable six strokes ahead of second place.

• Strobel led Montana State Billings again last Friday and Saturday at the SMU Bishop Invitational, tying for second place with a two-day score of 5-under-par 139. Carson Garner and Paul O’Neil were the next highest finishers for the Yellowjackets in a three-way tie for 29th place after carding scores of 5-over-par 149. Blake Finn rounded out the scorers for MSUB in a tie for 37th place and a score of 7-over-par 151. The Yellowjackets finished with a team score of 12-over-par 588 in sixth place, three strokes ahead of Bellevue and five strokes behind Hawaii Hilo.

• On Monday and Tuesday at the Western Washington Invitational, Garner led MSUB with a three-round score of 7-over-par 223 and finished the tournament tied in 42nd place. O’Neil, Strobel and Finn rounded out the scoring four again, finishing in ties for 49th, 53rd and 63rd, respectively.

• Montana State Billings also sent a four-man “B” Team to compete in the Beartooth Invitational in Laurel, Montana on Monday and Tuesday. The Yellowjackets finished second with a two-round score of 614. Kevin Kolb won the tournament with a score of 2-under-par 142 and was one stroke ahead of second-place finisher Aidan McDonagh from Rocky Mountain.

• Montana State Billings’ next tournament will be on Monday and Tuesday when it hosts the Yellowjacket Fall Invitational in Billings at the Lake Hills Golf Club.

NORTHWEST NAZARENE

• Northwest Nazarene opened its season with a second-place finish in the College of Idaho Invitational on Sept. 12 and 13, with a team score of 885. The Nighthawks were led by junior Grayson Giboney, who won the individual tournament, with a three-round score of 4-under-par 212. Colton Sisk was the second scoring golfer for NNU, tying for seventh with teammate Gavin Rodeghiero who competed as an individual. Lane Strand and Cole Evarts finished in 20th and tied for 22nd, respectively.

• The Nighthawks placed two golfers in the top 20 of the Saint Martin’s Bishop Invitational. Giboney was the leader for NNU with a three-round score of -145 to finish in a four-way tie for 14th. Sisk finished in a tie for 18th, Rodeghiero tied for 35th.

• At the Western Washington Invitational on Monday and Tuesday, Northwest Nazarene finished 16th out of 17 teams. Giboney was the leading scorer for NNU for the third time in as many tournaments, shooting 229 over three rounds and placing 59th.

• Northwest Nazarene will compete against College of Idaho in a dual match on Thursday in Nampa.

SAINT MARTIN’S

• Saint Martin’s opened its season by hosting the SMU Bishop Invitational in DuPont, Washington on Sept. 23-24. The Saints finished ninth in the tournament, with a score of 602. They were one stroke ahead of Academy of Art and seven strokes behind Northwest Nazarene.

­­• Kyle Erwin led the way for SMU with a two-round score of 148 in a tie for 24th with teammate Carter Sheets, who competed as an individual. Max Turnquist, Jordan Terada and Ethan Finau rounded out scoring.

• The Saints continued their opening week at the Western Washington Invitational with a 12th-place finish and a score of 901 over three rounds. Turnquist was the leading golfer for SMU over the two days and finished tied for 16th with a score of 217. Erwin was the second highest placed Saints golfer four strokes behind his teammate tied for 37th.

• Saint Martin’s will have nearly a month off before heading to the Southwest Airlines HPU Shark Shootout in Waimea, Hawaii on Oct. 24-25.

SIMON FRASER

• Simon Fraser got the season off to a great start at the SMU Bishop Invitational, claiming the individual and team victories. Aidan Goodfellow claimed the individual win just one stroke ahead of WWU’s Ryan Ho and MSUB’s Dawson Strobel who tied for second. Goodfellow carded a two-round total of 6-under-par 569 to lead the Red Leafs in his first tournament since having shoulder surgery last year. His six under par is tied for the seventh-best two-round total vs. par in Simon Fraser’s NCAA history.

• With Goodfellow leading the way, Bailey Bjornson finished in a tie for fifth with a score of 3-under-par-141 while Michael Crisologo and Kyle Mayner completed the scoring set for SFU in 13th and 23rd. With three golfers in the top 20, the Red Leafs tournament-winning score was 7-under-par 569, two strokes clear of Western Washington.

• Goodfellow’s performance in leading Simon Fraser earned him GNAC Golf Player of the Week honors.

• In Bellingham at the Western Washington Invitational, it was Bjornson who led Simon Fraser to a fourth-place team finish with a fourth-place finish of his own. He tied WWU’s Seth King and Hawaii Hilo’s Dustin Franko with a three-round score of 5-under-par 211. Crisologo tied for 16th and Jordan Bean tied with Mayner for 25th to round out the scoring for Simon Fraser.

• Aneesh Kaura scored 1-under-par 215 in a tie for ninth at the WWU Invitational but his score did not count toward the Red Leafs’ total as an individual golfer.

• The Red Leafs were one of two GNAC teams to receive votes in the Bushnell/Golfweek Coaches poll.

• Simon Fraser will have a week off before heading south to the Chico State Wildcat Classic in Marysville, California on Oct. 10-11.

WESTERN WASHINGTON

• Western Washington had an extremely competitive opening week of the season. The Vikings started by placing second at the SMU Invitational with a two-round score of 5-under-par 571, just two strokes behind Simon Fraser. They followed it up by winning their own WWU Invitational with a three-round score of 12-under-par 852, beating second-place Cal State Dominguez Hills by five strokes.

• Western Washington placed all four of its scoring golfers in the top 20 at the Saint Martins Bishop Invitational, led by Ryan Ho who finished in a tie for second with a score of 5-under-par 139 over two rounds, just a single stroke behind winner Aidan Goodfellow from Simon Fraser. Ho was followed by Jordan Lee, who carded a 3-under-par 141, Seth King, and Drew Halili who finished tied for fifth, 14th and 18th respectively.

• Back in Bellingham for the Western Washington Invitational, the Vikings finished five strokes ahead of Cal State Dominguez Hills and nine strokes ahead of the closest GNAC competition in fourth place Simon Fraser. Lee was the highest individual finisher for WWU, shooting 6-under-par 210 over three rounds to place third. King finished just behind in a three-way tie for fourth place, just one stroke back. Ho and Halili rounded out the scoring, tied for 12th and tied for 40th.

• Western Washington also fielded a “B” Team that finished 11th, four strokes ahead of Saint Martin’s and seven strokes behind UBC-Okanagan. Cody Oakes led the way for the “B” Squad with a three-round score of 2-over-par 218 in a tie for 20th place.

• After a strong opening week, the Vikings received votes in the Bushnell/Golfweek Coaches poll.

• Western Washington will have a longer rest period than many of its GNAC opponents with its next tournament on Oct. 25-26 at the Leilehua Golf Course in Wahiawa, Hawaii for the Southwest Airlines HPU Sharks Shootout.