Tuesday, April 23, 2013

COEUR D'ALENE, Idaho - Western Washington's Jake Webb birdied the first playoff hole to win medalist honors Tuesday in the 2013 Great Northwest Athletic Conference Men's Golf Championships Presented by the Coeur d'Alene Resort.

Webb, who shot a four-over-par 75 Tuesday, finished with a 54-hole score of 213, tying teammate Dylan Goodwin for first place.  Goodwin carded his third straight 71.

John Mlikotic of Simon Fraser finish third with a 215 total, just two shots back of Webb and Goodwin.

Western Washington earned its sixth straight GNAC team title finishing 16 shots ahead of Saint Martin's.  WWU ended up with a 867 total.  The Saints had a 883 team score for the 54-hole event, eight ahead of third-place Simon Fraser.

"Its always nice to win the conference championship," said WWU coach Steve Card.  "We had our moments, but we played well enough to win."

Also placing n the Top 10 for the Vikings were Kyle Schrader and Mark Strickland.  Schrader fired a two-under par 69 to tie for fifth at 218 and Strickland shot 71 to tie for eighth at 223.

Schrader's 69 was one of three on Tuesday.  Also shooting 69s were Ryan Pickthorn of Saint Martin's and Nick Hardy of Northwest Nazarene.  Pickthorn finished fourth with a 217 total and Hardy was 15th with a 228 score after opening the tournament Monday with rounds of 83 and 76.

The event was the final regular-season tournament of the season.  Western Washington is ranked second in the West Region and is expected to receive a berth in the NCAA West/South Central regional tournament May 6-8 at The Home Course in Dupont, Wash.

WWU, Saint Martin's and the GNAC are the hosts for the NCAA event.  A total of 10 teams from the West Region will receive invitations. Saint Martin's is likely on the bubble to receive one of the berths.