Wednesday, May 8, 2013

DUPONT, Wash. - Western Washington’s Kyle Schrader fired a 6-under par 66 to take medalist honors by two strokes, and Cal State Monterey Bay withstood a fierce challenge from the Vikings to win the team title by one stroke at the NCAA Division II Men’s Golf South Central/West Regional which ended Wednesday at The Home Course (7,138 yards).

Schrader, who entered the final day tied for sixth, finished with a 54-hole total of 10-under par 206. His 66 tied for the best round of the tournament.

“It was unbelievable for him to have his first collegiate win at regionals,” said WWU coach Steve Card of Schrader. “Being from that area, he had played the course a handful of times and clearly he was familiar with it.”

Finishing two shots behind Schrader was runner-up Kevin Witte (72=208) from Colorado-Colorado Springs, who held a one-shot lead following Tuesday’s round.

CSUMB, ranked No.6 nationally and the No.1 seed in the West Region, had a winning score of 10-under 854, one shot better than the Vikings (286=855). The Otters held four-shot leads over WWU following play in each of the first two days.

The Otters were led by Alex Sobstad (72), who tied for third at 210 with Eric Ash from Sonoma State (69).

Ash is one of two individuals from non-qualifying teams going to nationals. The other is Hawaii-Hilo’s Dalen Yamauchi, who placed fifth at (74=211).

CSUMB and WWU each qualified for the NCAA II Championships on May 20-24 at Hershey, Penn., along with Grand Canyon (285=856), Colorado-Colorado Springs (290=861) and Cal State Stanislaus (285=863), the next three placers. Cal State Stanislaus was the Central/West Regional winner last year.

Hawaii Hilo finished sixth in the 20-team field at even par 864 (287), and Chico State placed seventh at 865 (293). Chico State was the Central/West Regional runner-up in 2012 before winning the stroke play portion at nationals and then finishing second in medal/match play. 

WWU earned a trip to nationals for the second straight year and the eighth time overall.

“It was mission accomplished,” Card said. “It would have been nice to have won, but our main goal was to advance. This team just keeps getting better and better, and this was another solid outing for us.”

The Vikings’ Dylan Goodwin tied for 20th (77=216), Mark Strickland tied for 25th at 217 (76), Jake Webb tied for 70th at 224 (71) and Evan Needham  tied for 78th at 226 (73).

Three other GNAC players competed as individuals.  Gage Huft of Montana State Billings tied for 44th with a 220 total after shooting a 69 Wednesday.  Brandon Moore of Saint Martin's had a 72 and ended up tied for 75th place with a 225 total.  SMU's Ben Fosnick had an 80 in the final round and finished tied for 89th with a  228 total.

Chico State’s Scott Raber recorded a hole-in-one on the par 3, 157-yard No.14 hole. His 7-iron shot was the 20th ace on that hole in the six-year history of the course.

On Tuesday, Dallas Baptist’s Kyle Beard had a hole in one on the sixth hole.

The 54-hole tournament was one of four regionals taking place across the country. The South Central/West hosts were the Great Northwest Athletic Conference along with WWU and Saint Martin’s.