By Robert McKinney, Athletics Communications Director, (503) 370-6110

ALOHA, ORE. -- Led by a trio of golfers at the top of the leaderboard, the Willamette University men's golf team shot 295 and built a 25-stroke advantage during the first day of the Culturame Invitational on Sunday, Oct. 20. The tournament, hosted by George Fox University, is being played on the North Course at The Reserve Vineyards and Golf Club.

Ryan Kukula (Jr., Ocean Park, WA/Ilwaco HS) of Willamette holds first place after shooting an even-par 72. Willamette golfers Chase Lamothe (Fr., Corvallis, OR/Corvallis HS) and Clark Wilson (Fr., Ocean Park, WA/Ilwaco HS) are tied for second place at 73.

Josh Mau from Pacific University was fourth with a 74 and Taylor Klopp of Linfield College was fifth at 76. Jacob Armelino (Fr., Redding, CA/University Prep) of Willamette held sixth place with a 77, while Dylan Harris from George Fox was seventh at 79.

Willamette shot just 7-over par as a team in the first round. Linfield was second at 32-over par with a team score of 320. Pacific University owned third place at 333, while Willamette's "B" team was fourth at 340 and George Fox was fifth at 344.

A total of 10 golfers competed for Willamette. The "A" team included Kukula, Lamothe, Wilson, Armelino and Peter Mitzel (Fr., Red Bluff, CA/Red Bluff HS). Mitzel finished the round with an 87.

Jonathan Ross (Jr., Tukwila, WA/Foster HS) led the "B" team with a score of 81 and was tied for ninth overall. Steven Rodriguez (So., Red Bluff, CA/Mercy HS) carded an 83, while Stephan Bartz (So., San Francisco, CA/San Francisco University High) shot an 86.

Evan Fleming (So., Park City, UT/Park City HS) completed the round with a 90. Sean Rhodes (Fr., Redlands, CA/Redlands East Valley) shot a 94 in his first round of the season.

The second round will be held at The Reserve on Monday, Oct. 21, starting at about 8:30 a.m. (PDT).