By Robert McKinney, Assistant Athletics Director, Communications
TACOMA, Wash. -- Willamette University is tied with Whitworth University for second place, just five strokes behind Pacific Lutheran University, after the first day of actioin in the Northwest Conference Tournament in men's golf on Saturday, April 22 at the Tacoma Country & Golf Club. Pacific Lutheran led the team standings at 309, while Willamette and Whitworth each recorded scores of 314. Linfield College was fourth at 316.
The Bearcats and PLU are battling for the overall NWC Championship. Willamette must finish one place higher than the Lutes when the NWC Tournament concludes after the second round on Sunday, April 23, in order to force a playoff. If Willamette finishes two places in front of PLU, the Bearcats will claim the NWC title outright.
The NWC uses three tournaments to determine the men's golf title. The NWC Fall Classic and the NWC Spring Classic are each worth one-fourth of the title. After those two tournaments, the Lutes had 16 points and Willamette had 14 points in the team standings. The NWC Tournament counts for one-half of the championship, with the winner receiving 16 points, and the remaining teams earning points on a 14-12-10-etc. basis.
Three Willamette golfers were involved in a six-way tie for seventh place after Saturday's 18 holes. Sam Hinton (So., Seaside, OR/Seaside HS), Kenneth Sheldon (So., Ocean Park, WA/Ilwaco HS) and Clark Wilson (Sr., Ocean Park, WA/Ilwaco HS) each shot a 78. Other golfers tied for seventh were Keegan Loo and Elijah Pittser, both from Whitworth, and Mac Turner from University of Puget Sound.
The leader after 18 holes was Mitchell Baldridge from Pacific Lutheran with a 3-over-par 75. Isaac Grebisz and Ryan Sturdivan from PLU were tied for second place at 76. A three-way tie for fourth place belonged to Kyle Drugge of Pacific Lutheran, plus Lewis & Clark College golfers Drew Groshong and Robert Wang, all at 77.
A total of 45 golfers are competing at the tournament. In addition to Hinton, Sheldon and Wilson, Willamette's five-man team for the weekend includes Trent Jones (So., Kenmore, WA/Shorecrest HS) and Peter Mitzel (Sr., Red Bluff, CA/Red Bluff HS). Jones was in a two-way tie for 18th after carding an 80 in Saturday's round, while Mitzel was tied for 20th with four other golfers after shooting an 81.
Following Pacific Lutheran, Willamette, Whitwroth and Linfield in the team standings, were the Lewis & Clark Pioneers in fifth place at 319. Puget Sound was sixth at 324, with George Fox University in seventh at 326, Whitman College in eighth at 335 and Pacific University in ninth at 343.
