By Robert McKinney, Assistant Athletics Director, Communications
LA VERNE, Calif. -- Willamette University freshman Ben Graham (Renton, WA/Liberty HS) was tied for 21st place out of 84 golfers as the first day of the prestigious West Cup concluded on Monday, March 26 after 36 holes at the Sierra La Verne Country Club. Graham was one of eight golfers tied with scores of 155. He carded a 75 in the first round and an 80 in the second round. Willamette was in 16th place in the team standings.
The West Cup will conclude on Tuesday, March 27 with the final 18 holes of the 54-hole event. The course is playing at 6,403 yards with a par of 71.
Three golfers, Alex Plusquellec from George Fox University, Josh Hill of Guilford College (N.C.), and Slater Sivage from California Lutheran University, were tied for the individual lead at the end of the second round. All three shot 145, with Plusquellec carding 75-70, Hill earning 71-74, and Sivage shooting 75-70. Plusquellec, Sivage and Mitchell Baldridge of Pacific Lutheran University tied for the low 18-hole score on the first day, as each recorded a 70 in the second round.
Pitiluk Phanomchai from host University of La Verne was fourth at 147 after shooting 73-074. Tied for fifth with matching scores of 148 were James Mishoe of Guilford and Cade Lawson from University of Redlands. Mishoe shot 76-72 and Lawson registered 75-73.
A two-way tie for seventh included Tyle Ferrier of California Lutheran and Baldridge from PLU. Both golfers shot 149, with Ferrier recording 74-75 and Baldrige achieving 79-70.
Graham led the Bearcats with his score of 155. Kenneth Sheldon (Jr., Ocean Park, WA/Ilwaco HS) followed with a scored of 161 and tied for 50th place. He carded a 79 in the first round and an 82 oin the second round. Sam Hinton (Jr., Seaside, OR/Seaside HS) shot an 81 in both rounds to tie for 55th at 162.
Trent Jones (Jr., Kenmore, WA/Shorecrest HS) of Willamette shot 165, with an 88 in the first round and a 77 in the second round. Spencer Hong (Sr., Bellevue, WA/Singapore American School) finished the day at 186 (96-90).
The team leaderboard was topped by Guilford with a score of 600 (299-301). La Verne was second at 602 (301-301) and California Lutheran was third at 604 (308-296). CLU's 296 in the second round was the low team score for 18 holes.
Trinity University (Texas) ended the day in fourth place at 620 (314-306). Pacific Lutheran University and Claremont-Mudd-Scripps (Calif.) were tied for fifth place at 621. PLU shot 316 and 305, while CMS recorded scores of 309 and 312.
Willamette was 16th with a score of 643 (323-320). In addition to PLU, other NWC included George Fox in 12th place at 634 (321-313) and Whitworth University in 17th at 645 (324-321).