By Robert McKinney, Assistant Athletics Director, Communications
REDLANDS, Calif. -- Alex Weirth (Sr., Port Orchard, WA/Crosspoint Academy) led the way with a tie for fourth place as the Willamette University men's golf team finished second, just one stroke out of the lead, at the Bulldog Fall Invitational which ended on Tuesday, Sept. 20 at the Redlands Country Club. The University of Redlands (Calif.), which hosted the tournament, registered a team score of 5-under par 275 in the third round on Tuesday to win the team title. The Bulldogs achieved a 54-hole score of 843 (284-284-275) to edge out the Bearcats, who shot 844 (283-277-284).
The individual champion was Acikalin Leon from Arizona Christian University, who carded an overall score of 199 on the par 70 course. He shot 66 in the first round and followed-up with scores of 67 and 66, as he concluded the tournament at 11-under. Leon won by five strokes. Trevor Lewis from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University (Ariz.) placed second at 204 with scores of 70, 66, and 68.
Yuki Bannai from Pomona-Pitzer (Calif.) was third on the individual leaderboard at 205 (69-67-69). Weirth of Willamette and Joshua Fambro of Redlands tied for fourth place at 207. Weirth carded 67-69-71, while Fambro shot 66-72-69. Spender Leader from Redlands took sixth at 208 (71-70-67) and Yuefeng (Michael) Ma of Claremont-Mudd-Scripps (Calif.) shot 209 (67-72-70) to claim seventh place.
Evan Perez and Zhao Yung Gu, both from Schreiner University (Texas), tied for eighth place at 210. Perez registered 71-71-68, while Gu shot 71-66-73. Jake Sitterle from Schreiner was 10th at 211 (71-70-70).
Weirth led a strong performance by Willamette's entries in the tournament. Joining Weirth as contributors to the team score were Andrew Kibbee (Grad., Kenmore, WA/Bothell HS), Jack McMullin (Jr., Seattle, WA/Roosevelt HS), Paxton Jones (So., Wellington, NZ/Scots College), and Brock Olson (Fy., Kirkland, WA/Lake Washington HS). Lucas Paul (Fy., Salem, OR/South Salem HS) as an individual.
Kibbee and McMullin tied for 14th place with five other golfers at 214. Kibbee, who shot 76-71 in the two rounds on Monday, moved up from a tie for 38th place after carding a 3-under 67 in the third round. McMullin, who registered Willamette's low round of the tournament with a 66 in the second round, shot a 76 in the first round and a 72 in the third round.
Jones shot a 54-hole total of 216 (71-71-74) to share part of a six-way tie for 25th place. Olson carded a score of 221 (69-77-75). Paul also completed the three rounds at 221 (74-74-73).
Redlands at 843 and Willamette at 844 were followed in the team standings by Schreiner in third place at 845 (287-278-280). Pomona-Pitzer was fourth with a score of 847 (297-281-279), while Claremont-Mudd-Scripps placed fifth at 849 (279-292-278). Embry-Riddle took sixth place at 854 (288-282-284), California Lutheran University was seventh at 856 (295-286-275), and Arizona Christian placed eighth at 857 (288-282-287).
Also competing in the tournament were the University of La Verne in ninth place at 859 (285-288-286), Menlo College (298-291-290) from California and Whitworth University (302-294-283) tied for 10th at 879, Hope International University (Calif.) in 12th place at 888 (299-289-300), Whittier College (Calif.) in 13th at 898 (305-294-299), and the Redlands "B" team in 14th at 929 (300-310-319).
Willamette is set to participate in the Wildcat Invitational, hosted by Linfield University at Michelbook Country Club in McMinnville, Oregon, on Saturday, Sept. 24 and Sunday, Sept. 25.