By Robert McKinney, Assistant Athletics Director, Communications
TACOMA, Wash. -- Willamette University finished in third place, just two strokes out of second and three strokes out of first, as the 2017 Northwest Conference Tournament concluded on Sunday, April 23 at the Tacoma Country & Golf Club. The Bearcats placed second in the overall NWC championship standings, two points behind Pacific Lutheran University.
"It was an amazing weekend for team golf," Willamette Head Coach Patrick Daugherty said. "We started really slow on Saturday, didn't get off to the greatest start. We've made up so much on day two all year. Even so, this was our biggest day. We were 15 strokes better today. We played nearly perfect golf, but we still came up just short.
"Even though our golfers are playing with different groups, when they pass each other, they're communicating and encouraging each other. It was electric. It was everything college golf is about ... it's what team golf is. I'm also so proud of our seniors and what they've done for the program."
PLU won the NWC Championship with 30 points, while Willamette took second with 26 points. The Lutes earned first place at the NWC Fall Classic and the NWC Spring Classic, before earning second place this weekend. Whitworth placed third in the overall standings with 22 points and Linfield was fourth with 19 points.
"I'm extremely proud that we have set a standard for out program to compete for conference championships and to be able to do that," Daugherty said. "It was a great year."
The NWC uses all three tournaments to determine the overall team champion. The NWC Fall Classic and the NWC Spring Classic are each worth one-fourth of the title, while the NWC Tournament is worth one-half of the title.
Whitworth won the NWC Tournament with a 36-hole score of 610. The Pirates were tied with Willamette for second place at 314 after the first round, but led the field with a score of 296 in the second round. Pacific Lutheran placed second at 611 (309-302) and Willamette was third at 613 (314-299).
Linfield College placed fourth at 627 (316-311). Lewis & Clark College earned fifth place at 630 (319-311), University of Puget Sound was sixth at 638 (324-314), George Fox University took sixth at 647 (326-321), Whitman College was seventh at 664 (335-329), and Pacific University finished ninth at 671 (343-328).
Bearcat golfers Trent Jones (So.) and Clark Wilson (Sr.) were two of three competitors tied for fifth place at 152. Jones carded an 80 in the first round and an even-par 72 in the second round. Wilson shot 78 in the first round, and followed up with a 74 in the second round. Kyle Drugge of Pacific Lutheran also tied for fifth after shooting 77-75.
Mitchell Baldridge from PLU won the individual NWC Tournament title at 147 after winning on the first playoff hole against Sam Stiles of Whitworth, who also shot 147. Baldridge recorded scores of 75 and 72, while Stiles carded a 79 before earning a tournament-low 68 on Sunday.
Drew Groshong of Leiws & Clark was third with a score of 149 (77-72). Robert Wang, also from L&C, was fourth at 151 (77-74).
The three-way tie for fifth was followed by two Whitworth golfers tied for eighth. They were Keegan Loo and Elijah Pittser, who both shot 78-75--153. Alex Plusquellec of George Fox took 10th place at 154 (82-72).
Kenneth Sheldon (So.) of Willamette placed 11th at 155. He shot 78-77. Sam Hinton (So.) was part of a three-way tie for 12th. He carded a score of 156 for the Bearcats on back-to-back rounds of 78. Peter Mitzel (Sr.) of Willamette was involved in a three-way tie for 15th at 157 (81-76). A total of 45 athletes competed in the tournament.
Jones was one of six golfers named First Team All-NWC, based on their performances at all three championship events. Joining Jones on the first team were Baldridge and Drugge of PLU, Groshong and Wang from L&C, and Stiles from Whitworth. Sheldon and Wilson each earned Second Team All-NWC honors.
Baldridge was named NWC Player of the Year. Stiles was chosen NWC Freshman of the Year.
