By Robert McKinney, Assistant Athletics Director, Communications
McMINNVILLE, Ore. -- Willamette University registered a team score of 302 for the second day in a row to move into second place in the final standings of the Northwest Conference Fall Classic in men's golf, as the tournament concluded on Sunday, Oct. 14 at Michelbook Country Club. The Bearcats earned a final score of 604, as they finished four strokes behind Whitworth University, which won the team title at 600 (295-305). Willamette's 302 on Sunday was the low score of the second round, while Whitworth's 295 on Saturday was the low round of the tournament.
Austin Davis (Fr., Culver City, CA/Culver City HS) and Andrew Kibbee (Fr., Kenmore, WA/Bothell HS), both from Willamette, tied Tom Hoyne of Whitman College for fourth place, as all three golfers shot 149 for 36 holes. Davis and Kibbee each carded 76-73. Hoyne shot 77-72.
Whitworth's score of 600 and Willamette's score of 604 led the field. Pacific Lutheran University was third at 607 (298-309), while George Fox University placed fourth at 612 (306-306). Linfield College was fifth with a score of 625 (317-308), University of Puget Sound took sixth at 633 (318-315), Lewis & Clark College was seventh at 650 (336-314), Pacific University placed eighth at 671 (335-336) and Whitman was ninth at 688 (344-344).
The NWC Fall Classic is one of three tournaments used to determine the overall NWC champion. The Fall Classic is worth one-fourth of the overall title and the NWC Spring Classic also is worth one-fourth. The NWC Tournament at the end of the spring season counts for one-half of the title. Whitworth leads the current standings with 8 points, followed by Willamette with 7, Pacific Lutheran with 6, George Fox with 5, Linfield with 4, Puget Sound with 3, Lewis & Clark with 2, Pacific with 1 and Whitman with 0.
"Michelbook played difficult this weekend," Willamette Head Coach Patrick Daugherty said. "The wind felt like it was coming from just about everywhere, and the greens were lightning fast. We had great sunshine and dry weather. We put ourselves in a hole after day one. Being seven strokes out, we knew we had to make up some ground. The guys cut the lead to three strokes after nine holes today, and they did a great job all weekend keeping it simple and keeping it positive. I'm very happy that we moved into second place today."
Jordan Brajcich from Pacific Lutheran grabbed the individual title by one stroke with a score of 144. He shot a blistering 68 in the first round -- three strokes better than any other golfer in either round -- and then carded a 76 in the second round. Derrick Phelps of Whitworth, who was in third place after the first round with a 72, shot a 73 in the second round to take second overall at 145, just one stroke off the pace. Mason Koch of GFU was third at 146 (73-73). The three-way day between Davis, Kibbee and Hoyne followed three strokes behind Koch.
Joshua Lackey of George Fox placed seventh at 150. He was in second place with a 71 on Saturday, before shooting a 79 in the second round. Colin Rajczak of Puget Sound, who registered an 80 in the first round, improved to a 71 in the second round and took eighth overall at 151. Trent Jones (Sr., Kenmore, WA/Shorecrest HS) of Willamette, along with Jackson Hval from Linfield and Keegan Loo of Whitwroth, tied for ninth place at 152. Jones shot 74-78, while Hval shot 77-75 and Loo shot 73-79.
Also competing for Willamette were Sam Hinton (Sr., Seaside, OR/Seaside HS) and Kenneth Sheldon (Sr., Ocean Park, WA/Ilwaco HS). Hinton carded a 154 (76-78) to place 18th. Sheldon shot 159 (81-78) and finished in a two-way tie for 25th. A total of 44 golfers competed in the tournament.
Big Moment of the Round for Willamette
A photo of head coach Patrick Daugherty is located at
the left to represent the five-man team and the efforts
of the Bearcats on the back nine during the second round.
Willamette had nine birdies over the final nine holes, giving
the Bearcats a total of 13 birdies on the day. The strong
back nine allowed Willamette to pass Pacific Lutheran and
take second place.
