By Robert McKinney, Assistant Athletics Director, Communications
LA VERNE, Calif. -- The Willamette University men's golf team finished in fourth place at the prestigious West Cup, as the tournament concluded on Tuesday, March 26 at the Sierra La Verne Country Club. The Bearcats were led by Kenneth Sheldon (Sr., Ocean Park, WA/Ilwaco HS), who tied for sixth place in the individual standings with a 54-hole total of 221.
Claremont-Mudd-Scripps (Calif.) won the team championship with a score of 874. The Stags shot 304 in the first round, 284 in the second round, and 286 in the third round. University of Redlands (Calif.) placed second at 883 (296-294-293). La Verne University, which led the field after two rounds, fell into third place at 889 (291-295-303). Willamette followed in fourth place at 906 (298-303-305).
The Bearcats earned the top finish by a Northwest Conference team. Pacific Lutheran was in front of Willamette for much of the tournament, but ended the event in fifth place at 908 (300-298-310). Whitworth University took sixth place at 915 (304-314-297). George Fox University tied for 12th out of 16 teams, as the Bruins attained a score of 936 (310-317-309).
Medalist honors went to Ken Kong from Claremont-Mudd-Scripps. He registered a score of 1-under-par 212. He carded a 75 in the first round and then earned back-to-back sub-70 scores at 68 and 69. Kong's 68 in the second round on Monday was the low round of the tournament.
Sheldon was joined by Willamette teammates Trent Jones (Sr., Kenmore, WA/Shorecrest HS), Andrew Kibbee (Fr., Kenmore, WA/Bothell HS), Austin Davis (Fr., Culver City, CA/Culver City HS) and Sam Hinton (Sr., Seaside, OR/Seaside HS) in helping the Bearcats place fourth overall. Jones tied for 28th at 229 after shooting 74-78-77. Kibbee tied for 36th with a score of 232 (77-75-80). Davis shot 234 (74-78-82), while Hinton carded 236 (86-73-77).
"The guys played well," Willamette Head Coach Patrick Daugherty said. "I'm proud of the way they competed. Congrats to Kenneth on his 6th place finish. Our team finishing in the top five means a lot at the West Cup."
Kong's winning score of 212 was followed by Austin Long, also from CMS, who took second at 219 (75-73-761). Hisham Hussein of La Verne, Mason Koch of George Fox, and Jake Hollander from Redlands tied for third place at 220. Hussein carded 74-73-73, while Koch shot 73-77-70 and Hollander recorded 75-73-72.
Sheldon, who shot 73-77-71, was tied with three golfers for sixth place at 221. Tied with Sheldon were Derrick Phelps of Whitworth (74-73-74), Alex Wrenn of CMS (74-70-77) and Jared Beals of Pacific Lutheran (73-73-75). A total of 83 golfers competed in the tournament.
Willamette will participate in the Northwest Conference Spring Classic at Olympia Golf and Country Club in Olympia, Washington, on April 13-14. Pacific Lutheran will be hosting the event.
Big Moment of the Day for Willamette
Kenneth Sheldon continued his strong play at the West Cup
by shooting a 71 in the final round on Tuesday. It was the
low round of the tournament for the Bearcats, and it helped
Sheldon tie for sixth place at 221 (73-77-71). His efforts
also contributed to Willamette finishing fourth in the team
standings at the prestigious 54-hole tournament.
