By Robert McKinney, Assistant Athletics Director, Communications
SALEM, Ore. – Willamette University remained at #14 when the latest Bushnell/Golfweek NCAA Division III Coaches Poll for men's golf was released on Friday, Nov. 19. The Bearcats concluded their fall season by placing second in the team standings at the Bushnell Invitational on Oct. 17-18. Willamette experienced significant success during the fall by winning the Linfield Fall Invitational, the George Fox Invitational, and the Northwest Conference Fall Classic.
The Bearcats opened the season by finishing 12th out of 24 teams at the prestigious NCAA Division III Preview on Sept. 21 at Mission Inn Resort at Howey-in-the-Hills, Florida.
Austin Davis (Sr., Culver City, CA/Culver City HS) of Willamette grabbed the individual championship at the Linfield Fall Invitational. Alex Weirth (Sr., Port Orchard, WA/Crosspoint Academy) from Willamette won the NWC Fall Classic title on a playoff hole against teammate Andrew Kibbee (Sr., Kenmore, WA/Bothell HS).
In this week's NCAA Division III Poll, the top six places remained the same. Emory University (Ga.) stayed at #1 with 274 points and 10 first place votes. Methodist University (N.C.) followed at #2 with 261 points. Huntingdon College (Ala.) was #3 with 240 points, narrowly in front of Claremont-Mudd-Scripps (Calif.) at #4 with 237 points. Illinois Wesleyan University was #5 at 227 and Carnegie Mellon University (Pa.) was #6 at 209. Babson College (Mass.) moved up one spot to #7 with 204 points and also received one first place vote. Wittenberg University (Ohio) dropped one spot to #8 with 192 points.
Whitworth University from the Northwest Conference advanced two positions from #20 up to #18. Another NWC opponent, Whitman College, fell from a tie for 24th into sole possession of 25th in the poll.
In 2020-21, Willamette won the overall Northwest Conference Championship and received a bid to the NCAA Division III Championship. The Bearcats tied for 11th in the nation in the team standings at the NCAA Tournament while Andrew Kibbee (Sr., Kenmore, WA/Bothell HS) tied for 15th place on the individual leaderboard.
