By Robert McKinney, Assistant Athletics Director, Communications
SALEM, Ore. -- After 18 holes at the 2022 Northwest Conference Fall Classic on Saturday, Oct. 8 at the Creekside Golf Club, Willamette University's Andrew Kibbee (Grad., Kenmore, WA/Bothell HS) was tied for fourth place at 2-under par 70. Willamette was fourth in the team standings at 296. Whitworth University held first place as a team at 287, while Alexander Knox from Whitman College was first on the individual leaderboard at 4-under par 68. Action in the tournament will conclude on Sunday, Oct. 9, when the final round will be played.
Prior to the start of the tournament, construction near the 17th hole threatened to force a change in the schedule. Instead, a temporary green was prepared on the 17th hole and play proceeded as usual.
Knox owned a 1-stroke lead over Brendan Borck from George Fox University and Oliver Nordberg of Whitworth, as both finished the round tied for second at 3-under par 69. Kibbee's 70 was matched by two other golfers, as the tie for fourth also included Jacob Rawley of Whitworth and Jacob Smisson of Linfield University. A three-way tie for seventh with 71s featured Josh Cross of Pacific Lutheran University, Trevor Price from Linfield, and Drew Spitzer from the University of Puget Sound. Tenth place also was a three-way tie, which involved Joshua Clogston from PLU, Riley Lynch of Linfield, and Sam Pauly of Whitworth, all at 72.
Kibbee topped Willamette's scoring with his 2-under par effort. He registered five birdies, including four on his first seven holes (12th, 13th, 15th, 16th). All 45 golfers in the men's competition started on the 10th hole.
Willamette golfers Paxton Jones (So., Wellington, NZ/Scots College) and Brock Olson (Fy., Kirkland, WA/Lake Washington HS) were tied for 14th place for the Bearcats at 74. Olson produced three birdies and Jones earned two. Jack McMullin (Jr., Seattle, WA/Roosevelt HS) carded a 78 and Alex Weirth (Sr., Port Orchard, WA/Crosspoint Academy) shot an 81.
Whitworth's leading score of 1-under par 287 gave the Pirates a three stroke lead. Linfield ended the round in second place at 290 and Whitman was third at 294. Willamette in fourth place at 296 trailed the Blues by just two strokes. Pacific Lutheran was fifth at 304, while George Fox University and Puget Sound were tied for sixth place at 311. Pacific University was eighth at 322 and Lewis & Clark College was ninth with a score of 342.
Tee times for the second round will start at 9 a.m. (PDT) on Sunday and will continue until 11:20 a.m. Weirth is scheduled to begin for Willamette at 9:50 a.m., with McMullin starting at 10 a.m, and Olson following at 10:10 a.m. Jones has a tee time of 10:20 a.m. and Kibbee is slated to get underway at 10:30 a.m.
