Feb. 13, 2017 First Round Results 
STOCKTON, Calif. - The Western Washington University men's golf team opened the spring season finishing the first round of The Visit Stockton Cactus Thaw in a tie for 7th place at Brookside Country Club.
The tournament serves as a preview of the upcoming NCAA II West/South Central Regional that will be held May 8-10. WWU has a string of 18 consecutive seasons advancing to the NCAA regional championships.
The Vikings shot a 3-over-par 291 to tie for 7th place in the 22-team field, 9 shots behind tournament leader Dominican (-6, 282). WWU was leading the field at 7-under-par through 15 holes (top four counting scores), but were 10-over par for the final 3 holes.
"There were some tough pin locations, brutal to be honest, and we just didn't have a strong finish today," said head coach Luke Bennett. "Overall I thought we played really well, just need to stay focused when we head into those final holes and execute our game plan."
Senior Jeffrey Marcum (Richland, WA/South Mountain CC) is in a tie for 6th place carding a 2-under-round of 70 on Monday. He was at 4-under-par before finishing the final three holes at 2-over par. Senior Brett Johnson (Ridgefield, WA/Oregon State) is also within striking distance in a tie for 16th place with a 1-under-par round of 71. Johnson recorded an eagle (#10), two birdies and three bogeys in his fifth round of par or better this season.
"I thought Jeff (Marcum) and Brett (Johnson) played really well today," said Bennett. "I thought our entire team did well today and can take some positives out of the round. We feel like we can put up a red number tomorrow and make up some ground."
Freshman Ethan Casto (Snohomish, WA) is tied for 38th after a 1-over-par 73 and senior Chris Hatch (Mukilteo, WA/Kamiak) is T93rd (+5, 77). Sophomore Nick Sparling (Dublin, OH/Ohio State) made his WWU debut shooting a 7-over-par 79.
Dominican's Drew Nelson holds the individual lead after carding a 5-under-par round of 67 on the 6,777-yard, par 72 layout. In all, 22 players in the 123-player field recorded a sub-par round.
The tournament concludes tomorrow with WWU scheduled to start teeing off at 8 am (from hole 10)
Here is a look at WWU's scores from the first day of the tournament and the complete team leaderboard:
The Visit Stockton Cactus Thaw! Brookside Country Club (Par 72 - 6,777 Yards) |
Pos. | Team/Player | | Rd 1 | Rd 2 | Total |
T7th | Western Washington | +3 | 291 | -- | 291 |
T6th | Jeffrey Marcum | -2 | 70 | -- | 70 |
T16th | Brett Johnson | -1 | 71 | -- | 71 |
T38th | Ethan Casto | +1 | 73 | -- | 73 |
T93rd | Chris Hatch | +5 | 77 | -- | 77 |
T108th | Nick Sparling | +7 | 79 | -- | 79 |
Pos. | Team | | Rd 1 | Rd 2 | Total |
1. | Dominican (CA) | -6 | 282 | -- | 282 |
2. | California Baptist | -2 | 286 | -- | 286 |
| Colorado Christian | -2 | 286 | -- | 286 |
4. | Stanislaus State | -1 | 287 | -- | 287 |
5. | Chico State | +1 | 289 | -- | 289 |
6. | Colorado State - Pueblo | +2 | 290 | -- | 290 |
7. | Western Washington | +3 | 291 | -- | 291 |
| BYU Hawaii | +3 | 291 | -- | 291 |
| Sonoma State | +3 | 291 | -- | 291 |
10. | CSU East Bay | +4 | 292 | -- | 292 |
11. | CSU San Bernardino | +6 | 294 | -- | 294 |
12. | SE Oklahoma State | +7 | 295 | -- | 295 |
13. | Colorado - CO Springs | +8 | 296 | -- | 296 |
| Colorado Mesa | +8 | 296 | -- | 296 |
| Western New Mexico | +8 | 296 | -- | 296 |
| Academy of Art | +8 | 296 | -- | 296 |
17. | Dixie State | +9 | 297 | -- | 297 |
18. | Regis | +10 | 298 | -- | 298 |
19. | Simon Fraser | +11 | 299 | -- | 299 |
20. | Holy Names (CA) | +13 | 301 | -- | 301 |
| UC San Diego | +13 | 301 | -- | 301 |
22. | Colorado Mines | +14 | 302 | -- | 302 |
-- @WWUMGolf--
