First & Second Round Results

COEUR d'ALENE, Idaho - The Western Washington University men's golf team is in 2nd place after the first two rounds of the 2017 Great Northwest Athletic Conference Championships played Monday at Coeur d'Alene Resort Golf Course.

Looking to repeat as GNAC champions, the Vikings trail first-place Concordia by 6 strokes heading into Tuesday's final round. Western turned in rounds of 292 (+8) and 289 (+5) for a 36-hole total of 581 on the par 71, 6,803-yard course that sits on the edge of Lake Coeur d'Alene.

While within striking distance of Concordia (+7, 575), the Vikings hold a narrow one-stroke lead over 3rd-place Simon Fraser (+14, 582) and are 5 strokes better than 4th-place Saint Martin's (+18, 586).

Senior Chris Hatch (Mukilteo, WA/Kamiak) is in 2nd place in the 30-player field with a 36-hole score of 4-under-par 138. Hatch recorded 3 birdies in an even-par round of 71 in the morning, and then came home with a 4-under-par 67 in the afternoon fueled by 5 birdies and one bogey. The three-time GNAC All-Star finished tied for 3rd at last year's GNAC Championships and was tied for 4th as a freshman.

"Chris played solid all spring and today was no different," added Bennett. "It was fun to watch him out there. He seemed very in control of his came from the start of his day."

Senior Jeffrey Marcum (Richland, WA) is tied for 9th at 4-over-par 146, firing rounds of 74 (+3) and 72 (+1) on the day.

Senior Brett Johnson (Ridgefield, WA) and sophomore Cody Roth (Bellingham, WA) are tied for 16th at 8-over-par (150). Sophomore Michael Butler (Sammamish, WA/Skyline) bounced back from a morning round of 8-over-par 79 to shoot a 3-over 74 and is tied for 24th place heading into Tuesday's final round.

The Vikings finished the first round in 3rd place with a team score of 8-over-par 292. Hatch led the WWU contingent finishing the first 18 holes at even par, closing out the final 7 holes of the round at 2-under-par. Roth shot a 2-over-par 73 to sit in a four-way tie for 9th place, while Johnson and Marcum closed out the four counting scores for the Vikings with matching scores of 3-over-par 74 (T13th).

WWU improved three strokes in the afternoon round with a 5-over-par 289. Hatch led the way with his 4-under-par 67, tying tournament leader Chris Crisologo (Simon Fraser) for the lowest round of the day.

Crisologo, the GNAC's leader in scoring average (71.5) holds a one stroke lead over Hatch completing the first two rounds at 5-under-par (137). Concordia's Nick Huff (-2, 140), Saint Martin's Austin Spicer (-1, 141) and Concordia's Dylan Cramer (E, 142) round out the top 5.

The tournament concludes Tuesday with the final 18 holes beginning at 7:30 am. WWU is scheduled to tee off from 8:25 to 9:09 am.

Fans and media can follow the final round leaderboard and team standings via Golfstat.

Here is a complete listing of WWU's competitors in the GNAC Championships and the complete team leaderboard: