WAIKOLOA, Hawaii – The Western Washington University men's golf team closed out the 2018-19 fall season with a second-place finish at the 2018 Dennis Rose Intercollegiate Invitational played over the last three days at Waikoloa Kings' Course.
 
The Vikings concluded their five-tournament fall season with three wins, one runner-up and a 7^th-place finish (out of 27 teams) to earn a top-10 national ranking in both the Bushnell Golf Week Division II poll and the Golfstat Relative Team Rankings.
 
WWU was edged by tournament host Hawai'i Hilo, who recorded a 7-stroke team victory finishing the 54-hole tournament at 7-under-par 857 while playing on its home course. The Vikings recorded rounds of 280 (-8), 293 (+5) and 291 (+3) to finish the tournament at even-par 865, one stroke better than third-place Sonoma State (+1, 865). Stanislaus State and Colorado Christian tied for 4^th-place in the 15-team field at 4-over-par 868.
 
"Hats off to Hawai'i Hilo on a great tournament, both hosting and playing, as they had two players play extremely solid," said WWU head coach Luke Bennett. "After round one, I felt like we pressed a little too hard, and that happens in this game. I love the depth we have on this team and I know our best golf is still in front of us. I am very proud of the fall season these guys produced and excited to see what they can do in the spring."
 
Senior Nick Sparling (Dublin, OH/Dublin Coffman/Ohio State) capped off a great fall portion of the schedule with his fifth consecutive round of par or better, recording an even-par 72 in the final round. Sparking led WWU's 6-player contingent finishing in a tie for 5^th place in the 80-player field.
 
"Nick played very solid all week, and it could have been even better, which is great to build on," said Bennett. "He had a very solid fall and a great finish."
 
Senior Michael Butler (Sammamish, WA/Skyline) tied for 7^th place at 1-over-par 215, with rounds of 68-74-73.
 
Freshman Jordan Lee (Tacoma, WA/Bellarmine Prep) recorded another top 25 finish in a tie for 19^th place at 3-over-par 219 and senior Cody Roth (Bellingham, WA) finished at +4 (220) to tie for 23^rd place.
 
"It was great to see the guys battle, and see how Cody (Roth) finished so well. We needed that today," added Bennett. "Michael (Butler) was solid in this tournament from beginning to end."
 
Hawai'i Hilo senior Jared Kinoshita led wire-to-wire for a four-stroke victory over teammate Taylor Patrick, completing the tournament at 11-under-par 205. Kinoshita fired rounds of 65 (-7) on Monday, 72 (E) on Tuesday and 68 (-4) on Wednesday to take home individual medalist honors.
 
WWU is scheduled to return to action Feb. 25-26, 2019 with the Bay Area Invitational at TPC Harding Park in San Francisco, a three-round, 54-hole tournament hosted by the Academy of Art.
 
WWU's individual scores and the complete team leaderboard from the Dennis Rose Invitational are as follows:
 

2018 Dennis Rose Intercollegiate Invitational Waikoloa Kings' Course   / Waikoloa, HI  /  Par 72  8  7,074 Yards
Pos.	Team/Player	To Par	Rd 1	Rd 2	Rd 3	Total
2nd	Western Washington	E	280	293	291	864
T5	Nick Sparling	-2	70	72	72	214
T7	Michael Butler	-1	68	74	73	215
T19	Jordan Lee	+3	70	74	75	219
T23	Cody Roth	+4	72	76	72	220
T36	Brody Bonfilio (ind)	+9	73	79	73	225
T43	Ethan Casto	+12	81	73	74	228
Pos.	Team	To Par	Rd 1	Rd 2	Rd 3	Total
1.	Hawai'i Hilo	-7	282	287	288	857
2.	Western Washington	E	280	293	291	864
3.	Sonoma State	+1	282	299	284	865
4.	Stanislaus State	+4	292	286	290	868
	Colorado Christian	+4	293	289	286	868
6.	Cal State Monterey Bay	+5	299	287	283	869
7.	Dixie State	+15	298	290	291	879
8.	Academy of Art	+23	288	303	296	887
9.	Saint Martin's	+41	305	304	296	905
10.	Hawai'i Pacific	+48	313	289	310	912
11.	Biola	+55	305	305	309	919
12.	Notre Dame De Namur	+65	310	309	310	929
13.	Cal State Dominguez Hills	+68	305	312	315	932
14.	Chaminade	+84	311	325	312	948
15.	Hawai'i Hilo (B)	+89	314	318	321	953

 
Results from the fall season and the upcoming spring schedule, as well as historical information on the program, can be viewed at WWUVikings.com/MGolf.
  The WWU men's golf team has an incredible streak of advancing to the NCAA Championships in each of the 20 seasons the program has competed at the NCAA Division II level dating back to the 1998-99 season, including a 3^rd-place finish at the 2013 national championship. The program has produced 17 All-Americans and has won 8 of 10 Great Northwest Athletic Conference championships since the tournament debuted in 2008. The Vikings have also featured the GNAC Championships individual medalist in 7 of 11 tournaments, including 2018 champion Ethan Casto.