PORTLAND, Ore. – The Western Washington University men's golf team picked right back up where it left off after a week off from competition, opening up a 17-stroke lead on the field after the first two rounds of the Concordia Invitational played Monday at Columbia Edgewater Country Club.
 
The No. 14 nationally-ranked Vikings turned in a team score of 7-under-par 561, with rounds of 280 (-4) in the morning and 281 (-3) in the afternoon on a rainy day in Portland. The Vikings, winners of the first two tournaments of the season, are 17 strokes ahead of second-place Simon Fraser (+10, 578) heading into Tuesday's final round, with tournament host Concordia in third place (+13, 581).
 
"I am really happy with how the guys battled through tough conditions today," said head coach Luke Bennett. "It rained from start to finish and the rough was brutal, but the guys hung in there and got great results."
 
Freshman Jordan Lee (Tacoma, WA/Bellarmine Prep) torched the par 71, 6,823-yard layout with rounds of 67 (-4) and 66 (-5) to hold the lead for individual medalist honors at 9-under-par 133. Lee led the 43-player field with 12 birdies, and made only three bogeys over the 36 holes. Lee holds a three-shot lead over second-place Adam Quandt (-6, 236, 68-68) of Concordia.
 
"It was a really special day of solid golf from Jordan," added Bennett. "He managed his game extremely well and poured in a bunch of putts today."
 
Senior Michael Butler (Sammamish, WA/Skyline) is tied for 3^rd at 1-under-par after rounds of 72 (+1) and 69 (-2) to sit at 141 for the tournament. Junior Ethan Casto (Snohomish, WA) is also in the top 10 at 4-over-par 146 to tie for 8^th place.
 
Tuesday's final round is set to begin with an 8 am shotgun start, with the Vikings paired with Simon Fraser and Concordia starting on holes 1-5.
 
WWU's scores and the team leaderboard after the first two rounds of the Concordia Invitational are as follows:

The complete fall and spring schedule, as well as historical information on the program, can be viewed at WWUVikings.com/MGolf.
 

2018 Concordia Invitational Columbia Edgewater Country Club   8 Portland, OR  8  Par 71  8  6,823 Yards
Pos.	Team/Player	To Par	Rd 1	Rd 2	Rd 3	Total
1st	Western Washington	-7	280	281	--	561
1	Jordan Lee	-9	67	66	--	133
T3	Michael Butler	-1	72	69	--	141
T8	Ethan Casto	+4	67	79	--	146
T11	Cody Roth	+5	74	73	--	147
T18	Nick Sparling	+8	77	73	--	150
Pos.	Team	To Par	Rd 1	Rd 2	Rd 3	Total
1.	Western Washington	-7	280	281	--	561
2.	Simon Fraser	+10	288	290	--	578
3.	Concordia	+13	292	289	--	581
4.	Grays Harbor CC	+30	307	291	--	598
5.	Montana State Billings	+55	315	308	--	623
6.	Northwest Nazarene	+69	316	321	--	637
7.	Bellevue College	+70	314	324	--	638
8.	Northwest Nazarene (B)	+74	321	321	--	642

  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.