PORTLAND, Ore. – The Western Washington University men's golf team had made it 3-for-3 in tournament victories to open the 2018-19 season, completing the Concordia Invitational with a 25-stroke victory in the 54-hole tournament played at Columbia Edgewater Country Club.
 
The No. 14 nationally-ranked Vikings recorded a 54-hole team score of 8-under-par 844, firing under par in all three rounds of the tournament, continuing a trend of 8 out of 9 rounds at or under par this season. WWU's closest competitor in the eight-team field was GNAC rival Simon Fraser, who was 25 strokes back at 17-over-par 869.
 
"It was a solid two days of golf for the guys," said head coach Luke Bennett. "They are playing with confidence and are feeding off each other. Just very solid, consistent golf from the team."
 
Freshman Jordan Lee (Tacoma, WA/Bellarmine Prep) led the tournament from wire-to-wire to win individual medalist honors finishing at 8-under-par 205. Lee shot a 1-over-par 72 in Tuesday's final round, after turning in rounds of 66 (-5) and 67 (-4) in Mondays first and second round. Lee led the 43-player field with 17 birdies.
 
"I was so impressed with Jordan's play this week," added Bennett. "It's hard to put into words how solid his game looked. He was extremely poised all tournament and handled any nerves he had very well."
 
All five of WWU's golfers were in the top 15, with senior Michael Butler (Sammamish, WA/Skyline) and junior Ethan Casto (Snohomish, WA) tying for 3^rd place at 1-over-par 214.
 
Senior Cody Roth (Bellingham, WA) finished 9^th at 5-over-par 218 and senior Nick Sparling (Dublin, OH/Dublin Coffman/Ohio State) tied for 13^th at 10-over-par 223.
 
Tournament host Concordia finished 3^rd behind Simon Fraser (+23, 875), with Northwest Nazarene (+80, 932) and Grays Harbor Community College (+82, 934) rounding out the top five.
 
Lee was eight strokes better than 2^nd-place finisher Jaxson Daskalos of Concordia, who finished at even-par 213.
 
WWU's individual scores and the complete team leaderboard from the Concordia Invitational are as follows:

 

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	-8	280	281	283	844
1	Jordan Lee	-8	67	66	72	205
T3	Michael Butler	+1	72	69	73	214
T3	Ethan Casto	+1	67	80	67	214
9	Cody Roth	+5	74	73	71	218
T13	Nick Sparling	+10	77	73	73	223
Pos.	Team	To Par	Rd 1	Rd 2	Rd 3	Total
1.	Western Washington	-8	280	281	283	844
2.	Simon Fraser	+17	288	290	291	869
3.	Concordia	+23	292	289	294	875
4.	Northwest Nazarene	+80	316	321	295	932
5.	Grays Harbor CC	+82	307	291	336	934
6.	Montana State Billings	+88	315	308	317	940
7.	Bellevue College	+99	314	324	313	951
8.	Northwest Nazarene (B)	+104	321	321	314	956

 
WWU returns to action at the Dixie State Trailblazer/Holiday Inn Fall Regional Preview next Monday-Tuesday (Oct. 15-16) at The Ledges Golf Club in St. George, Utah. The tournament serves as a preview for the 2019 NCAA II West/South Central Super Regional that will be held May 9-11. WWU is looking to make a 21^st consecutive appearance in the NCAA regional championships.
 
The complete fall and 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.