BELLINGHAM, Wash. – The Western Washington University men's golf team added two more trophies to its collection, coming from behind to win the 47^th Annual WWU Invitational played Monday and Tuesday at Bellingham Golf & Country Club.
 
The Vikings started the day three strokes back of Chico State, but moved ahead of the Wildcats in the final round to win the home event for the first time since 2012. WWU improved each round of the 54-hole tournament, moving from third place after the first round (+1 289), to second place through 36 holes (-1 287) and then leapfrogged into the top spot with a 3-under-par 285 today.
 
"It was an outstanding team performance, improving each round, and keeping focused when things got tight near the end against a very tough field of competitors," said head coach Luke Bennett. "The guys were solid and everybody contributed from the first hole through the 54th hole."
 
WWU has won both of its tournaments this season, winning the Saint Martin's Invitational over the weekend by a 17-stroke margin. The pair of victories also earned the Vikings the first Pacific Northwest Champions Cup, a new award that recognized the low-scoring team of the 14 schools that competed in both the SMU and WWU Invitational.
 
"What a great start for a group that has big goals for the team," added Bennett. "The guys reported back to campus not only ready to play, but ready to play at a high level, and that showed winning back-to-back tournaments. I think this will motivate us moving forward to get even better, practice harder and keep improving where we need to improve."
 
The University of British Columbia and Cal State East Bay tied for third place in the 20-team field, with CSUEB turning in the low team round of the tournament with an 11-under-par 277 in Tuesday's final round.
 
Chico State's Josh McCollum earned individual medalist honors finishing at 9-under-par 207, a two-stroke victory over UBC's Andrew Harrison (-7, 209).
 
The Vikings had three players earn top-10 finishes, and all five players were in the top 30 of the 104-player field.
 
Senior Cody Roth (Bellingham, WA) fired a 3-under-par 69 in the final round to move up to fourth place, finishing at 4-under-par 212 for the tournament. Roth finished the tournament with 13 birdies, tied for fourth-most in the field. With four rounds of par or better to start the season, Roth also earned the individual Pacific Northwest Champions Cup with a combined score of 423 (-9) in the two tournaments.
 
"Cody is off to a rock-solid start…just very consistent and steady," said Bennett on his senior co-captain. "He had a great summer and he is determined to make his senior year memorable."
 
Freshman Jordan Lee (Tacoma, WA/Bellarmine Prep) tied for 5^th in the tournament at 2-under-par 214, firing a 1-over-par 73 in the final round. With the battle between WWU and Chico State going down to the wire, Lee closed out the tournament with a 20-foot birdie putt on the par-3 18^th hole to seal the victory for the Vikings.
 
"Jordan is off to a pretty good start in his college career…two tournaments and two wins," added Bennett. "He has been a great addition to the program, not only on the course, but with the team. Lucky to have him as a Viking."
 
Senior Nick Sparling (Dublin, OH/Dublin Coffman/Ohio State) moved up from 16^th place into the top 10 to tie for ninth at 1-over-par 217. Sparling opened his final round with a bogey, but was nearly flawless from that point on with a pair of birdies and 15 pars over the final 17 holes.
 
Senior co-captain Michael Butler (Sammamish, WA/Skyline) tied for 21^st at 5-over-par 221, with his final-round even-par 72 playing a key role helping secure the team victory. Junior Ethan Casto (Snohomish, WA) tied for 30^th at 6-over-par finishing with a 1-over-par 73.
 
"Our drop score today was 1-over-par…when you have that it means that the team is all moving in the same direction and feeding off each other on the course. There were moments when each of the five dug deep and had to come up clutch," said Bennett. "It is very early in the season, but I love what I see out of the guys and very proud of them for how they conducted themselves on the course and with their leadership during the two wins."
 
The Vikings are scheduled to return to action in two weeks at the Concordia Invitational that will be played Oct. 8-9 at Columbia Edgewater Country Club in Portland, Oregon. The complete fall and spring schedule, as well as historical information on the program, can be viewed at WWUVikings.com/MGolf.
 

Pos.	Team/Player	To Par	Rd 1	Rd 2	Rd 3	Total
1	Western Washington	-3	289	287	285	861
4	Cody Roth	-4	73	70	69	212
T5	Jordan Lee	-2	69	72	73	214
T9	Nick Sparling	+1	72	74	71	217
T21	Michael Butler	+5	75	74	72	221
T30	Ethan Casto	+6	78	71	73	222
T86	Brody Bonfilio (ind)	+18	83	75	76	234
Pos.	Team	To Par	Rd 1	Rd 2	Rd 3	Total
1.	Western Washington	-3	289	287	285	861
2.	Chico State	-1	284	289	290	863
3.	British Columbia	+6	290	288	292	870
	Cal State East Bay	+6	291	302	277	870
5.	Simon Fraser	+13	296	288	293	877
6.	Stanislaus State	+19	296	288	299	883
7.	Saint Martin's	+22	283	304	299	886
8.	Academy of Art	+25	294	298	297	889
	Colorado Christian	+25	302	293	294	889
	Cal State San Marcos	+25	294	298	297	889
11.	Concordia (OR)	+28	300	294	298	892
12.	Dixie State	+30	303	299	292	894
13.	Hawai'i Hilo	+31	291	306	298	895
14.	Holy Names	+32	297	304	295	896
15.	UC San Diego	+37	306	305	290	901
	Cal State San Bernardino	+37	302	301	298	901
17.	Northwest Nazarene	+41	303	300	302	905
18.	Montana State Billings	+58	300	304	318	922
19.	Victoria (BC)	+61	311	305	309	925
20.	Notre Dame De Namur	+81	318	322	305	945

  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.