BELLINGHAM, Wash. – With wins in back-to-back tournaments to open the 2018-19 season, the Western Washington University men's golf team earned a national No. 14 ranking in the first regular-season Bushnell Golfweek Division II Coaches Poll of the season.
WWU received 157 points in the poll, and claimed one of the 19 first-place votes. Three-time NCAA Division II national champion Barry University is No. 1 in the poll receiving 13 first-place votes, and the top seven teams in the rankings are all out of the state of Florida.
"It is early and there is still a lot golf to be played, however I very pleased with the effort and play of my guys to start the year," said head coach
Luke Bennett. "It has created some great momentum that we'll continue to build on."
The Vikings, who have advanced to the NCAA II Championships in each of the last 20 seasons, won the season-opening
Saint Martin's Invitational by a 17-stroke margin and continued the perfect start to the season with a
two-stroke win at the WWU Invitational earlier this week.
Senior co-captain
Cody Roth (Bellingham, WA) leads the team with a scoring average of 70.50 (-1.50 to par) and is tied for the team lead with four rounds of par or better. Senior
Nick Sparling (Dublin, OH/Dublin Coffman/Ohio State) also has turned in four rounds of par or better and is second with a 71.67 scoring average (-0.33 to par).
The Vikings are scheduled to return to tournament action Oct. 8-9 at the Concordia Invitational 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.
|
2018-19 WWU MEN'S GOLF SCORING STATISTICS
|
|
Name
|
Yr
|
Tour
|
Rds.
|
Avg.
Score
|
vs.
Par
|
Low
Rd.
|
In
60s
|
Par or
better
|
Finish
Pct.
|
Wins
|
Best
Finish
|
|
Cody Roth
|
Sr.
|
2
|
6.0
|
70.50
|
-1.50
|
67
|
2
|
4
|
98.0%
|
0
|
T2
|
|
Nick Sparling
|
Sr.
|
2
|
6.0
|
71.67
|
-0.33
|
69
|
1
|
4
|
93.4%
|
0
|
6
|
|
Michael Butler
|
Sr.
|
2
|
6.0
|
72.67
|
+0.67
|
71
|
0
|
3
|
86.8%
|
0
|
T7
|
|
Ethan Casto
|
Jr.
|
2
|
6.0
|
73.00
|
+1.00
|
69
|
1
|
3
|
80.7%
|
0
|
10
|
|
Jordan Lee
|
Fr.
|
2
|
6.0
|
73.50
|
+1.50
|
69
|
1
|
2
|
77.2%
|
0
|
T5
|
|
Brody Bonfilio
|
So.
|
2
|
6.0
|
77.83
|
+5.83
|
75
|
0
|
0
|
21.3%
|
0
|
T71
|
Here is a look at the current
Bushnell Golfweek Division II Coaches Poll:
|
Rk
|
SCHOOL
|
POINTS
|
PREVIOUS
|
|
1.
|
Barry (13)
|
416
|
3
|
|
2.
|
Florida Southern
|
379
|
4
|
|
3.
|
Lynn
|
313
|
2
|
|
4.
|
Saint Leo
|
312
|
9
|
|
5.
|
Nova Southeastern
|
299
|
6
|
|
6.
|
Florida Tech
|
285
|
5
|
|
7.
|
West Florida (4)
|
274
|
1
|
|
8.
|
Carson-Newman (1)
|
245
|
T16
|
|
9.
|
USC Aiken
|
234
|
7
|
|
10.
|
Arkansas Tech
|
198
|
11
|
|
11.
|
Indianapolis
|
193
|
T16
|
|
12.
|
Chico State
|
176
|
15
|
|
13.
|
Rollins
|
158
|
14
|
|
14.
|
Western Washington (1)
|
157
|
NR
|
|
15.
|
St. Marys (TX)
|
155
|
T21
|
|
16.
|
Lindenwood
|
145
|
NR
|
|
17.
|
Lincoln Memorial
|
141
|
10
|
|
18.
|
Young Harris
|
138
|
25
|
|
19.
|
Lander
|
134
|
20
|
|
20.
|
Newberry
|
127
|
12
|
|
21.
|
Limestone
|
125
|
8
|
|
22.
|
Valdosta State
|
108
|
NR
|
|
23.
|
Central Missouri
|
99
|
23
|
|
24.
|
Grand Valley State
|
82
|
T21
|
|
25.
|
Oklahoma Christian
|
79
|
NR
|
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.
