SAN FRANCISCO – The No. 6 nationally-ranked Western Washington University men's golf team moved up one spot to fourth place after the second round of play at the Bay Area Invitational on Monday at TPC Harding Park.
The Vikings improved three strokes over their team score from Sunday's first round, carding a 4-over-par 292 on Monday. WWU is three strokes back of third-place Cal State East Bay and seven strokes back of second-place Sonoma State. GNAC member Concordia leads the 14-team field at 2-over-par 578.
Freshman Jordan Lee fired a 2-under-par 70 with five birdies on Monday, moving up to a tie for 11th place at 1-over-par 145 for the tournament. Lee is tied for fourth in the field with 7 birdies. Senior Michael Butler is also tied for 11th in the 76-player field at 1-over-par, turning in rounds of 74 (+2) on Sunday and 71 (-1) on Monday. Butler has played the four par 5 holes at 5-under-par for the tournament, tied for the best mark amongst the field.
"Michael and Jordan played very solid today," said WWU head coach Luke Bennett. "The wind really picked up on the back nine today and made putting tricky. We are focused on putting together a solid team round tomorrow with the goal of moving up the leaderboard."
Senior Nick Sparling slipped from the top 10 to a tie for 30th place after shooting a 5-over-par 77 on Monday, snapping his string of six consecutive rounds of par or better going back to the fall season. He stands tied for 30th at 5-over-par 149 after shooting a 77 on Monday.
Senior Cody Roth is also tied for 30th place at 5-over-par 149 (74-75) and junior Ethan Casto is tied for 52ndplace at 9-over-par 153.
UC San Diego's Hayden Hull leads the field at 3-under-par 141, with Concordia's Luke Travins and Riley Killip tied for 2nd at 2-under-par 142.
The final round of the three-day, 54-hole tournament on the par 72, 6,845-yard layout is scheduled to begin with a 9 am shotgun start, with the Vikings teeing off holes 17 (Casto), 18 (Sparling and Roth) and 1 (Lee and Butler).
WWU's individual scores and the complete team leaderboard following Monday's second round of the Bay Area Invitational are as follows:
|
2019 Bay Area Invitational
Host: Academy of Art
TPC Harding Park 8 San Francisco 8 Par 72 8 6,845 Yards
|
|
Pos.
|
Team/Player
|
To Par
|
Rd 1
|
Rd 2
|
Rd 3
|
Total
|
|
4th
|
Western Washington
|
+11
|
295
|
292
|
--
|
587
|
|
T11
|
Michael Butler
|
+1
|
74
|
71
|
--
|
145
|
|
T11
|
Jordan Lee
|
+1
|
75
|
70
|
--
|
145
|
|
T30
|
Nick Sparling
|
+5
|
72
|
77
|
--
|
149
|
|
T30
|
Cody Roth
|
+5
|
74
|
75
|
--
|
149
|
|
T52
|
Ethan Casto
|
+9
|
77
|
76
|
--
|
153
|
|
Pos.
|
Team
|
To Par
|
Rd 1
|
Rd 2
|
Rd 3
|
Total
|
|
1.
|
Concordia (OR)
|
+2
|
280
|
298
|
--
|
578
|
|
2.
|
Sonoma State
|
+4
|
287
|
293
|
--
|
580
|
|
3.
|
Cal State East Bay
|
+8
|
293
|
291
|
--
|
584
|
|
4.
|
Western Washington
|
+11
|
295
|
292
|
--
|
587
|
|
5.
|
UC San Diego
|
+13
|
297
|
292
|
--
|
589
|
|
6.
|
Holy Names
|
+20
|
300
|
296
|
--
|
596
|
|
|
Saint Martin's
|
+20
|
294
|
302
|
--
|
596
|
|
|
British Columbia
|
+20
|
299
|
297
|
--
|
596
|
|
9.
|
Academy of Art
|
+21
|
303
|
294
|
--
|
597
|
|
10.
|
Dixie State
|
+23
|
299
|
300
|
--
|
599
|
|
11.
|
Cal State Dominguez Hills
|
+24
|
298
|
302
|
--
|
600
|
|
12.
|
Hawai'i Hilo
|
+27
|
304
|
299
|
--
|
603
|
|
13.
|
Dominican (CA)
|
+30
|
305
|
301
|
--
|
606
|
|
14.
|
Notre Dame de Namur
|
+56
|
322
|
310
|
--
|
632
|
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 3rd-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.
-- @WWUMGolf --
