SAN FRANCISCO – The No. 6 nationally-ranked Western Washington University men's golf team staged an epic final round comeback to win the Bay Area Invitational that concluded Tuesday at TPC Harding Park.

 

WWU shot a final round team score of 6-under-par 282, erasing a nine-shot deficit to open the day after beginning the round in 4^th place. The victory is already the Vikings fourth in six tournaments of the 2018-19 season, which has moved the squad up to No. 3 in the Golfstat.com Relative Team Rankings and No. 6 in the NCAA Division II Coaches Poll.

 

"Today was a great team round and I am really proud of these guys," said WWU head coach Luke Bennett. "We know we have the ability, but our lack of preparation due to the weather heading into this tournament really tested the guys mentally. They showed their toughness and heart this week and love the performance they put together. It will be back to work tomorrow preparing for our next tournament."

 

The Vikings final-round score of 6-under-par 282 on the course that will host the 2020 PGA Championship was 10 strokes better than any other team on the course on Tuesday, with Dixie State next closest at 4-over-par 292. WWU finished the 54-hole tournament at 5-over-par 869, improving its team score with each round in the tournament. Sonoma State finished runner-up behind WWU six strokes back at 11-over-par 875 and Concordia dropped to third place at 10-over-par 876 after leading the first two days of the tournament.

 

Freshman Jordan Lee (Tacoma, WA/Bellarmine Prep) led the Vikings with a third-place finish at 2-under-par 214. The freshman opened the tournament with a 3-over-par 75, but came back strong with consecutive under-par rounds of 2-under-par 70 and 3-under-par 69 in Tuesday's final round. Lee recorded 12 birdies during the tournament, tied for third-most among the 76 players in the field.

 

"Jordan looked good all tournament and really gave a steady performance," said Bennett. "He hasn't played like a freshman at all and has been a big part of our lineup all season."

 

Senior Michael Butler (Sammamish, WA/Skyline) fired back-to-back one-under-par rounds of 71 to finish in a tie for 5^th place at even-par 216 for the tournament. Butler played the four par 5's exceptionally well, finishing 8-under-par on those holes for the best mark in the field.

 

Senior Nick Sparling (Dublin, Ohio/Dublin Coffman/Ohio State) tied for 15^th at 5-over-par 221. The senior bounced back from a 5-over-par 77 on Monday, equaling his opening-round score of even-par 72 on Tuesday. 

 

"Michael and Nick showed a lot of heart during the tournament," said Bennett. "They were strong and steady."

 

Junior Ethan Casto (Snohomish, WA) bounced back from hand injury sustained between the fall and spring seasons, carding a 2-under-par 70 in the final round to finish in a tie for 24^th place at 7-over-par 223. Senior Cody Roth (Bellingham, WA) tied for 30^th at 9-over-par 225 with rounds of 74-75-76.

 

Sonoma State's Devin Gregg recorded the lowest round of the tournament with a 5-under-par 67 in Tuesday's final round to earn a three-stroke victory for individual medalist honors at 6-under-par 210. Dixie State's Nicklaus Britt was three strokes back at 3-under-par 213 and WWU's Jordan Lee finished 3^rd at 2-under-par 214.

 

WWU's individual scores and the complete team leaderboard from the 2019 Bay Area Invitational are as follows:

 

 

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.

 

WWU is off next week and return to tournament action March 11-12 at the Notre Dame de Namur Argonaut Invitational that will be played at Poppy Ridge Golf Course in Livermore, California.

 

WWU's team victory at the Bay Area Invitational marked the fourth win of the season, joining the team titles at the Saint Martin's Men's Invitational (Sept. 21-22), WWU Invitational (Sept. 24-25) and the Concordia Invitational (Oct. 8-9). The four team wins are tied for fourth-most in program history and the most since five wins in 2010-11 and four wins in 2012-13. According to available data from Golfstat.com, WWU joins Grand Valley State as the only two teams in NCAA Division II with four tournament wins this season.

 

WWU has won four of six tournament so far this season, and have three regular-season tournaments remaining before the GNAC Championships that will be held April 22-23 at Coeur d'Alene Golf Resort in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho:

 

                                                                       

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.

 

-- @WWUMGolf --