GOODYEAR, Ariz. – Western Washington University junior Ethan Casto holds the individual lead and the No. 6 nationally-ranked Vikings are tied for 3^rd in the 23-team field following the first two rounds of the Mustang Intercollegiate played Monday at Palm Valley Golf Club.

 

WWU turned in impressive rounds of 281 (-7) and 280 (-8) on the par 72, 7,015-yard layout situated 30 miles West of Phoenix. The Vikings are tied with Dixie State at 15-under-par 561, six strokes back of tournament leader Colorado School of Mines (-21, 276-279=555). Chico State is in 2^nd place at 19-under-par 557.

 

"Today was a little up and down and their patience was tested throughout the day," said WWU head coach Luke Bennett. "I'm really proud of the way they played their last couple holes in the afternoon round to close out the day."

 

Western has now turned in a team score of par or better in 16 of 25 rounds this season, the most during the Golfstat era (since 1993-94) of the program.

 

Casto, a junior out of Snohomish, recorded 16 birdies en route to his 12-under-par performance in the first 36 holes of the 54-hole tournament. Casto fired rounds of 65 (-7) and 67 (-5) for a 36-hole score of 132 to hold a one-stroke lead over Chico State's Josh McCollum heading into Tuesday's final round. Casto's first round featured nine birdies, falling one stroke short of his career-low round of 64 set on the same course at last year's Mustang Intercollegiate. The 7-under-par 65 is tied for 8^th-lowest in program history relative to par.

 

"Ethan was fantastic, he looked great from start to finish," added Bennett.

 

Freshman Jordan Lee and senior Nick Sparling are tied for 33^rd in the 120-player field at 1-under-par 143. Senior Michael Butler fired a second-round 1-under-par 71 that was capped by an eagle on his final hole of play to sit in 69^th place at 3-over-par 147.

 

As a team the Vikings recorded 42 pars, tied for 3^rd-most among the tournament field and played the four par 5 holes at a combined 24-under-par to lead the field. Casto's 16 birdies are tied for the most and senior Cody Roth (+4, 148) paced the field with 30 pars.

 

The 23-team tournament field features eight teams ranked in the top 50 in the nation in the Golfstat Relative Team Rankings (as of April 3), with WWU entering the tournament at No. 4, Chico State No. 6, Midwestern State No. 21 and host Western New Mexico No. 23.

 

Tuesday's final round will have a staggered start on holes No. 1 and No. 10 with all teams on the course by 9:13 am. WWU is scheduled to start at 7:47 am on the first hole, with final round pairings available on Golfstat. The final round can be tracked via Golfstat Live Result atWWUVikings.com/MG_Live.  

 

WWU's individual scores and the complete team leaderboard from the first two rounds of the Mustang Intercollegiate are as follows:

 

 

WWU has won five of eight tournaments in 2018-19, and placed in the top four in seven of the eight tournaments. The Mustang Intercollegiate is the final regular-season tournament 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.