ST. GEORGE, Utah – The Western Washington University men's golf team had a strong finish in the first round of the 2019 NCAA Division II West/South Central Regional Championships on Thursday completing the first 18 holes of the 54-hole tournament in 9^th place in the 20-team field.  
 
WWU is in 9^th place after shooting a first-round 7-over-par 295 on the par 72 The Ledges Golf Club in St. George, Utah. Starting on the 10^th team in the afternoon wave of tee times, the Vikings played their final nine holes at 2-over-par as a team to solidify their spot inside the top 10 heading into Friday's second round.
 
The top four teams in the 20-team tournament will move on to the NCAA Championships that will be played May 20-24 in Daniels, West Virginia. WWU entered the championships as the No. 2 seed in the West Region and ranked No. 4 nationally after winning six out of 10 tournaments leading up to NCAA II Regional.
 
Tournament host Dixie State shot a 5-under-par 283 in the first round and holds a four-stroke lead over UC San Diego and Sonoma State. WWU is in a tight-pack in the middle of the field with 10 teams separated by just nine strokes. 

"Today was not our best effort, but I am glad they tee off first thing tomorrow to get right back in the saddle," said head coach Luke Bennett. "This is a team that knows what they are capable, now it's time to go do it."
 
Senior Cody Roth (Bellingham, WA) finished the first round at even-par 72 to lead the Vikings five-player contingent. After shooting even-par 36 on his first nine holes, Roth moved to 2-over-par with a bogey and double-bogey on holes No. 2 and No. 3. The First Team All-GNAC selection birdied two of his final three holes, and was 2-under-par over his last 6 holes to finish with his even-par round. He is tied for 17^th place heading into the second round.
 
Senior Nick Sparling (Dublin, OH/Dublin Coffman/Ohio State) carded a 1-over-par 73 in a steady round that included three birdies and four bogeys. The First Team All-GNAC selection is tied for 23^rdheading into Friday's second round.
 
Sophomore Brody Bonfilio (Boise, ID/Bishop Kelly) and freshman Jordan Lee (Tacoma, WA/Bellarmine Prep) both turned in 3-over-par rounds of 75. Junior Ethan Casto (Snohomish, WA) was the drop score for the team after shooting an 11-over-par 83.
 
A total of 16 players in the 108-player field recorded a first-round score under par, led by St. Edward's sophomore Ben Constancio who shot a 6-under-par 66.
 
Friday's second round is scheduled to start at 7:30 am MT/6:30 am PT with the Vikings in the first pairings of the day off the first tee.
  Here is a look at the first round results from Thursday at the NCAA II West/South Central Super Regional:
 

2019 NCAA II West/South Central Regional Championships The Ledges Golf Club  »  St George, Utah Par 72  »  7,145 Yards
Pos.	Team/Player	To Par	Rd 1	Rd 2	Rd 3	Total
9th	Western Washington	+7	295	--	--	295
T17	Cody Roth	E	72	--	--	72
T23	Nick Sparling	+1	73	--	--	73
T46	Brody Bonfilio	+3	75	--	--	75
T46	Jordan Lee	+3	75	--	--	75
T104	Ethan Casto	+11	83	--	--	83
Pos.	Team	To Par	Rd 1	Rd 2	Rd 3	Total
1.	Dixie State	-5	283	--	--	283
2.	UC San Diego	-1	287	--	--	287
	Sonoma State	-1	287	--	--	287
4.	St. Edward's	+2	290	--	--	290
5.	Western New Mexico	+3	291	--	--	291
	Cal State East Bay	+3	291	--	--	291
7.	Oklahoma Christian	+5	293	--	--	293
	Midwestern State	+5	293	--	--	293
9.	Western Washington	+7	295	--	--	295
10.	Simon Fraser	+8	296	--	--	296
11.	Arkansas - Fort Smith	+10	298	--	--	298
12.	Chico State	+11	299	--	--	299
	Colorado School of Mines	+11	299	--	--	299
14.	Cal State Monterey Bay	+12	300	--	--	300
15.	Holy Names	+14	302	--	--	302
16.	St. Mary's (TX)	+15	303	--	--	303
	Concordia (OR)	+15	303	--	--	303
18.	Colorado Mesa	+16	304	--	--	304
	Stanislaus State	+16	304	--	--	304
20.	Lubbock Christian	+23	311	--	--	311

The NCAA Division II West/South Central Regional Championships features live scoring updates via Golfstat for all three rounds of the tournament. Complete results will be posted to WWUVikings.comfollowing the completion of each round.
 
»       Live Leaderboard
»       Second Round Pairings
»       Tournament Central
»       NCAA II Men's Golf Championships Program
»       The Ledges Golf Club
  Here are the tee times for the Vikings in Friday's second round, with the Vikings first off the No. 1 tee at 7:30 am MT/6:30 am PT in the first pairings of the morning wave. Times listed below are mountain time (one hour ahead of Pacific): 
 
»       Brody Bonfilio (7:30 am)
»       Nick Sparling (7:40 am
»       Ethan Casto (7:50 am)
»       Cody Roth (8:00 am)
»       Jordan Lee (8:10 am)
                                                            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 9 of 12 Great Northwest Athletic Conference championships since the tournament debuted in 2008, including the 2019 title. The Vikings have also featured the GNAC Championships individual medalist in 8 of 12 tournaments, including 2018 champion Ethan Casto and 2019 champion Brody Bonfilio.