PLEASANTON, Calif. – Led by another top-10 finish from senior Ethan Casto, the Western Washington University men's golf team moved up two spots in the final round to finish in 6^th place at the Bay Area Invitational.

 

WWU carded a final round team score of 8-over-par 296 for the second-lowest round of the day on the par 72, 7,020-yard The Club at Ruby Hill. The Vikings started the day in 8^th place, but jumped two spots to place 6^th with a three-round team score of 26-over-par 890. Cal State East Bay recorded a three-stroke victory over Chico State to take the team title.

 

Casto tied for 6^th place in the 86-player field finishing at 3-over-par 219 for the tournament. He turned in rounds of 74 (+2), 69 (-3) and 76 (+4) to record his sixth top-10 finish out of seven tournament this season.

 

Junior Brody Bonfilio made the biggest jump up the leaderboard on Tuesday, climbing from 55^thplace into a tie for 22^nd with his final round 3-under-par 69. Bonfilio finished the tournament with a team-best 11 birdies, including five in Tuesday's final round. He was one of only two golfers to record a sub-70 round on Tuesday, joining Chico State's Nicholas Caputo (-5, 67).

 

Sophomore Jordan Lee tied for 22^nd place finishing with a 2-over-par 74 in the final round. Sophomores Devin Andrews (+12, 228) and Aidan Thain (+13, 229) rounded out the WWU contingent.

 

"The course played a little tougher today because of the wind," said WWU head coach Luke Bennett. "It was great to see the guys battle from beginning to end today. Brody had a nice bounce back round to post a very solid final round score."

 

Viktor Ölund out of Concordia (OR) took home individual medalist honors finishing the tournament at 4-under-par 212, edging Caputo by two strokes.

 

Here is a look at the final team and WWU results from the Bay Area Invitational played Monday and Tuesday at the par 72, 7,020-yard The Club at Ruby Hill.

 

 

The Vikings will take most of the next month off from competition, resuming the spring season March 30-31 at the Hanny Stanislaus Invitational hosted by Stanislaus State University in Turlock, California.

 

Here is a look at the remainder of the 2019-20 season schedule and how the Vikings have finished so far in the five fall and two spring tournaments:

 

 

Fans can follow the WWU Men's Golf program online at WWUVikings.com/MGolf, and via social media on Twitter (@WWUGolf), Instagram (@wwugolf) and Facebook (@WWUMGolf).

 

The WWU men's golf team has an incredible streak of advancing to the NCAA Championships in each of the 21 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.