LIVERMORE, Calif. – The Western Washington University men's golf team is tied for the tournament lead following the first round of the Nighthawks Invitational played Monday at Poppy Ridge Golf Course.

 

Having not played in over a year due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Vikings took the course Monday for the first round of the 14-team tournament hosted by Northwest Nazarene University. 

 

WWU shot a first-round team score of 19-over-par 307 and are tied atop the leaderboard with Sonoma State University, Cal State East Bay and Saint Martin's University.

 

Junior Aidan Thain (Bellevue, WA/Sammamish) leads the 78-player field after turning in an even-par 72. Junior Devin Andrews (Kirkland, WA/Juanita) is tied for 8^th place after shooting a 4-over-par 76 and freshman Drew Halili (Port Orchard, WA/South Kitsap) is tied for 24^th at 7-over-par 79.

 

"Aidan's round of even par was great. He kept the ball in play and managed the course very well today," said WWU Director of Golf Luke Bennett. "I look for him to do the same tomorrow."

 

The shortened 36-hole tournament will conclude Tuesday with the final round. The live leaderboard can be tracked via WWUVikings.com/MG_Live.

 

"Conditions were very challenging today, the wind never let up on the players," added Bennett. "But it was just so great to see the players out on the course competing and representing WWU."

 

Junior Aidan Thain holds a one-stroke lead heading into Tuesday's final round. He was the lone player in the 78-player field to fire a round of par-or-better, recording four birdies and four bogeys on Monday. Thain heads into the final round one shot better than Matt Fry of Dominican (+1, 73), and two strokes in front of Max Turnquist from Saint Martin's and Ryan Hong from Cal State East Bay.

 

 

Here is a look at WWU's individual results and the team leaderboard following Monday's first round of the Nighthawks Invitational hosted by Northwest Nazarene University:

 

 

Here is a complete look at the 2020-21 WWU Men's Golf schedule, which is subject to change at any time. Results following each round and any Live Leaderboard links will be posted on the homepage of WWU Golf at WWUVikings.com/MGolf.

 

 

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 16 NCAA 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.