LIVERMORE, Calif. – The Western Washington University men's golf team opened the 2020-21 season winning the team title at the Nighthawks Invitational.
 
The Vikings finished the two-day, 36-hole tournament at Poppy Ridge Golf Course at 34-over-par 610, shooting a team round of 15-over-par 303 for a four-strike improvement from Monday's first round.
 
WWU was one of the first teams on the course with a 7:30 am tee time due to travel, and did not find out they had finished atop the leaderboard until their plane was about to take off back to Bellingham.
 
Western's final tournament total equaled Sonoma State University, but the Vikings won a three-step tiebreaker. Since both teams had matching team totals in the first and second rounds (307 and 303), the deciding factor was a scorecard playoff for hole No. 8 at Poppy Ridge. WWU had 21 total strokes on the 452-yard par 4, compared to the Seawolves' 24.
 
Both WWU and SSU finished two strokes better than Cal State East Bay and Academy of Art. The Vikings entered the final round in a four-way tie for first place with SSU, CSUEB and Saint Martin's.
 
"The guys grinded on a challenging course in very tough conditions, and came away with a really great result," said WWU Direct of Golf Luke Bennett. "I am very pleased with the start to the season, but we also found areas we need to improve on as we head into a tough stretch of tournaments. Any time you take the course in a tournament and get a win is a great thing, and even though we didn't play our best, what a way to start the season."
 
The Vikings were led by a pair of top-10 finishes from juniors Aidan Thain (Bellevue, WA/Sammamish) and Devin Andrews (Kirkland, WA/Juanita).
 
Thain tied for 3^rd in the 78-player field at 4-over-par 148, turning rounds of even-par 72 on Monday and 4-over-par 76 Tuesday. The left-hander recorded nine birdies over the 36-hole tournament to rank second in the field. Andrews had consistent rounds of 76 (+4) and 75 (+3) to finish at 7-over-par 151 to tie for 8^th place.
 
"Really solid tournaments from start to finish for Aidan and Devin," added Bennett. "They set the tone, were consistent and led the way."
 
Junior Brody Bonfilio (Boise, ID/Bishop Kelly) recorded a five-stroke improvement in the final round with a 3-over-par 75 to tie for 21^st place (+11, 80-75=155) and second-year freshman Drew Halili (Port Orchard, WA/South Kitsap) tied for 23^rd place at 12-over-par (79-77=156).
 
Julius Kreutzer of Academy of Art won individual medalist honors finishing at 2-over-par 146 for the tournament, with a 3-under-par 69 Tuesday pushing him atop the leaderboard.
  Here is a look at WWU's individual results and the final team leaderboard from the 2021 Nighthawks Invitational hosted by Northwest Nazarene University:
 

2021 Nighthawks Invitational Poppy Ridge Golf Course  »  Livermore, CA Par 72  »  6,958 Yards
Pos.	Team/Player	To Par	Rd 1	Rd 2	Total
T-1st	Western Washington	+34	307	303	610
T-3rd	Aidan Thain	+4	72	76	148
T-8th	Devin Andrews	+7	76	75	151
T-21st	Brody Bonfilio	+11	80	75	155
T-23rd	Drew Halili	+12	79	77	156
T-52nd	Jordan Lee	+19	86	77	163
Pos.	Team	To Par	Rd 1	Rd 2	Total
1.	Western Washington*	+34	307	303	610
	Sonoma State	+34	307	303	610
3.	Cal State East Bay	+36	307	305	612
	Academy of Art	+36	312	300	612
5.	Holy Names	+38	315	299	614
6.	Westminster	+40	313	303	616
7.	Saint Martin's	+41	307	310	617
8.	Northwest Nazarene	+53	321	308	629
9.	Montana State Billings	+54	322	308	630
	Dominican (CA)	+54	314	316	630
11.	Whitworth	+59	313	322	635
12.	Hawai'i Pacific	+63	327	312	639
13.	Northwest Nazarene "B"	+91	340	327	667
14.	Chaminade	+93	328	341	669
WWU wins tournament on three-step tiebreaker procedure Tie Break Procedure: 1. Tuesday team score 2. Monday team score 3. Scorecard Playoff, all 5 scores - Hole 8 *Western Washington wins 21-24 in step 3 of playoff procedure.

  Junior Devin Andrews recorded a top-10 finish with consistent rounds of 76 (+4) and 75 (+3), tying for 8^th place in the 78-player field. Andrews was 3^rd in the tournament with 25 pars and also had three birdies. Here is a look at his hole-by-hole scorecard from Tuesday's final round at the Nighthawks Invitational:
   
WWU will be off next week and return to tournament play March 22-23 at the West Regional Preview hosted by Saint Martin's University at The Home Course in DuPont, Washington. The Vikings are scheduled to play 36 holes in the first day of the tournament (Monday, March 22) and 18 holes in Tuesday's final round. The Home Course will also serve as the host site for the GNAC Championships (April 19-20) and the NCAA II West/South Central Super Regional (May 6-8).
  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.
 

Dates	Tournament	Location / Course	Result
March 8-9	Nighthawk Invitational	Livermore, CA (Poppy Ridge Golf Course)	1st of 14 teams
March 22-23	West Regional Preview	DuPont, WA (The Home Course)
March 29-30	Redhawk Invitational	University Place, WA (Chambers Bay)
April 5-6	Mustang Intercollegiate	Goodyear, AZ (Palm Valley Golf Club)
April 19-20	GNAC Championships	DuPont, WA (The Home Course)
May 6-8	NCAA II West/South Central Regional	DuPont, WA (The Home Course)
May 17-21	NCAA National Championships	Palm Beach Gardens, FL (PGA National Resort)

  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.