DUPONT, Wash. – Led by a record-breaking round by junior Megan Billeter, the Western Washington University women's golf team opened the 2021-22 season Monday taking the first round lead at the Saint Martin's Invitational.
 
Returning to the course where the Vikings won the Great Northwest Athletic Conference title last spring, WWU carries a seven-stroke lead into Tuesday's final around at The Home Course. The Vikings carded a 15-over-par team round of 303, seven strokes better than second-place Simon Fraser (+22, 310).
 
"It felt great to get back competing and it was even better to get off to a solid start as a team," said WWU head coach Luke Bennett. "There were a lot of positives on the course today and we hope to carry that into tomorrow's final round."
 
Billeter, a redshirt junior from Spokane, set the WWU single-round record and tied the GNAC low round with a 4-under-par 68. The team co-captain recorded six birdies, two bogeys and 10 pars in her record-breaking performance. The previous low round by a WWU player was 69, set by six players, last by Brooke Branigan and Jenn Paul during the 2015-16 season.
 
"Megan was on cruise control today. It was an easy-looking 68," added Bennett. "She took advantage of her length by recording a birdie on all the par 5s and she rolled the ball really well on the greens. It is so great to see her play with confidence."
 
Billeter, who is coming off a winning performance at the Bellingham Amateur last week, heads into the final round in 2nd place in the 35-player field, one stroke back of Sarah Lawrence from Bellevue College, who shot a 5-under-par 67.
 
Freshman Claire Moon (Olympia, WA) is tied for 3rd place following her 3-over-par 75 and sophomore Dani Bailey (Queenstown, NZ) and freshman Lina Hattenbach (Lidingo, Sweden) are tied for 14th at 8-over-par 80.
 
Tuesday's final round is scheduled to begin with tee times at 8 am. The live leaderboard for the tournament can be followed online with a direct link at WWUVikings.com/WG_Live.
  Here is a look at WWU's individual results and the team leaderboard through the first round of the season-opening Saint Martin's Invitational at The Home Course.
 

2021 SAINT MARTIN'S INVITATIONAL The Home Course  »  DuPont, WA Par 72  »  5,815 Yards
Pos.	Team/Player	To Par	Rd 1	Rd 2	Total
1st	Western Washington	+15	303	--	303
2nd	Megan Billeter	-4	68	--	68
T-3rd	Claire Moon	+3	75	--	75
T-14th	Dani Bailey	+8	80	--	80
T-14th	Lina Hattenbach	+8	80	--	80
31st	Sarah Shea	+17	89	--	89
Pos.	Team	To Par	Rd 1	Rd 2	Total
1.	Western Washington	+15	303	--	303
2.	Simon Fraser	+22	310	--	310
3.	Saint Martin's	+26	314	--	314
4.	Northwest Nazarene	+33	321	--	321
5.	Western New Mexico	+35	323	--	323
6.	Montana State Billings	+45	333	--	333

  Megan Billeter set a WWU single-round record with her 4-under-par 68, becoming the first Viking to fire a sub-69 round. She also tied the GNAC single-round record, equaling the performance by Cammie Decker of Concordia-Portland at the Dennis Rose Invitational on October 29, 2019. Billeter's WWU-record performance bettered six previous rounds of 69, last by Brooke Branigan and Jenn Paul during the 2015-16 season.
    WWU is part of a six-team, 35-player field that will compete in a 36-hole stroke play tournament. The first 18 holes will be played Monday with tee times beginning at 8 am. WWU is scheduled to start teeing off at 8:34 am on the 5,815-yard, par 72 course. In addition to tournament host Saint Martin's, WWU will match up against Northwest Nazarene, Montana State Billings, Simon Fraser, Western New Mexico and three individuals from Bellevue College.
  Following the Saint Martin's Invitational, WWU will continue its fall schedule at the Shootout at Estrella in Goodyear, Arizona, with the two-day tournament scheduled for September 27-28 at The Golf Club at Estrella. Here is a look at the complete 2021-22 schedule for the WWU Women's Golf program, which includes four fall and four spring tournaments leading up to the GNAC Championships. All tournament recaps, season statistics and program history can be found on WWUVikings.com/WGolf.
 

Dates	Tournament	Location / Course
Sept. 13-14	Saint Martin's Invitational	DuPont, WA / The Home Course
Sept. 27-28	Shootout at Estrella	Goodyear, AZ / Golf Club at Estrella
Oct. 4-5	Sonoma State Invitational	Santa Rosa, CA / Santa Rosa Country Club
Oct. 8-9	Wasatch Invitational	South Jordan, UT / Glenmoor Golf Course
Feb. 28-Mar. 1	Pioneer Shootout	Alameda, CA / Corica Park South Course
March 7-8	CSUSM Fujikura Invitational	Vista, CA / Shadowridge Golf Club
April 1-2	Palm Valley Classic	Goodyear, AZ / Palm Valley Golf Club
April 11-12	WWU Spring Invitational	Bellingham, WA / Bellingham Golf & Country Club
April 18-19	GNAC Championships	Coeur d'Alene, ID / Coeur d'Alene Golf Resort
May 2-4	NCAA West Regional	Stockton, CA / Brookside Golf & Country Club
May 11-14	NCAA National Championships	Columbia, SC / The Wildewood Club

  The WWU women's golf team begins its 29th season as an intercollegiate sport in 2021-22. WWU has a rich history on the links, winning the first five GNAC Championships beginning in 2011 and returned to the podium in 2021. WWU has made 11 appearances in the NCAA II West Regional Championships. WWU has also made six trips to the NCAA II National Championships. A Viking has been named the GNAC Player of the Year in eight of the 10 years it has been awarded, including 2020-21 Player of the Year Elise Sumner. WWU has also produced the only two players in GNAC history to earn four First Team All-GNAC awards (Jenn Paul and Kristen Hansen) and has produced nine All-Americans.