DUPONT, Wash. – The Western Washington University men's golf team opened the 2021-22 season in grand fashion recording a team victory at the Saint Martin's Invitational.

 

The Vikings scorched The Home Course on Saturday with a team round of 10-under-par 278 with all five players shooting par-or-better. WWU recorded a 12-shot victory over second-place Simon Fraser University, finishing the tournament at 14-under-par 850 (290-282-278).

 

"What a fantastic start to the season and a special day on the course for the Vikings," said WWU Director of Golf Luke Bennett. "I can't say enough good things about this group today. They were extremely solid from the beginning of the round until the end and just completely locked in. We will feed off this performance as we head into our event next week."

 

The 10-under-par 278 is tied for the 10th-best round in program history to par during the Golfstat era (since 1994).

 

Freshman Conrad Brown tied for the individual lead with a 54-hole total of 7-under-par 209, which included a 5-under-par 67 Saturday to force a playoff. Keita Okada of Hawai'i Pacific won the playoff to earn medalist honors.

 

"I was fortunate to see some special golf from Conrad today," said Bennett. "He was almost bogey-free and played extremely poised as a freshman down the stretch. He made a clutch birdie on his final hole to cap a great round and force a playoff."

 

Freshman transfer Seth King placed 5th in the 67-player field at 4-under-par 212 and junior Jordan Lee tied for 9th at 1-under-par 215. Lee fired a final round score of 4-under-par 68.

 

Freshman Cole Reynolds finished at even-par 216 (77-68-71) to tie for 11th place. Senior Aidan Thain finished the tournament with an even-par 72 to place 36th.

 

Behind GNAC foes WWU and Simon Fraser (-2, 862), Lewis-Clark state placed 3rd in the 12-team tournament, 10 shots back of SFU. Dominican and Hawai'i Pacific tied for 4th place (+20, 884). Tournament host Saint Martin's placed 11th at 41-over-par.

 

Here is a look at WWU's individual results and the team leaderboard from the season-opening Saint Martin's Men's Invitational at The Home Course:

 

 

Following the Saint Martin's Invitational, the Vikings will have a quick turnaround hosting the WWU Invitational Monday-Tuesday at Loomis Trail Golf Club in Blaine. The 54-hole tournament will feature an 8:30 am shotgun start each day. Loomis Trail and WWU hosted the 2009 NCAA II National Championships.

 

Here is a look at the complete 2021-22 schedule for the WWU Men'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/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 22 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 13 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 13 tournaments.