BLAINE, Wash. – The Western Washington University men's golf team is in 8th place following the first round of the WWU Invitational played Monday at Loomis Trail Golf Club.
 
Coming off an impressive season-opening victory over the weekend at the Saint Martin's Invitational, the Vikings battled a tough course and windy conditions to shoot a team score of 27-over-par 315. The original 54-hole tournament has been reduced to 36 holes due to the weather forecast, with the final 18 holes scheduled for a 9 am shotgun start Tuesday.
 
WWU will head into the final round in 8th place in the nine-team field, but is only nine strokes back of the top five. Hawai'i Pacific leads the field following a 12-over-par 300 on the par 72, 7,085-yard layout on Monday. Loomis Trail Golf Club was the host of the 2009 NCAA Division II Men's Golf National Championships.
 
The Vikings are led by a pair of players in the top 10 that are playing as individuals, not factoring into the team score. Cody Oakes is tied for 5th place in the 55-player field following his opening-round 2-over-par 74 and Austin Darnell is tied for 7th with a 3-over-par 75.
 
Jordan Lee led WWU's scoring players with a 4-over-par 76 to tie for 11th place. Lee was at 1-over-par heading into his final three holes, but finished 3-over-par in that stretch during a driving rain storm.
 
Drew Halili, also playing as an individual, is tied for 19th with a 5-over-par 77 and Aidan Thain is tied for 28th at 6-over-par 78.
 
"Today was a rough day, but that is golf. You will have great days like we did at the tournament over the weekend, and you will also have days like today," said WWU Director of Golf Luke Bennett. "The conditions were not ideal, and it challenged us mentally. The good news is we have one round to go and we know this course better than anyone. Tomorrow is a new day and we will give it a go looking to climb up the leaderboard."

Keita Okada of Hawai'i Pacific holds the lead for individual medalist honors shooting a 2-under-par 70 by recording three birdies and one bogey. Okada recorded his fourth consecutive round of par-or-better and is coming off a win at the Saint Martin's Invitational, defeating WWU's Conrad Brown in a one-hole playoff. Keith Ng of Hawai'i Hilo is one stroke off the lead firing a 1-under-par 71 with a Monday-best five birdies.
 
HPU will carry a four stroke team lead into Tuesday's final round, with Simon Fraser (+16, 304), Montana State Billings (+17, 305), Chico State (+18, 306) and Hawai'i Hilo (+18, 306) rounding out the top five.

M⛳️| SCENES FROM LOOMIS

📸 of @wwugolf from the opening round of the WWU Invitational at Loomis Trail Golf Course in Blaine, WA. While the forecast threatened stormy conditions, it turned out to be a pretty great day on the course.

📸: @jeffrevans #GoViks x #WeAreVikings pic.twitter.com/rCUA6Ixkhf
— WWU Athletics (@WWUAthletics) September 27, 2021

  Tuesday's final round will conclude the shortened 36-hole tournament, with a shotgun start scheduled for 9 am at Loomis Trail Golf Club. Final round pairings are listed on the WWU Invitational Tournament website.
  Here is a look at WWU's individual results and the team leaderboard from the first round of the WWU Invitational held Monday at Loomis Trail Golf Club in Blaine:
 

2021 WWU MEN'S INVITATIONAL Loomis Trail Golf Club  »  Blaine, WA Par 72  »  7,085 Yards
Pos.	Team/Player	To Par	Rd 1	Rd 2	Total
8th	Western Washington	+27	315	--	315
T5th	Cody Oakes (i)	+2	74	--	74
T7th	Austin Darnell (i)	+3	75	--	75
T11th	Jordan Lee	+4	76	--	76
T19th	Drew Halili (i)	+5	77	--	77
T28th	Aidan Thain	+6	78	--	78
T28th	Ryan Ho (i)	+6	78	--	78
T37th	Seth King	+8	80	--	80
T37th	Devin Andrews (i)	+8	80	--	80
T42nd	Cole Reynolds	+9	81	--	81
50th	Conrad Brown	+12	84	--	84
Pos.	Team	To Par	Rd 1	Rd 2	Total
1.	Hawai'i Pacific	+12	300	--	300
2.	Simon Fraser	+16	304	--	304
3.	Montana State Billings	+17	305	--	305
4.	Chico State	+18	306	--	306
	Hawai'i Hilo	+18	306	--	306
6.	Cal State San Bernardino	+22	310	--	310
7.	Saint Martin's	+24	312	--	312
8.	Western Washington	+27	315	--	315
9.	Northwest Nazarene	+48	336	--	336

  The 2021 WWU Invitational features a live leaderboard via GolfStat. For all WWU Men's Golf tournaments, you can directly access the live leaderboard by pointing your browser to WWUVikings.com/MG_Live.