VISTA, Calif. – Not even the tough winter weather of the Pacific Northwest could cool off the Western Washington University men's golf team as the Vikings returned to competition with a strong finish to open the spring season.
 
Coming off a solid fall slate and despite limited outdoor practice time, the Vikings made their spring debut with a third-place finish in the 14-team Cal State San Marcos Fujikura Invitational played Monday and Tuesday at Shadowridge Golf Club.
 
Tournament host Cal State San Marcos won the team title finishing at even-par 864, followed by Colorado State Pueblo (+5, 869) and WWU (+12, 876). The Vikings were well-ahead of fourth-place Cal State Monterey Bay and Sonoma State (+24, 888). Western's team score of 8-over-par 295 was tied for the second-lowest in Tuesday's final round the featured cold and rainy conditions.
 
"It was a solid day for the Vikings and a nice way to start the spring season," said WWU Director of Golf Luke Bennett. "The conditions were challenging, but the guys stayed focused and played smart and confident golf. We had moments where it could have gotten away from us, but the team did great at controlling their emotions."
 
Senior Aidan Thain backed up his second-round four-under par 68 with a final round 1-under-par 71 to move into a tie for 7th place in the 80-player field at 1-under-par 215 for the 54-hole tournament.
 
Also placing in the top 20 was senior Devin Andrews (T-13th, +1, 71-73-73) and junior Jordan Lee (15th, +2, 73-69-76).
 
"The captains really stepped up this week and played great golf," added Bennett. "Aidan (Thain) looked very sharp all week, Devin (Andrews) was very clean from beginning to end and Jordan (Lee) was rock solid."
 
Freshman Conrad Brown tied for 30th place (+11, 72-79-76) and freshman Seth King tied for 58th (+19, 81-78-76).
 
The Vikings consistent final round featured the only team in the field to have all five players scoring 76 or better on the par 72 layout situated north of San Diego.
 
"We'll look to keep this momentum going heading into next week's tournament at Ruby Hill in Northern California," said Bennett.
 
Christian Schrodt of Dominican recorded the wire-to-wire individual victory finishing the 54-hole tournament at 7-under-par 209 (66-70-73) for a three-stroke win.   Here is a look at WWU's individual results and the team leaderboard from the Fujikura Invitational hosted by Cal State San Marcos:
 

2022 CSUSM FUJIKURA INVITATIONAL Shadowridge Golf Club  »  Vista, CA Par 72  »  7,008 Yards
Pos.	Team/Player	To Par	Rd 1	Rd 2	Rd 3	Total
3rd	Western Washington	+12	292	288	296	876
T-7th	Aidan Thain	-1	76	68	71	215
T-13th	Devin Andrews	+1	71	73	73	217
15th	Jordan Lee	+2	73	69	76	218
T-30th	Conrad Brown	+11	72	79	76	227
T-58th	Seth King	+19	81	78	76	234
Pos.	Team	To Par	Rd 1	Rd 2	Rd 3	Total
1.	Cal State San Marcos	E	285	283	296	864
2.	Colorado State Pueblo	+5	289	287	293	869
3.	Western Washington	+12	292	288	296	876
4.	Cal State Monterey Bay	+24	299	291	298	888
	Sonoma State	+24	295	290	303	888
6.	Cal State San Bernardino	+31	292	294	309	895
7.	Chico State	+34	301	295	302	898
8.	Cal State Dominguez Hills	+38	302	297	303	902
9.	Dominican	+41	302	289	314	905
10.	Westminster College	+45	292	309	308	909
11.	Stanislaus State	+48	302	302	308	912
12.	Colorado Christian	+52	298	316	302	916
13.	Cal State East Bay	+55	322	293	304	919
14.	California Lutheran	+83	318	307	322	947

  WWU returns to California for its next tournament as part of the Bay Area Invitational in Pleasanton, California with the 54-hole tournament played at The Club at Ruby Hill February 21-22.   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.
 

Dates	Tournament	Location / Course	Result
Sept. 24-25	Saint Martin's Invitational	DuPont, WA / The Home Course	1st of 12 teams
Sept. 27-28	WWU Invitational	Blaine, WA / Loomis Trail Golf Club	6th of 9 teams
Oct. 11-12	Chico State Wildcat Classic	Corning, CA / The Links at Rolling Hills	2nd of 10 teams
Oct. 18-19	Otter Invitational	Seaside, CA / Bayonet Golf Course	6th of 15 teams
Feb. 14-15	CSUSM Fujikura Invitational	Vista, CA / Shadowridge Golf Club	3rd of 14 teams
Feb. 21-22	Bay Area Invitational	Pleasanton, CA / The Club at Ruby Hill
March 28-29	Hanny Stanislaus Invitational	Turlock, CA / Turlock Golf & Country Club
April 6-7	Palm Valley Classic	Goodyear, AZ / Palm Valley Golf Club
April 18-19	GNAC Championships	Coeur d'Alene, ID / Coeur d'Alene Golf Resort
May 5-7	NCAA West Regional	Pueblo, CA / Pueblo Country Club
May 16-20	NCAA National Championships	Dearborn, MI / TPC Michigan

  The Vikings debuted at No. 2 in the first edition of the NCAA Division II West Region Men's Golf Rankings that came out on Friday, February 11. Here is a look at the rankings, with WWU placing well ahead of No. 1 Stanislaus State and trailed only No. 5 Cal State San Marcos which recorded the win on their home course.
 

1. Stanislaus State
2. Western Washington
3. Cal State San Bernardino
4. Chico State
5. Cal State San Marcos
6. Simon Fraser
7. Cal State Monterey Bay
8. Sonoma State
9. Holy Names
10. Cal State East Bay
11. Montana State Billings

  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.