PLEASANTON, Calif. – The Western Washington University men's golf team felt right at home on a chilly Northern California Monday turning in a solid performance during the first two rounds of the Bay Area Invitational at The Club at Ruby Hill.

 

WWU is in 2nd place out of 14 teams in the two-day, 54-hole tournament after carding a team score of 9-over-par 585. The Vikings were at 3-under-par through the first round, but slipped with a 12-over-par 300 in the afternoon. WWU heads into Tuesday's final round two strokes in front of 3rd-place Chico State (+11, 587). Cal State San Marcos holds a 14-stroke lead at 5-under-par 571.

 

"I am pleased with our position today especially with how conditions changed in the afternoon round," said WWU Director of Golf Luke Bennett. "We will look to stay patient tomorrow and go out and have fun in chilly California."

 

Senior Aidan Thain continued his impressive start to the spring turning in rounds of 2-under-par 70 and even-par 72 to sit in 3rd place in the 84-player field at 2-under-par 142. Thain is coming off a spring-opening tie for 7th place at the Fujikura Invitational last week and has turned in three consecutive rounds of par or better.

 

Junior Jordan Lee is tied for 4th  at 1-under-par 143 following rounds of 70 and 73.

 

"Aidan and Jordan played very solid golf today from the start of their round this morning until finishing up in the evening," added Bennett.

 

Senior Devin Andrews rounded out a solid top three for the Vikings with a 36-hole score of 1-over-par 145 (70-75).

 

Matt Pennington of Cal State San Marcos leads the tournament by seven stokes following consecutive rounds of 5-under-par 67 on the par 72 layout in Pleasanton, California. Mike Stephens of Chico State is in 2nd place just ahead of Thain at 3-under-par 141. 

 

The Vikings conclude the Bay Area Invitational Tuesday with the final 18 holes of the 54-hole tournament. A shotgun start is scheduled for 7:30 am at The Club at Ruby Hill. The final round leaderboard can be tracked online via Golfstat with a direct link at wwuvikings.com/MG_Live.

 

Here is a look at WWU's individual results and the team leaderboard following the first day (36 holes) of the Bay Area Invitational hosted by Cal State East Bay:

 

 

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

 

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.