ALAMEDA, Calif. – Freshman Claire Moon turned in a top-15 performance to lead the Western Washington University women's golf team at the spring-opening Tim Tierney Pioneer Shootout.

 

WWU finished 10th in the 14-team spring-opening tournament that was held at Corica Park South Golf Course and hosted by Cal State East Bay.

 

As a team the Vikings made a 12-shot improvement from Monday's opening round turning in a score of 22-over-par 310 on Tuesday.

 

"All in all today was a step in the right direction for the team and we will look to build off this for our next tournament," said WWU Director of Golf Luke Bennett. 

 

Moon carded a 1-over-par 73 in the final round to finish in the top 20 in the 74-player field. Her two-day tournament total finished was 6-over-par 150.

 

"Claire played very solid today. She showed great course management and execution throughout her round," said Bennett.

 

Sophomore Sophia Schmidt had a solid tournament showing tying for 40th place (81-77=158, +14) and sophomore Dani Bailey tied for 52nd (82-79=161, +17).

 

Sonoma State edged out tournament host Cal State East Bay by one shot finishing at +13 to earn the team title. Claire Shubin of Dominican (CA) fired a 3-under-par 69 in the final round to edge out Drishti Karumbaya of CSUEB by one stroke for individual medalist honors.

 

WWU finished ahead of GNAC schools Northwest Nazarene (11th, +65) and Saint Martin's (13th, +78). Simon Fraser University withdrew as a team from the tournament with only three golfers competing in the final round.

 

The Vikings will be in action next week (March 7-8) at the Cal State San Marcos Fujikura Invitational in Vista, California. The two-day, 36-hole tournament will be played at Shadowridge Golf Club.

 

Here is a look at WWU's individual results and the team leaderboard from the Tim Tierney Pioneer Shootout hosted by Cal State East Bay at the Corica Park South Court in Alameda, California:

 

 

WWU is right back in action next week at the Cal State San Marcos Fujikura Invitational at Shadowridge Golf Club in Vista, California (North of San Diego). WWU will also play in the Palm Valley Classic in Goodyear, Arizona April 1-2 and then the GNAC Championships April 18-19 in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho.

Here is a look at the complete 2021-22 schedule for the WWU Women's Golf program, which includes four fall and three spring tournaments leading up to the GNAC Championships. All tournament recaps, season statistics and program history can be found on WWUVikings.com/WGolf.

 

 

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.