TURLOCK, Calif. – Playing for the first time in over a month, there isn't much that can slow down the No. 1 West Region ranked Western Washington University men's golf team.
 
The Vikings hold the 36-hole team lead at the Hanny Stanislaus Invitational at Turlock Golf & Country Club, firing rounds of 2-under-par 286 and 1-under-par 287 on Monday for a team total 3-under-par 573.
 
"I am very pleased with today. After month off from competition the guys came out ready to play," said WWU Director of Golf Luke Bennett. "They battled strong winds and rainy conditions for most of the day but didn't waver."
 
WWU is led by a pair of players at the top of the leaderboard with freshman Conrad Brown pacing the 83-player field at 6-under-par 138. Brown recorded nine birdies and 24 pars in rounds of 4-under-par 68 in the morning and 2-under-par 70 in the afternoon.
 
"Conrad played very solid all day long with only three bogeys all day on a tight, challenging course," said Bennett. "He was swinging freely and with confidence. He also brought out his old faithful putter that helped him to nine birdies on the day."
 
Senior Aidan Thain continued his solid spring one stroke back of Brown at 5-under-par 139 to sit in a tie for 2nd place. Thain and Brown made their move to the top of the leaderboard both playing Turlock Golf & Country Club's par 4 holes at 4-under-par.
 
"Aidan showed his experience with a solid round in the morning, had a little bump in the beginning of his second round, but he stayed patient and threw in an eagle and couple birdies on his home stretch to finish under par in the afternoon as well," said Bennett on his senior co-captain.
 
Freshman Seth King completed a solid day of golf with an even-par 72 in the afternoon and is tied for 25th place at 4-over-par 148.
 
"It was great to see Seth birdie his last hole of the day to shoot even-par," said Bennett. "Seth had a lot of quality shots this afternoon."
 
Junior Jordan Lee (T41st, +8, 77-75=152) and senior Devin Andrews (T48th, +10, 73-81=154) rounded out the Vikings team performance on Monday.
 
WWU enters Tuesday's final round with a two-stroke lead over tournament host Stanislaus State (-1, 292-283=575). Chico State (+3, 579), Holy Names (+4, 580) and Simon Fraser (+6, 582) round out the top five in the 15-team field.
  The Vikings conclude the Hanny Stanislaus Invitational Tuesday with the final 18 holes of the 54-hole tournament. A shotgun start is scheduled for 8:30 am at Turlock Golf & Country Club. 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 Hanny Stanislaus Invitational hosted by Stanislaus State University:
 

2022 HANNY STANISLAUS INVITATIONAL Turlock Golf & Country Club  »  Turlock, CA Par 72  »  6,668 Yards
Pos.	Team/Player	To Par	Rd 1	Rd 2	Rd 3	Total
1st	Western Washington	-3	286	287	--	573
1st	Conrad Brown	-6	68	70	--	138
t2nd	Aidan Thain	-5	69	70	--	139
t25th	Seth King	+4	76	72	--	148
t41st	Jordan Lee	+8	77	75	--	152
t48th	Devin Andrews	+10	73	81	--	154
Pos.	Team	To Par	Rd 1	Rd 2	Rd 3	Total
1.	Western Washington	-3	286	287	--	573
2.	Stanislaus State	-1	292	283	--	575
3.	Chico State	+3	289	290	--	579
4.	Holy Names	+4	290	290	--	580
5.	Simon Fraser	+6	287	295	--	582
6.	Cal State Monterey Bay	+13	294	295	--	589
7.	Sonoma State	+20	305	291	--	596
8.	Cal State San Bernardino	+21	303	294	--	597
9.	Cal State Dominguez Hills	+22	306	292	--	598
10.	Cal State San Marcos	+27	308	302	--	603
11.	Saint Martin's	+29	307	298	--	605
12.	Montana State Billings	+32	309	299	--	608
13.	Academy of Art	+35	312	299	--	611
14.	Hawai'i Hilo	+38	307	307	--	614
15.	Cal State East Bay	+46	309	313	--	622

  The Hanny Stanislaus Invitational features a live leaderboard via Golfstat.com. 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.
 

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	3rd of 14 teams
March 28-29	Hanny Stanislaus Invitational	Turlock, CA / Turlock Golf & Country Club	In Progress
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

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.