COEUR D'ALENE, Idaho – Led by a tournament tying second-round performance by senior Aidan Thain, the Western Washington University men's golf team holds a 19-stroke lead through the first two rounds of the 2022 Great Northwest Athletic Conference Championships.

 

WWU combined for a team score of 10-under-par 558 on the par 71 Coeur d'Alene Resort Golf Course, with the Vikings capping the 36-hole day with a 7-under-par 277 in the second round Monday.

 

The Vikings enter Tuesday's final round with a 19-stroke lead over second-place Simon Fraser University (+9, 577).

 

Western's solid team performance included four players in the top 10 and all five players in the top 15 in the 25-player championships field. Senior Aidan Thain leads the tournament at 11-under-par 131 with rounds of 4-under-par 67 in the morning and a nine-birdie 7-under-par 64 in the afternoon. Freshman Conrad Brown is in 3rd place at 2-under-par 140 following matching 1-under-par 70s and junior Jordan Lee is in 4th place at 1-under-par 141 (72-69). Freshman Seth King is tied for 9th at 4-over-par 146 and senior Devin Andrews is tied for 13th at 5-over-par 147.

 

"I'm a little speechless…I am really glad Aidan is on this team," said WWU Director of Golf Luke Bennett. "Today was a special one for the team and I am looking forward to seeing how we come out tomorrow. We've had a really solid spring, building off a good fall, and today showed how the hard work has paid off. It was fantastic to see all the guys play solid and proud of how the guys controlled their emotions today. We'll look to keep this solid play going tomorrow."

 

Thain tied the single-round GNAC Tournament record with a 7-under-par 64 in the second round, carding nine birdies in his career-low round to build an eight-stroke lead for individual medalist honors. He tied the tournament record for low round at 64, matching the round recorded exactly six years ago by WWU's Brett Johnson on April 18, 2016. It also tied the GNAC record lowest spring round by Johnson, Craig Crawford (WWU, 2012) and Ethan Casto (WWU, 2018) and is the 11th round of 64-or-lower in program history.

 

"It was a really solid team effort and I think we came into the tournament knowing we were the guys to beat," said Thain following his round. "We just tried to keep the pedal to the metal."

 

Maxwell Turnquist of Saint Martin's University is eight strokes back of Thain in 2nd place at 3-under-par 139.

 

Thain led all players in the tournament with 15 birdies in the first 36 holes of the tournament, while Brown led the charge recording a par on 26 of the 36 holes. 

M⛳️ | @WWUGolf is nearly through the first 18 of 36 holes Monday at the GNAC Championships. Here is a look at the five Vikings teeing off the first hole at the Coeur d'Alene Resort Golf Course to open the postseason! Good luck Vikings!

🎬 : @GNACSports pic.twitter.com/P3Er4gUd2T
— WWU Athletics (@WWUAthletics) April 18, 2022

 

The Vikings conclude the final round of the 2022 GNAC Championships Tuesday with tee times beginning at 8 am with all players starting on the first hole. 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 2022 GNAC Championships:

 

 

The Vikings have won nine of the 13 GNAC Men's Golf Championships since the event debuted in 2008. WWU won six consecutive titles from 2008-13, were back-to-back team champions in 2016-17 and also won in 2019. A Viking has also won eight of 13 individual medalist honors.

 

Championships Quick Facts:

Course: Coeur d'Alene Resort Golf Course

Location: Coeur d'Alene, Idaho

Championships Format: 54 Holes (36 on Monday, 18 on Tuesday)

Par: 71   Yardage: 6,466 Yards

 

GNAC Tournament History (2008-21):

54-Hole Total - 203, Brett Johnson, WWU, 64-73-66 (GNAC, April 18-19, 2016) 

Single Round - 64, Aidan Thain, WWU (April 18, 2022) & Brett Johnson, WWU (April 18, 2016) 

54-Hole Total, Team - 837, Simon Fraser, 277-281-279 (April 20-21, 2015); 837, WWU, 276-279-282 (April 18-19, 2016)

Single Round, Team - 274, Western Washington (April 20, 2010)

 

Team Champions:

2008 - Western Washington (578)*

2009 - Western Washington (872)

2010 - Western Washington (850)

2011 - Western Washington (884)

2012 - Western Washington (856)

2013 - Western Washington (867)

2014 - Northwest Nazarene (892)

2015 - Simon Fraser (837)

2016 - Western Washington (837)

2017 - Western Washington (871)

2018 - Simon Fraser (852)

2019 - Western Washington (851)

2020 - No Tournament (COVID-19)

2021 - Saint Martin's (875)

 

Courses: 2008: Indian Canyon; 2009-2019: Coeur d'Alene Resort Golf Course; 2021: The Home Course * 36-hole tournament

 

Individual Champions:

2008 - Hiro Nezu, Saint Martin's - 138 (65-73)

2009 - Jake Koppenberg, WWU - 213 (69-70-74) – won in playoff

2010 - Xavier Dailly, WWU - 219 (70-72-67)

2011 - Nick Valeria, WWU - 215 (74-70-71)

2012 - Craig Crawford, WWU - 212 (65-76-71)

2013 - Jake Webb, WWU - 213 (70-68-75)

2014 - Kevin Vigna, Simon Fraser - 213 (75-67-71)

2015 - Bret Thompson, Simon Fraser - 205 (68-67-70)

2016 - Brett Johnson, WWU - 203 (64-73-66)

2017 - Chris Crisologo, Simon Fraser - 208 (70-67-71)

2018 - Ethan Casto, WWU - 209 (67-75-67) – won in playoff

2019 - Brody Bonfilio, WWU - 210 (67-71-72)

2020 - No Tournament (COVID-19)

2021 - Tyler Fitchett, Saint Martin's - 214 (69-72-73)

 

Here is a look at the complete 2021-22 schedule for the WWU Men's Golf program, which included 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.

 

 

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.