RICHMOND, B.C. – The Western Washington University women's golf team moved up the leaderboard one spot to finish in third place at the season-opening True North Classic at Richmond Country Club.

 

WWU showed an 11-stroke improvement from Monday's opening round carding a 23-over-par 311 on Tuesday. The Vikings jumped ahead of the University of Fraser Valley on the leaderboard, but couldn't catch second-place and tournament host Simon Fraser University. Western's two-round total was 57-over-par 633 finished 14 stokes back of SFU. UBC Okanagan earned a 16-stroke victory to claim the team title at 27-over-par 603.

 

The Vikings were led by a 9th-place finish from freshman Emma Worgum with a 10-over-par tournament total 154. The La Conner native fired a 2-over-par 74 in the final round to move up five spots on the leaderboard for a top-10 finish in her collegiate debut. 

 

Junior Elise Sumner shot a 4-over-par 76 Tuesday to finish in a tie for 13th place at 12-over-par 156. Senior Megan Billeter (19th, 78-83=161) and junior Dani Bailey (T-20th, 84-78=162) also recorded top 20 finishes in the 29-player field.

 

"Today was a step in the right direction for the team," said WWU Director of Golf Luke Bennett. "Emma had a very solid round and was under par for much of the day. Her game looked very polished today. Elise's round was clean as well and it was great to see her steady play continue."

 

UBC Okanagan sophomore Emily Cornwall led wire-to-wire to capture individual medalist honors with rounds of 3-under-par 67 and 5-over-par 77 for a one-stroke victory at 2-over-par 146.

 

The Vikings return to action with the second of five fall tournaments September 23-24 at the Saint Martin's Invitational on The Home Course in DuPont. Western will host its only home tournament of the 2022-23 season with the WWU Invitational October 10-11 at Bellingham Golf & Country Club.

W⛳️ | A few frames of @WWUGolf during the final round of the season-opening True North Classic with the Vikings placing third. Freshman Emma Worgum led the Viks with a 9th-place finish following her final round 2-over-par 74.

📸 : Wilson Wong/SFU pic.twitter.com/IUM4Usje9D
— WWU Athletics (@WWUAthletics) September 14, 2022

Here is a look at WWU's individual results and the team leaderboard following the completion of the 2022 True North Classic hosted by Simon Fraser University at Richmond Country Club:

 

Here is a look at the Vikings 2022-23 fall schedule for the WWU Women's Golf program. All tournament recaps, season statistics and program history can be found on WWUVikings.com/WGolf.

 

 

The WWU women's golf team is in its 30th season as an intercollegiate sport in 2022-23. WWU has a rich history on the links, winning the first five GNAC Championships beginning in 2011 and returned to the podium with back-to-back titles in 2021 and 2022. WWU made its 12th appearance in the NCAA II West Regional Championships in 2022 after earning the GNAC's automatic bid. WWU has also made six trips to the NCAA II National Championships. A Viking has been named the GNAC Player of the Year in nine of the 11 years it has been awarded, including 2020-21 Player of the Year Elise Sumner and 2021-22 award winner Megan Billeter. 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 had nine All-Americans.