DUPONT, Wash. – The Western Washington University men's golf team had in a fantastic start to the 2022-23 season with a team round of 2-under-par 286 to tie for first place following the opening round of the Saint Martin's Bishop Invitational Friday at The Home Course.

 

WWU was led by under par rounds by sophomore Ryan Ho (-2, 70) and senior Jordan Lee (-1, 71) on the par 72, 6,986 layout. All five Viking golfers recorded rounds of 74-or-under for the team score of 286 (-2).

 

The Vikings enter Saturday's final round tied with the University of Victoria with a one-stoke lead over third-place Simon Fraser University. The final round will begin with an 8:30 am shotgun start with WWU in the lead pairing with UVic, SFU and the University of Hawai'i Hilo.

 

Ho carded a 2-under-par round of 70 featuring five birdies and a strong finish playing the final nine holes at 3-under-par. He is tied for 6th place in the 77-player field. Lee was consistent in his senior season opening round with a pair of birdies and only one bogey and sites in a tie for 9th place.

 

Junior Drew Halili turned in an even-par 72 to tie for 12th place and sophomore Seth King is tied for 17th at 1-over-par 73. Senior Cody Oakes is also in the top 25 tied for 24th place at 2-over-par 74.

 

"It's always nice to shoot an round under par right out of the gates to open the season," said WWU Director of Golf Luke Bennett. "I thought the guys hung in there nicely after a slow start. Ryan (Ho) played solid all day and finished with two birdies in his last four holes. Jordan (Lee) was very steady all day to turn in a great first round."

 

Dawson Strobel of Montana State Billings holds the lead for individual medalist honors after firing a 6-under-par 66 in the first round. He has a two-stroke lead over Giulio Zanichelli (Academy of Art) and Aidan Goodfellow (Simon Fraser) heading into Saturday's final round.

 

Following Saturday's final round, the Vikings will have a quick turnaround prior to hosting the WWU Invitational starting Monday (36 holes) and Tuesday (18 holes) at Bellingham Golf & Country Club.

 

Saturday's final round will feature an 8:30 am shotgun start at The Home Course in DuPont. WWU will tee off starting on holes 1-3 while paired with Victoria, Simon Fraser and Hawai'i Hilo. The final round leaderboard can be tracked online via wwuvikings.com/MG_Live.

 

Here is a look at WWU's individual results and the team leaderboard following Friday's first round of the season-opening Saint Martin's/Bishop Men's Invitational at The Home Course:

 

 

The 2022 Saint Martin's/Bishop Men's Invitational features a live leaderboard via GolfStat. For all WWU Men's Golf tournaments, you can directly access the live leaderboard by pointing your browser to WWUVikings.com/MG_Live.

 

Following the Saint Martin's Invitational, the Vikings will have a quick turnaround hosting the 2022 WWU Invitational Monday-Tuesday at Bellingham Golf & Country Club. The 54-hole tournament will feature an 8:30 am shotgun start on Monday and a 9 am shotgun start to the final round on Tuesday.

 

Here is a look at the 2022-23 fall portion of the schedule for the WWU Men's Golf program, in addition to the 2023 postseason schedule. The spring tournament schedule will be finalized later this fall. 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 23 seasons the program has competed at the NCAA Division II level dating back to the 1998-99 season, which includes this season after earning the automatic bid from winning the GNAC Championships. WWU placed 3rd at the 2013 national championship for the highest finish in program history. The program has produced 16 NCAA All-Americans and has won 10 of 14 Great Northwest Athletic Conference championships since the tournament debuted in 2008, including the 2022 title. The Vikings have also featured the GNAC Championships individual medalist in nine of 14 tournaments with Aidan Thain joining the long list of conference champions in 2022 and nine GNAC Player of the Year awards.