DUPONT, Wash. – The Western Washington University women's golf team overcame a nine-stroke deficit to begin the day turning in the fourth-best team round in program history to record the team title at the 2022 Saint Martin's Bishop Invitational at The Home Course.

 

The Vikings showed a 17-shot improvement from Friday's first round, closing out the 36-hole tournament with a 5-over-par 293 to rank No. 4 for the best single rounds in program history and best since 2015-16.

 

WWU was in 2nd place to open Saturday's final round at 22-over-par 310, nine strokes back of Simon Fraser. The Vikings catapulted up the leaderboard throughout the final round finishing with a five-stroke win over SFU (+32, 608). The Vikings 36-hole team score was 27-over-par 603.

 

"It was an amazing day for the team," said WWU Director of Golf Luke Bennett. "They came out firing and kept it going all day long. It was an awesome team score to have all five players finish in the top 15 in the field."

 

Senior Megan Billeter led the Vikings winning individual medalist honors for her first collegiate tournament victory, posting a two-round score of 1-under-par 143. Billeter scorched the par 72 layout in the final round with a 2-under-par 70 with four birdies and an eagle. The Spokane native recorded a four-stroke victory over Izzy Ferguson of Simon Fraser.

 

"What a tournament by Megan," added Bennett. "She played amazing over both days and capped a winning performance with a really special round today."

 

Junior Claire Moon tied for 7th in the 52-player field at 9-over-par 153, turning in a one-over-par 73 in the final round. Freshman Emma Worgum and junior Dani Bailey both tied for 9th place at 11-over-par 155. Junior Elise Sumner also recorded a top 15 finish in a tie for 13th at 12-over-par 156.

 

The Vikings are back in action October 10-11 hosting the WWU Invitational at Bellingham Golf & Country Club.

 

Here is a look at WWU's individual results and the team leaderboard from the 2022 Saint Martin's Bishop Invitational hosted by Saint Martin's University at The Home Course:

 

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.