BELLINGHAM, Wash. – The Western Washington University men's golf team tied the program record for the lowest single team round with a 15-under-par 273 in the second round of the WWU Invitational on Monday at Bellingham Golf & Country Club.

 

Playing in near perfect fall conditions, the Vikings low afternoon round propelled the team into the lead through the first 36 holes of the 17-team tournament that concludes Tuesday with the final 18 holes. After battling back for an even-par 288 in the morning round, the Vikings finished the day with a 15-under-par 273 to tie the low round in program history.

 

The starting five of sophomore Seth King, senior Jordan Lee, sophomore Ryan Ho, junior Drew Halili and sophomore Conrad Brown equaled the low team score vs. par set by the 2010-11 Vikings at the Grand Canyon Fall Invitational.

 

"I am really proud of the way the team battled back today after a tough start. They regrouped, had a strong finish to the first round and carried that momentum into a historical second round," said WWU Director of Golf Luke Bennett. "We are always honored to host this tournament at such a great place like the Bellingham Golf & Country Club and today was as close to perfect as it gets. It was great to see all 10 players on the course today working hard and putting up great scores. We are looking forward to the challenge that awaits in tomorrow's final round."

 

WWU is fielding two teams during the two-day tournament at the par 72 Bellingham Golf & Country Club, with all 10 team members in action.

 

King turned in rounds of 2-under-par 70 and 5-under-par 67 to sit in third place in the 91-player field at 7-under-par 137. Lee is one stroke back of King at 6-under-par 138 following rounds of 1-under-par 71 and 5-under-par 67. Senior Cody Oakes is tied for 12th at even-par 144 (73-71) while playing for the second Vikings team and Ho continued his strong early-season play tied for 19th at 1-over-par 145 (76-69).

 

"Seth (King) was solid from start to finish today and has been playing really solid early-season golf," added Bennett. "And Jordan (Lee) is playing like a true senior captain. Ryan (Ho) continues to impress and had a great finish to the day with three birdies in his last five holes."

 

The Vikings head into the final round with a one stroke lead over Holy Names University (-14, 562) and a eight-stroke margin over third-place Cal State Dominguez Hills (-7, 569). 

 

Edvin Backstrom of Holy Names and Dustin Franko of Hawai'i Hilo are tied for individual medalist lead at 8-under-par 136, one stroke ahead of King in third and two better than Lee in fourth. Luke Dugger of Holy Names fired the low round of the day with an 8-under-par 64 in the first round and is tied for fourth place.

  
 
 
 
 
 
 
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Tuesday's final round will feature a 9 am shotgun start off all 18 holes at Bellingham Golf & Country Club. WWU will be paired with Holy Names and Cal State Dominguez Hills beginning on holes 1-3. 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 Monday's first and second rounds of the WWU Invitational at Bellingham Golf & Country Club:

 

 

The 2022 WWU 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.

 

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.