BELLINGHAM, Wash. – The Western Washington University men's golf team captured the team title at the 50th Annual WWU Invitational with the 54-hole tournament played Monday and Tuesday at Bellingham Golf & Country Club.

 

A day after tying the program single-round record with a 15-under-par 273 in the second round, the Vikings brought home the team title with a 3-over-par 291 in Tuesday's final round to record a five-stroke victory over second-place Cal State Dominguez Hills. WWU finished the two-day tournament at 12-under-par 852.

 

The Vikings won their home tournament for the 17th time in the 50-year history of the event, and second in the last four years (last in 2018). 

 

Senior Jordan Lee eagled his final hole of the day (par 5 No. 1) to move up to third place to lead the Vikings individual finishes with a three-round total of 6-under-par 210. Sophomore Seth King also notched a top-10 finish tying for fourth place in the 91-player field at 5-under-par 211.

 

WWU fielded two full teams in the tournament with all 10 players on the 2022-23 roster competing. Sophomore Ryan Ho tied for 12th place at even-par 216 and senior Cody Oakes led the second team to an 11th-place finish tying for 20th individually at 2-over-par 218.

 

"A great start to the season for the team, finishing second at the SMU Invitational and winning our own tournament with several great performances," said WWU Director of Golf Luke Bennett. "There is always a little added pressure playing on your home course, especially after our second round yesterday, but the team did a great job of not letting the lows get too low or the highs get too high. They battled some adversity in the round today, which is a great lesson to learn as we progress throughout the season. I am looking forward to the practice rounds ahead and completing the fall season with this group in Hawai'i."

 

Edvin Backstrom of Holy Names birdied the first playoff hole to earn individual medalist honors over Andy Yoon of Cal State Dominguez Hills. Backstrom and Yoon tied following the completion of 54 holes at 8-under-par 208.

 

WWU and Cal State Dominguez Hills held the top two team spots on the leaderboard, followed by Holy Names in third place (-4, 860), Simon Fraser in fourth (-3, 861) and Victoria in fifth (+7, 871).

Here is a look at WWU's individual results and the team leaderboard from the 50th Annual WWU Invitational at Bellingham Golf & Country Club:

 

 

The Vikings will take the next few weeks off and complete the fall portion of the schedule with a pair of tournaments in Hawai'i, beginning with the Southwest Airlines HPU Sharks Shootout October 25-26 at the Leilehua Golf Course in Wahiawa, Hawai'i.

 

WWU played 90 holes of tournament golf (five rounds) over a five-day stretch to open the 2022-23 season. During the Saint Martin's Bishop Invitational (2nd place) and the WWU Invitational (1st place), the Vikings top scoring team combined to play at 17-under-par. WWU recorded a team round of par or better in four of the five rounds.

 

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.