VISTA, Calif. – Led by a final round 3-under-par 69 with seven birdies by senior Jordan Lee, the Western Washington University men's golf team completed the Fujikura Invitational with a third-place team finish in a stacked 12-team field.

 

The No. 26 ranked Vikings (according to Golfstat), placed ahead of three higher ranked teams and trailed only tournament host No. 34 Cal State San Marcos and No. 14 Colorado State-Pueblo in the two-day, 54-hole tournament at Shadowridge Golf Club just North of San Diego. WWU finished the tournament with a team score of 15-over-par 879, four strokes back of second place.

 

Lee carded seven birdies in Tuesday's final round in drizzly weather for the 3-under-par 69, marking the lowest final round in the 69-player field. The co-captain finished the tournament leading all players with 14 birdies over the two-day event. Through five tournaments in 2022-23, Lee has recorded nine rounds (out of 12) of par or better.

 

"Jordan's finish today was big and shows that he is a true leader," added Bennett. "To shoot the low round on the day among all players in tough weather was special. The seven birdies were fantastic."

 

Senior co-captain Cody Oakes was solid wire-to-wire during the 54-hole tournament, finishing in a tie for 12th place at 2-over-par 218.

 

"It was great to see Cody play well beginning to end," said Bennett. "His game and mindset were solid through all 54 holes."

 

Junior Drew Halili placed 23rd at 6-over-par 222, including a 1-under-par 71 in the second round, and freshman Peter Dionne-Yahr tied for 24th at 7-over-par 223. 

 

"It was really cool to see Drew finish with a birdie. He had a solid week on the course," said Bennett. "Peter was really close to having a great tournament, just a couple of bad breaks but he was solid." 

 

Tournament host Cal State San Marcos defended the team title finishing at 9-over-par 873 for a two-stroke victory over Colorado State-Pueblo. No. 30 Cal State San Bernardino moved down two spots on the leaderboard to finish fourth one stroke behind WWU and No. 9 Sonoma State placed 5th at 24-over-par 888.

 

Matt Miller of Colorado State-Pueblo recorded a seven-stroke victory for individual medalist honors finishing at 9-under-par 207, maintaining the lead he took into the final round by shooting even-par 72 on Tuesday. Playing as an individual, Greg Mouser of Cal State San Marcos tied for runner-up honors with Isaac Calderon of Cal State San Bernardino at 2-under-par 214.

 

WWU will take next week off and return to action February 27-March 1 at the three-day D2 Prestige hosted by Cal State San Bernardino at the PGA West Course in La Quinta, California.

 

Here is a look at WWU's individual results and the team leaderboard following Tuesday's final of the Cal State San Marcos Fujikura Invitational at Shadowridge Golf Club in Vista, California:

 

 

Here is a look at the 2022-23 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.