TURLOCK, Calif. – The Western Washington University men's golf team is in first place through the first two rounds of the 16-team Hanny Stanislaus Invitational at Turlock Golf & Country Club.

 

The Vikings are the defending champions at the annual tournament hosted by Stanislaus State University and carry a six-stroke team lead into Tuesday's final round. On Monday, WWU turned in a solid 36-hole performance pacing the field at 3-under-par 573. The Vikings torched the par 72 layout with a 10-under-par 278 in the morning round.

 

WWU enters the final round six strokes better than Chico State (+3, 579) and 12 strokes in front of third-place Hawai'i Hilo (+9, 585).

 

"The morning round was a great team effort. Even par is always a good score at this tournament, but to have four players score even par or better was special," said WWU Director of Golf Luke Bennett. "The afternoon played a little tougher, but we are in a good spot heading into tomorrow's final round."

 

Sophomore Conrad Brown leads the Vikings contingent in 4th place in the 96-player field at 3-under-par 141 following rounds of 4-under-par 68 and 1-over-par 73. Brown carded a pair of eagles in his opening round 68 and had five total birdies in the opening 36 holes of the tournament.

 

Senior Jordan Lee is one stroke back tied for 5th place at 2-under-par 142 with rounds of 2-under-par 70 in the morning and even-par 72 in the afternoon. Lee is tied for 5th in the field with eight total birdies and how has turned in 13 of 17 total rounds at par or better during the 2022-23 season.

 

Sophomore Seth King is also tied for 5th place at 2-under-par following rounds of 4-under-par 68 in the morning and 2-over-par 74 in the afternoon. Senior Cody Oakes is tied for 23rd (+4, 72-76=148) and sophomore Matteo Polla is tied for 63rd (+10, 76-78=154).

 

Tyler Ashman of Chico State holds the lead for individual medalist honors at 6-under-par 138 with matching rounds of 3-under-par 69. Ashman holds a one stroke lead over Luke Dugger of Holy Names (-5, 70-69=149) and two better than third-place Andrew Otani of Hawai'i Hilo (-4, 67-73=140).

 

Tuesday's final round is scheduled to begin with a shotgun start at 8 am with the Vikings paired with Chico State, Hawai'i Hilo and Holy Names in the featured group. The final round of the Hanny Stanislaus Invitational can be followed online via live results via Golfstat at wwuvikings.com/MG_Live.

M⛳️ | @WWUGolf holds the lead through the first two rounds of the Hanny Stanislaus Invitational at 3-under-par 573, led by Conrad Brown (4th), Jordan Lee (T5th) and Seth King (T5th) in the top 10.

Results : https://t.co/HV8NJqldQm pic.twitter.com/TN411Qc6fB
— WWU Athletics (@WWUAthletics) March 28, 2023

The Vikings got off to a great start opening the day with a 10-under-par team round of 278, led by matching 4-under-par scores by sophomores Seth King and Conrad Brown. The 10-under-par team round is the second-lowest score of the season (-15, 273 in WWU Invitational – 2nd Round) and tied for the 11th-lowest round relative to par in program history. It is tied for the 4th-lowest team score in a round since 10th-year head coach Luke Bennett took over in 2013-14. WWU held a 13-stroke lead over second-place Cal State Dominguez Hills (+3, 291) following the first round.

 

Here is a look at WWU's individual results and the team leaderboard following Monday's first two rounds of the Hanny Stanislaus Invitational hosted by Stanislaus State University at Turlock Golf & Country Club:

 

 

The 49th Annual Hanny Stanislaus Invitational is a 54-hole stroke play tournament hosted by Stanislaus State University in Turlock, California. The 16-team field will play 36 holes Monday and complete the tournament Tuesday with the final 18 holes.

 

• Event: 2023 Hanny Stanislaus Invitational
• Course: Turlock Golf & Country Club
• Location: Turlock, CA
• Details: Par 72, 6,668 Yards
• Golfstat Live Leaderboard

 

Here is a look at the tournament field for the Hanny Stanislaus Invitational and the current Golfstat Relative Team Ranking. The tournament features 10 of the top 50 teams in the nation according to the current Golfstat rankings with all 11 teams competing that were listed in the first edition of the NCAA Division II West Region rankings.

 

 

Following the Hanny Stanislaus Invitational, the Vikings will take next week off and return to play April 10-11 closing out the 2022-23 regular season competing in the West Regional Preview hosted by Sonoma State University at Foxtail Golf Club in Rohnert Park, California.

 

Here is a look at the 2022-23 schedule for the WWU Men's Golf program, in addition to the 2023 postseason schedule. 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.