ROHNERT PARK, Calif. – The goal for any of the 20 teams competing at the NCAA Division II West/South Central Super Regional Championships is to be in contention heading into Saturday's final round.

 

And that is right where the Western Washington University men's golf team finds itself following a stellar even-par second round Friday at Foxtail Golf Club. 

 

With only five teams advancing to nationals, the Vikings are in 5th place with 18 holes remaining in the 54-hole competition. WWU's even-par 288 Friday was tied for 3rd-best amongst the strong 20-team field, moving the team up three spots in the standings after opening the day tied for 8th place.

 

"It was great to see the guys put together a solid team round today," said WWU Director of Golf Luke Bennett. "We want to be in the mix heading into the final round and they accomplished that today. Very proud of the resolve and the grit they showed today."

 

Colorado Christian holds the top spot at 6-under-par 570 as a team, followed by West Texas A&M (+2, 578), Oklahoma Christian (+4, 580), Simon Fraser (+6, 582) and WWU (+7, 583). Regional host Sonoma State is in 6th place (+8, 584) and Colorado State-Pueblo and Chico State are tied for 7th (+9, 585).

 

Senior All-American candidate Jordan Lee fueled the Vikings climb up the leaderboard firing a 3-under-par 69 and is tied for 2nd individually at 4-under-par 140. Griffin Pace of Sonoma State holds the lead for individual medalist honors at 8-under-par 136 (68-68).

 

Lee recorded his 12th consecutive round of par or better in Friday's second round, totaling six birdies on the 6,851-yard par 72 layout. The GNAC Player of the Year had a phenomenal finish playing the final six holes at 3-under-par. 

 

"Jordan just continues to play rock-solid golf and his finish was huge for us today," said Bennett.

 

Sophomore Seth King is tied for 9th in the 108-player field at 1-under-par 143, backing up his 1-under-par round Thursday with an even-par 72 on Friday. Junior Drew Halili shook off a shaky start to fire a 1-under-par 71, playing his final 16 holes at 4-under-par, and sits in 34th place entering the final round.

 

"I am very impressed with the way Drew bounced back after a tough start and that was big for our team today," added Bennett. "Seth has strung together two nice rounds and I think he can go even lower tomorrow." 

 

WWU will tee off starting at 11:50 am for Saturday's final round while paired with Simon Fraser and Sonoma State. Live scoring is available via Golfstat.com.

 

The 20-team Super Regional features 18 holes each day in the three-round, 54-hole tournament with the top five teams (and top two individuals on non-advancing teams) qualifying for the NCAA II Championship Finals that will be held May 22-26 at Avalon Lakes Country Club in Warren, Ohio.

 

The NCAA Division II Championship field consists of 80 teams and 32 individuals that will play in the super regional tournaments across the country May 11-13. WWU has competed at the NCAA II National Championship Tournament nine times in program history, last finishing 16th at the 2017 tournament in Kissimmee, Florida.

Here is a look at WWU's individual results and the team leaderboard following Friday's second round of the 2023 NCAA Division II West/South Central Super Regional Championship at Foxtail Golf Club in Rohnert Park, California:

 

 

Fans can follow all the action from Rohnert Park via the following handy links:

 

• Golfstat Live Leaderboard
• Tournament Central
• NCAA Championships Program
• NCAA Division II Rankings 
• Golfstat Team Rankings

 

Here is a look at the 20-team field for the 2023 West/South Central NCAA Division II Golf Championships that will be played May 11-13 at Foxtail Golf Club in Rohnert Park, California. The top 10 teams in the West and South Central Regions, along with four individuals from the region, make up the 108-player field. The tournament is a 54-hole, three-round competition with 18 holes played each day (Thursday – Friday – Saturday). The top five teams will advance to the NCAA II Men's Golf Championships May 22-26 at Avalon Lakes Country Club in Warren, Ohio. The finals will be hosted by the Mountain East Conference and Avalon Lakes at The Grand Resort.

 

2023 WEST/SOUTH CENTRAL SUPER REGIONAL

May 11-13, 2023

Foxtail Golf Club | North Course | Par 72 | 6,851 yards

Rohnert Park, CA

Format: 54 hole stroke play

Rounds: 3 (Thursday-Friday-Saturday)

Tournament Size: Teams-20, Individuals-8, Field Size-108

Host: Sonoma State University

 

West Region:

1. Cal State San Marcos
2. Sonoma State
3. Western Washington
4. Simon Fraser
5. Chico State
6. Cal State San Bernardino
7. Stanislaus State
8. Cal State Monterey Bay
9. Holy Names
10. Hawai'i Hilo

 

Individuals:

1. Easton Hether, Cal State East Bay
2. Xavier Coreno, Cal State East Bay
3. Max Turnquist, Saint Martin's
4. Andy Yoon, Cal State Dominguez Hills

 

South Central Region:

1. Oklahoma Christian
2. Cameron
3. Midwestern State
4. Colorado Christian
5. Colorado State-Pueblo
6. Colorado Mesa
7. Texas Permian Basin
8. Western New Mexico
9. Colorado-Colorado Springs
10. West Texas A&M

 

Individuals:

1. Mauricio Figueroa, Texas A&M International
2. Lukas Taggart, Colorado School of Mines
3. Tanner Lundgren, St. Mary's (Texas)
4. Max Lange, Colorado School of Mines

 

WWU is part of a stacked super regional field with eight of the 20 teams in the West/South Central Super Regional listed in the national top 25 via both the latest Bushnell Golfweek Division II Coaches Poll and Golfstat Relative Team Rankings. 

 

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 24 seasons the program has competed at the NCAA Division II level dating back to the 1998-99 season. 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 15 Great Northwest Athletic Conference championships since the tournament debuted in 2008. The Vikings have also featured the GNAC Championships individual medalist in 10 of 15 tournaments with Jordan Lee joining the elite list of conference champions in 2023 and nine GNAC Player of the Year awards.