ROHNERT PARK, Calif. – The Western Washington University men's golf team is headed to the NCAA Division II National Championships.

 

The Vikings surged up the leaderboard over the last two rounds of the 20-team West/South Central Super Regional at Foxtail Golf Club, carding a final round team score of 4-under-par 284 to tie for the tournament victory with host Sonoma State as Super Regional co-champions.

 

The Vikings and Seawolves went head-to-head in a two-hole playoff, with both teams playing each hole at 1-under-par. The playoff was unfortunately called to darkness and the regional trophy was awarded to SSU via scorecard tiebreaker with the three drop scores from each round added up to determine the winner.

 

Regardless of where the trophy will reside, the Vikings accomplished one of the toughest things in collegiate golf, earning one of the coveted five spots out of 20 teams to advance to the national championships that will be played May 22-26 in Warren, Ohio. 

 

This will be the Vikings 10th team trip to nationals and first since 2016. The program also has a streak of 24 seasons playing in the NCAA Regional Championships. The first-place finish at the regional tournament marks the second in program history since joining the NCAA in 1998-99, joining the 2004-05 team.

 

"It's hard to put into words how proud I am of this team for what they accomplished this weekend," said WWU Director of Golf Luke Bennett, who was a junior on the Vikings last regional winning squad. "There was so many moments where each player had a hand in making this happen. They truly did this as a team and that's probably what makes it so special. I am looking forward to even more great things they can accomplish as a group at nationals."

 

WWU's final round heroics were led by senior All-America candidate Jordan Lee's 5-under-par 67 and a bounce back even-par 72 by senior co-captain Cody Oakes. Sophomore Seth King capped a top-10 performance with a 1-under-par 71.

 

Lee continued his remarkable late-season play that now includes 13 consecutive rounds of par or better, three tournament victories (including the GNAC Championships) and a runner-up finish in West/South Central Super Regional Championships. Lee totaled a three-round score of 9-under-par 207, which included 13 birdies, 37 pars and only four bogeys over the course of the grueling three-day tournament.

 

"Jordan is truly just a special player and person, and it is amazing to watch all that he is accomplishing right now," added Bennett. "He was in control all round and was tough down the stretch making a huge putt on the 18th hole to force the playoff. It is very deserving that Jordan will get the chance to showcase his game at nationals."

 

King tied for 8th in the 108-player field at 2-under-par 214 carding rounds of 71-72-71.

 

"Just a really solid, phenomenal tournament for Seth," said Bennett. "Three rounds of par or better and really played solid golf from start to finish."

 

Junior Drew Halili (T46th, +7, 223), sophomore Conrad Brown (T74th, +11, 227) and senior Cody Oakes (T95th, +18, 234) rounded out the team lineup that helped secure the Vikings best regional finish since winning in 2005.

 

"The entire team contributed to the success of this tournament performance. Drew stepped in after not playing the last few tournaments of the regular season. Conrad had some great moments and Cody really bounced back with a key third-round performance," said Bennett

 

WWU joins Sonoma State, Chico State, Oklahoma Christian and GNAC rival Simon Fraser as teams advancing to the NCAA Division II National Championships played May 22-26 at Avalon Lakes Country Club in Warren, Ohio. The Vikings 4-under-par final round was tied for the second-best of all 20 teams on Saturday, trailing only the 5-under-par by Sonoma State and matching 4-under-par by Chico State.

 

More information on the advancing teams to the NCAA National Championships can be found online at NCAA.com.

 

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

 

 

Here are links with details information on the West/South Central Super Regional Golf Championships:

 

• Golfstat Live Leaderboard
• Tournament Central
• NCAA Championships Program
• NCAA Division II Rankings 
• Golfstat 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 10 GNAC Player of the Year awards.