WARREN, Ohio – The Western Washington University men's golf team opened play Monday at the NCAA Division II National Championship at Avalon Lakes Country Club.

 

The Vikings are in 17th place out of 20 teams following a first-round team score of 16-over-par 304. WWU will look to climb the leaderboard in Tuesday's second round with tee times beginning at 9:20 am ET/6:20 am PT. The top eight teams at the conclusion of Wednesday's final round will move on to the match play portion of the championship. The Vikings are eight strokes back of the top 10 heading into the final 36 holes of the tournament.

 

"It was not the start we were looking for, but there is a lot of golf left to play," said WWU Director of Golf Luke Bennett. "We are at this championship for a reason and the guys just need to have that belief heading into our next 36 holes of golf. They can play good golf on this course…they just must believe in themselves."

 

WWU was paced in the opening round by a 2-under-par 70 by senior Jordan Lee, who sits in a tie for 8th place in the 107-player field. The All-West Region award winner recorded four birdies on the front nine en route to his 14th consecutive round of par or better dating back to the beginning of March.

 

"Another rock-solid round from Jordan on a tough layout," said Bennett. "It is fun to see Jordan put up these scores on the national stage."

Sophomore Conrad Brown and senior Cody Oakes recorded the second-best rounds for the Vikings at 5-over-par 77. Sophomore Seth King (+8, 80) and junior Drew Halili (+10, 82) rounded out the Vikings opening-day performances.

 

Missouri University of Science and Technology holds the team lead at 4-under-par 284, followed by Grand Valley State and Oklahoma Christian in a tie for second place at 2-under-par 286. 

 

Sam Tandy of Harding University holds the early lead for individual medalist honors following a 6-under-par 66, followed by Mauricio Figueroa (Texas A&M International), Gustav Liljedahl (Missouri S&T) and Andrew Riley (Palm Beach Atlantic) are tied for second place at 5-under-par 67.

 

WWU will tee off starting at 9:20 am ET/6:20 am PT in Tuesday's second round with live scoring available via Golfstat.com and paired with Maryville University and Fayetteville State for the second consecutive day.

 

Here is a look at WWU's individual results and the team leaderboard following Monday's first round of the 2023 NCAA Division II National Championship at Avalon Lakes Country Club in Warren, Ohio:

 

 

Fans can follow all the action from Warren, Ohio via the following handy links:

 

• Golfstat Live Leaderboard
• First Round Pairings
• Tournament Central
• NCAA Championships Program
• NCAA Division II Rankings 
• Golfstat Team Rankings
• NCAA Championships Record Book

Here is a look at the 20-team field for the 2023 NCAA Division II Golf Men's Golf Championships that will be played May 22-26 at Avalon Lakes Golf & Country Club in Warren, Ohio. The field consists of 20 teams from across the country, with a minimum of three teams from each of the four super regional sits. The tournament format features three rounds of individual stroke play competition, with the top eight teams advancing to head-to-head medal play. Lee University is the defending national champion, defeating Oklahoma Christian in the 2022 championship finals. 

 

2023 NCAA DIVISION II MEN'S GOLF CHAMPIONSHIPS

May 22-26, 2023

Avalon Lakes Golf & Country Club | Par 72 | 7,287 Yards

Warren, Ohio

Format: 54 hole stroke play followed by top 8 teams in match play

Rounds: 3 (Monday-Tuesday-Wednesday)

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

Host: Mountain East Conference and Avalon Lakes at The Grand Resort

 

Teams (ordered by Golfstat ranking)

West Florida (#1)

Barry (#2)

North Georgia (#3)

Lee (#4)

Nova Southeastern (#6)

Grand Valley State (#7)

Georgia Southwestern (#8)

Oklahoma Christian (#9)

Sonoma State (#10)

Western Washington (#11)

Chico State (#19)

Simon Fraser (#28)

Missouri S&T (#31)

Washburn (#47)

Harding (#48)

Southern Arkansas (#64)

Maryville (#68)

Indiana (#74)

Davis & Elkins (#78)

Fayetteville State (#106)

 

Individuals:

Mauricio Figueroa, Texas A&M International

Liam Duncan, Colorado State University Pueblo

Andrew Riley, Palm Beach Atlantic

Jose Ramirez, Lynn

Ethan Wilkins, Henderson State

Donnie Professori, Findlay

Donte Groppuso, St. Thomas Aquinas

Tyler Birdd, Le Moyne

 

WWU is competing in the NCAA II National Championship Tournament for the 10th time in program history and first since 2017 placing 16th at nationals in Kissimmee, Florida. Here is a look at the Vikings finish at nationals since making the move up from NAIA in 1999:

 

• 1999 (11th)
• 2000 (T6th)
• 2003 (11th)
• 2004 (9th)
• 2005 (9th)
• 2008 (T8th)
• 2012 (9th)
• 2013 (T3rd) Reached Semifinals in Match Play
• 2017 (16th)

 

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 and will be making its 10th trip to the National Championship Finals in 2023. 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.