WARREN, Ohio – The Western Washington University men's golf knew they had to go low in Tuesday's second round of the NCAA Division II National Championship…and that they did.

 

The Vikings showed a 17-stroke improvement from Monday's opening round at nationals at Avalon Lakes Country Club, stringing together a team round of 1-under-par 287 to be featured among only eight teams that cracked par in the 20-team field in the second round. WWU moved up four spots on the leaderboard to 13th place and will open Wednesday's final round of stroke play 10 shots back of the top eight, which will advance to medal match play.

 

"The team started to show the belief today and had a good performance. I am proud of how they bounced back and feel they can take the confidence into tomorrow," said WWU Director of Golf Luke Bennett. "Tomorrow is a day where there is truly nothing to lose. We have some comfort in that we have the same tee times as we did today and have a greater feel for the course. It's going to be tough, but this group has the ability to do great things."

 

Senior All-America candidate Jordan Lee paced the 108-player field firing the lowest round of the day, carding a 5-under-par 67, and is tied for second place heading into the final round. Lee was 7-under-par at one point late in his round and is part of a three-way tie for second place, one stroke back of leader Mauricio Figueroa of Texas A&M International. Lee's seven-birdie round continued a remarkable stretch of golf that now includes 15 consecutive rounds of par or better dating back to the start of March. Of the 108 players in the nationals field, Lee is tied for the lead with 11 birdies.

 

"Jordan is just in a zone right now and it is fun to watch," said Bennett. "He is in control of every facet of his game and has a great mentality going into his rounds. I am looking forward to tomorrow's final round."

In addition to Lee's under-par round, sophomore Seth King fired a 1-under-par 71 fueled by three birdies over the final five holes and sophomore Conrad Brown played the par-72 layout at even par while recording four birdies. Senior co-captain Cody Oakes played the final five holes at 2-under-par to record his second consecutive 5-over-par 77 and junior Drew Halili shot a 7-over-par 79.

 

"The whole team had great stretches of golf today and that is something we can truly build off for tomorrow," said Bennett. "Seth came back with a great round today and Conrad was rock solid with his even-par score. I believe in these guys heading into tomorrow.

 

With Lee in a tie for second place, Brown is the next highest Viking individual on the leaderboard tied for 54th place with King tied for 66th place.

Oklahoma Christian took over the team lead at 13-under-par by recording the lowest score of the day at 11-under-par 277 and enter the final round with a 10-stroke lead over second-place Barry University (3-under-par). West Florida (3rd, -1), Georgia Southwestern (4th, +2), Sonoma State (5th, +3), Nova Southeastern (T-6th, +5), Missouri Science and Technology (T-6th, +5) and Grand Valley State (T-6th, +5) are currently tied to the top eight spots on the leaderboard. The top eight teams after tiebreakers following Wednesday's final round advance to the medal match play portion of the championship on Thursday and Friday. The individual tournament champion will be crowned tomorrow.

 

WWU will tee off starting at 9:20 am ET/6:20 am PT in Wednesday's final round while paired with Maryville University and Indiana University of Pennsylvania. The tournament can be followed online via the Golfstat.com Live Leaderboard.

 

Here is a look at WWU's individual results and the team leaderboard following Tuesday's second 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
• Final 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.