BELLINGHAM, Wash. – The Western Washington University men's golf team continued its quick start to the 2023 -24 season hosting the first two rounds of the WWU Invitational Monday at Bellingham Golf & Country Club.

 

The Vikings are tied for 4th in the 11-team tournament with Monday's 36 holes played in windy and rainy conditions on the par 72 layout. 

 

WWU climbed the leaderboard as the rain started to fall and the wind picked up, moving from 8th place after the first round into the tie for 4th with Northwest Nazarene. The Vikings two-round team score stands at 18-over-par 594 with rounds of 296 (+8) and 298 (+10).

 

"It was a battle out there today, both with the conditions and some of the play, but overall we had some good things happen today and we'll look to build into tomorrow's final round," said WWU Director of Golf Luke Bennett. "It's been a fast start to the season with qualifying and back-to-back tournaments. We have an opportunity tomorrow go out and put it all together and hopefully move up the leaderboard."

 

The Vikings full 10-player roster is competing in the tournament with five scoring players and five individuals.

Sophomore Peter Dionne-Yahr leads the squad in a tie for 2nd place at 1-under-par 143 following rounds of 71 (-1) and 72 (E). Freshman Nathan Yocam made his collegiate debut Monday and is tied for 8th place in the 67-player field at 1-over-par 145 (73-72). Junior Seth King is also inside the top 20 at 3-over-par 147 (73-74).

"Peter had two excellent rounds and was solid throughout his 36 holes," said Bennett. "I am very proud of Nathan making his collegiate debut in great fashion with two good rounds. Seth really battled out there and had a great finish to his day to sit inside the top 20."

 

Simon Fraser University holds a 10-stroke lead in the team competition at 2-over-par 578. University of the Fraser Valley is in 2nd place at 12-over-par 588 and Chico State is in 3rd place at 14-over-par 590. The Vikings and Northwest Nazarene are four strokes back of Chico State.

 

Dakota Ochoa of Chico State holds the lead for individual medalist honors at 4-under-par 140 with rounds of even-par 72 in the morning and 4-under-par 68 in the afternoon. Ochoa carries a three-stroke lead into Tuesday's final round ahead of four players tied for second place. 

 

Tuesday's final round features an 8:30 am shotgun start with the Vikings starting lineup beginning on holes 5-6-7-8-9 and the individuals on holes 17-18. Live scoring is available through Golfstat at wwuvikings.com/MG_Live.
 

Here is a look at WWU's individual results and the team leaderboard following Monday's first and second rounds of the WWU Invitational held at Bellingham Golf & Country Club:

 

Here is a look at the Vikings 2023-24 fall tournament schedule for the WWU Men's Golf program, in addition to the listing of spring postseason tournaments. 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 made its 10th trip to the National Championship Finals in 2023 placing 15th. 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.