PLEASANTON, Calif. – The Western Washington University men's golf team capped a solid start to the spring season with a second-place finish at the NNU Nighthawk Invitational at Callippi Preserve Golf Course.

 

After posting an even-par 288 in the first round the Vikings completed the two-day tournament with a 5-over-par 293 to take second place in the nine-team tournament. WWU was nine strokes back of tournament champion Cal State East Bay (-4, 572) and finished ahead of West Region opponents Cal State San Marcos (+6, 582), Sonoma State (+9, 585) and tournament host Northwest Nazarene (+12, 588).

 

"We needed this type of start to the spring and it was definitely a step in the right direction for the team," said WWU Director of Golf Luke Bennett. "The guys should a few nerves early but really dug deep today for a solid finish to the first spring tournament."

 

Freshman Braxton McDonald was in content most of the day for the tournament title, but settled for a strong tie for 4th-place finish at 1-under-par 143 (69-74=143). McDonald paced the tournament field playing the par 5 holes at 5-under-par and finished with 26 pars and six birdies.

 

"Braxton played very solid for 35 holes and was in the mix for the individual title almost all tournament," said Bennett. "This was a great building block for him and he should walk away with a lot of confidence in how he competed to open the spring season."

 

Sophomore Peter Dionne-Yahr finished in 8th place at even-par 144 with rounds of 1-under-par 71 and 1-over-par 73. Dionne-Yahr was one of the most consistent players in the field with 27 pars to tie for the most in the tournament.

 

"Peter played great golf from start to finish and showed some great stuff on the course," said Bennett. "He stayed patient and calm, which resulted in a really great top 10 finish."

 

Junior Seth King fired an even-par 72 for Tuesday's lowest round by a Viking to move into a tie for 9th place at 1-over-par 145 in the tournament. King led the team with seven birdies in the tournament.

 

"Solid stuff from Seth today, and really the whole tournament," added Bennett. "He took a good finish Monday into today's round and played with confidence. That is something we'll look from him the remainder of the season."

 

Patrick Jaksch of Cal State San Marcos won individual medalist honors with a commanding five-stroke victory with rounds of 3-under-par 69 Monday and 4-under-par 68 Tuesday to finish at 7-under-par 137. Cal State East Bay teammates Adam Brangefalt and Cooper Groshart tied for runner-up honors at 2-under-par 142.

 

The Vikings are back in action next week, remaining in the Bay Area, competing in the Tim Tierney Pioneer Shootout March 11-12 at Corica Park Golf Course in Alameda. 

 

Here is a look at WWU's individual results and the team leaderboard from the NNU Nighthawk Invitational hosted by Northwest Nazarene University at Callippi Preserve Golf Course. 

 

 

Here is a look at the Vikings 2023-24 tournament schedule for the WWU Men's Golf program. All tournament recaps, season statistics and program history can be found on WWUVikings.com/MGolf.