GOODYEAR, Ariz. – Through the first two rounds of the Palm Valley Classic, the Western Washington University men's golf team is tied for 13th place in a deep field of 19 teams.

 

Western stands at 5-over-par 581 through the first two rounds of the 54-hole tournament, just four stokes back of a spot in the top 10. The Vikings were one of eight teams to record an afternoon round under par with a 3-under-par 285.

 

"A very similar to our last tournament where we got off to a bit of a slow start and had a strong finish in the afternoon. We hope to carry that momentum into tomorrow…we have work to do and a lot we can accomplish," said Steve Card, WWU's former AD and longtime head coach that is helping the program this spring. "This course lends itself to a lot of the birdies, which you will see with the teams scoring at the top of the leaderboard. We gave it some good looks and got some to go down in the afternoon round."

 

Sophomore Peter Dionne-Yahr leads the Vikings in a tie for 21st place in the 104-player field, finishing the first 36 holes at 1-under-par 143. Dionne-Yahr was one of 14 players to shoot in the 60s during the afternoon round with a 4-under-par 68.

 

Junior Cole Reynolds is tied for 38th in the tournament at 1-over-par 145 with rounds of even-par 72 in the morning and 1-over-par 73 in the afternoon. Junior Matteo Polla is at 5-over-par 149 to tie for 73rd with rounds of 77 in the morning and even-par 72 in the afternoon. Juniors Ryan Ho (79-72) and Seth King (72-79) are tied for 80th at 7-over-par 151

 

"We just didn't capitalize on the par 5's today and that is something you need to do on this course," added Card. "We did a much better in the afternoon making an adjustment on those holes where birdies are to be had."

 

No. 9 nationally-ranked Colorado Christian holds the team lead through the first two rounds at 27-under-par 549 with tournament co-host Western New Mexico in 2nd place at 20-under-par 556. The Vikings are locked in a four-way tie for 13th place in the 19-team field with Cameron, Saint Martin's and CSU Pueblo.

 

Ron Kildall (Fort Lewis), Adam Niles (Western New Mexico) and Seth Bearden (Midwestern State) are locked in a three-way tie for individual medalist honors at 11-under-par 133 heading into Tuesday's final round.

 

Tuesday's final round of the Palm Valley Classic tees off with a shotgun start at 7:30 am with the Vikings paired with CSU Pueblo, Cameron and Saint Martin's. Live Results can be tracked online at wwuvikings.com/MG_Live.

 

Here is a look at WWU's individual results and the team leaderboard from the first two rounds of the Palm Valley Classic hosted by the Ruidoso Junior Golf Association and Western New Mexico University at Palm Valley Golf Club in Goodyear, Arizona. Tuesday's final round tees off with a shotgun start at 7:30 am:

 

 

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.