GOODYEAR, Ariz. – The Western Washington University men's golf team moved up three spots on the leaderboard to finish in a tie for 10th place at the Palm Valley Classic to conclude the regular-season schedule.

 

The Vikings carded the sixth-lowest team score of Tuesday's final round at Palm Valley Golf Club with a 4-under-par 284. WWU completed the two-day, 54-hole tournament at 1-over-par 865 to finish in a three-way tie for 10th place in the 19-team field.

 

"Overall it was a very solid day for the team across the board," said WWU assistant coach and former AD Steve Card, who has been helping the Vikings this spring. "This is a tournament where you have to go really low on the scorecard and a few teams accomplished that. We had a bit of a slow start again, but played two solid rounds to complete the tournament and I hope the team can learn from that heading into the GNAC Championships."

 

Sophomore Peter Dionne-Yahr led the Vikings tying for 23rd place in the 104-player field at 2-under-par 214. After opening the tournament with a 3-over-par 75, Dionne-Yahr played his final 36 holes at 5-under-par to turn in the top 25 finish.

 

Junior Cole Reynolds completed a solid tournament showing in a tie for 52nd place at 3-over-par 219 and junior Matteo Polla shot Western's low final round with a 2-under-par 70 to finish in a tie for 52nd place. Junior Seth King (T-71st) and junior Ryan Ho (T-77th) rounded out the Vikings travel contingent to Arizona.

 

Top-10 nationally-ranked Colorado Christian recorded a six-stroke victory over tournament co-host Western New Mexico with a three-round team score of 37-under-par 827. 

 

Adam Niles of Western New Mexico broke away from a three-way tie for first place to open the final round to earn a one-stroke victory at 13-under-par 203 for the tournament. Ron Kildall of Fort Lewis (-12, 204) earned runner-up honors and Bradley Mulder of Colorado Christian finished third (-11, 205).

 

WWU returns to action April 22-23 with the GNAC Championships at Coeur d'Alene Golf Resort in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho. The two-day, 54-hole tournament will feature 36 holes on the first day and the final 18 holes of the tournament on Tuesday with the team winner earning an automatic bid to the NCAA II West Regional Championships.

 

Here is a look at WWU's individual results and the team leaderboard from the Palm Valley Classic hosted by the Ruidoso Junior Golf Association and Western New Mexico University at Palm Valley Golf Club in Goodyear, Arizona.

 

 

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.

 

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.