By: Jeff Evans, Assistant AD for Athletic Communications
BELLINGHAM, Wash. – The Western Washington University men's golf team had four players earn All-GNAC honors for their performance during the 2023-24 season and Director of Golf Luke Bennett claimed his third consecutive GNAC Coach of the Year award.
Fresh off a dominating performance in the GNAC Championships claiming the program's 11th conference title, the Vikings led all programs with three first-team selections and tied for the most overall with four conference all-star awards.
Juniors Seth King and Ryan Ho were joined by sophomore Peter Dionne-Yahr as first-team selections, with junior Matteo Polla claiming second-team honors.
Ho made headlines at the conference championships a week ago as he shot a 9-under-par 62 in his opening round to smash the tournament record and set the all-time GNAC single-round record on the way to a 3rd-place finish with a 6-under-par 207 (62-71-74). On the season, Ho leads the team and ranks 4th in the GNAC with a 72.6 stroke average.
King and Dionne-Yahr have also enjoyed strong seasons on the links for WWU as they rank 5th and 6th in the conference, respectively, with stroke averages of 72.9. and 73. Both players have notched three top-10 results this season, with their latest coming at the GNAC Championships. Dionne-Yahr took 4th in Coeur d'Alene with a three-round score of 5-under-par 208 (67-72-69) while King tied for sixth with a score of 3-under-par 210 (72-71-67).
Bennett was voted by his peers as the Coach of the Year after leading the Vikings to their conference-record 11th GNAC Championships title with a three-round score of 14-under-par 838 (273-287-278). The honor is the sixth of Bennett's career and draws him level with former stalwart of the program Steve Card for the most in conference history. As a program, Western Washington has claimed 12 Coach of the Year honors, with Bennett's latest his third in a row.
The Vikings earned an automatic bid to the NCAA Championships after winning the 11th GNAC title in program history earlier this week. WWU continues postseason play May 9-11 with at the three-day, 54-hole NCAA II West/South Central Super Regional at University Golf Course in Las Cruces, New Mexico. WWU's starting lineup is scheduled to be Ryan Ho, Peter Dionne-Yahr, Seth King, Matteo Polla and Cole Reynolds. The Vikings have advanced to 25 consecutive NCAA Championships, a streak that spans every season since Western joined the NCAA Division II level in 1998-99.
Here is a look at WWU's season player stats heading into the NCAA Regional Championships:
|
Player
|
Rounds
|
Strokes
|
54-holes
|
36-holes
|
Low Round
|
Below Par
|
Events
|
Top 5
|
Top 10
|
To Par
|
Average
|
|
Ryan Ho
|
15
|
1089
|
207
|
-
|
62
|
6
|
5
|
1
|
1
|
+1
|
72.6
|
|
Seth King
|
25
|
1822
|
210
|
145
|
67
|
10
|
9
|
-
|
3
|
+1
|
72.9
|
|
Peter Dionne-Yahr
|
22
|
1607
|
208
|
144
|
67
|
9
|
8
|
1
|
3
|
+1
|
73.0
|
|
Nathan Yocam
|
11
|
814
|
214
|
144
|
69
|
3
|
4
|
1
|
1
|
+2
|
74.0
|
|
Matteo Polla
|
25
|
1852
|
214
|
149
|
68
|
8
|
9
|
-
|
-
|
+2
|
74.1
|
|
Cole Reynolds
|
12
|
889
|
219
|
-
|
70
|
3
|
4
|
-
|
-
|
+2
|
74.1
|
|
Braxton McDonald
|
16
|
1215
|
224
|
143
|
69
|
3
|
6
|
1
|
1
|
+4
|
75.9
|
|
Drew Halili
|
8
|
614
|
225
|
161
|
73
|
-
|
3
|
-
|
-
|
+5
|
76.8
|
|
Boutillier,Jack
|
3
|
239
|
239
|
-
|
77
|
-
|
1
|
-
|
-
|
+8
|
79.7
|
|
4-PLAYER TEAM
|
25
|
7279
|
838
|
581
|
273
|
42
|
9
|
4
|
9
|
+4
|
291.2
|
