TURLOCK, Calif. – Led by a tournament winning performance from senior David Sibbett, the Western Washington University men's golf team had a solid finish to the 2024-25 regular season schedule placing 3rd at the Hanny Stanislaus Invitational that wrapped up play Tuesday at Turlock Golf & Country Club.

 

The Vikings navigated a challenging schedule that saw the tournament feature a 36-hole practice round Sunday with the tournament spread across two rounds at Merced Golf & Country Club in Merced, California and the final round at the traditional site of the 50th edition of the Hanny Stanislaus Invitational at Turlock, Golf & Country Club.

 

WWU finished the two-day, 54-hole tournament at 14-under-par 850 for the best team score of the season to finish in 3rd place in the 15-team field. The Vikings continued to gain momentum heading into the postseason after placing 4th out of 14 teams in its last tournament, with this week's performance finishing ahead of six teams listed ahead of the No. 10 Vikings in the West Region rankings.

 

"The team had a strong finish today to earn a really good 3rd-place result in a tough tournament," said WWU Director of Golf Luke Bennett. "They have played well in the last two tournaments building some important momentum going into the GNAC Championships and hopefully putting us in a great spot to advance even further. As a group they have played strong golf over the last month and I am looking forward to carrying the positive vibe into the conference tournament next week."

 

Tuesday's final round featured the Vikings shooting a 5-under-par 283 on the par 72 layout, with three of the four scoring players finishing the round with a birdie.

 

Sibbett (Tacoma, WA/Highline College) recorded his first collegiate victory in just his fourth tournament, finishing the event at 12-under-par 204 with rounds of 67 (-5), 70 (-2), 67 (-5). He earned a three-stroke victory over 2nd-place Naoki Easterday of Chico State. Sibbett became the first Viking to win a tournament since Jordan Lee won three consecutive tournaments at the end of the 2022-23 season, including the Hanny Stanislaus Invitational.

 

The senior completed the tournament with 15 birdies, one eagle and made only three bogeys over the three rounds. 

 

"What a fantastic tournament for David – from start to finish – he was in control of his game and won a very difficult tournament against a good field," said Bennett. "It is hard to win a tournament at any level, and David did so today in grand fashion with a 5-under-par 67."

 

In addition to Sibbett's 1st-place finish, the Vikings were bolstered by a top-20 placing from sophomore Nick Ennis (T16, -2, 69-71-74=214) and freshman Michael Killmer tying for 29th place at 1-over-par 217 (68-78-71). Junior Peter Dionne-Yahr continued his solid campaign tying for 32nd place at 2-over-par 218 (72-75-71).

 

"Nick and Michael had great tournament performances and Peter was again steady to help to the great team finish," added Bennett.

 

The Vikings have been a regular at the Hanny Stanislaus Invitational and had recent success at the tournament including winning in back-to-back years in 2022 and 2023.

 

The Vikings moved up the leaderboard one spot during the final day to finish four strokes back of tournament winner Cal State Monterey Bay (-18, 846) and two back of second-place Chico State (-16, 848).

 

Here is a look at WWU's final individual results and the team leaderboard from 50th edition of the Hanny Stanislaus Invitational hosted by Stanislaus State University. The first 36 holes were played at Merced Golf & Country Club and the final round was played at Turlock Golf & Country Club:

 

 

WWU was listed No. 10 in the final edition of the NCAA II West Region rankings, which determine the field for the NCAA Championships field. The top 10 teams from the West Region advance to play in the West/South Central Super Regional May 8-10 at Victoria Club in Riverside, California. The NCAA selections are scheduled for Friday, April 25. WWU has an incredible streak of appearing in the NCAA Championships in each of the last 25 seasons.

 

The Vikings have a quick turnaround with the postseason beginning next Monday-Tuesday (April 21-22) at the 2025 GNAC Golf Championships at Coeur d'Alene Golf Resort in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho. WWU is the defending champion at the GNAC Championships winning its 11th conference championship last season. The opening round of the 2025 GNAC Championships is slated to start with tee times at 7:30 am.

Here is a look at the Vikings 2024-25 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 25 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 11 of 16 Great Northwest Athletic Conference championships since the tournament debuted in 2008. The Vikings have also featured the GNAC Championships individual medalist in 10 of 16 tournaments with Jordan Lee joining the elite list of conference champions in 2023 and nine GNAC Player of the Year awards.