BELLINGHAM, Wash. – Through the first two rounds of its home tournament, the Western Washington University men's golf team holds a seven-stroke lead following play Monday at the 2026 WWU Invitational at Bellingham Golf & Country Club.

 

The Vikings finished the first round in 5th place at 1-under-par 287 and turned it up a notch over the next 18 holes with a 13-under-par 275. WWU enters Tuesday's final round with a team score of 14-under-par 562, seven strokes in front of No. 12 nationally ranked Colorado Christian (-7, 569). The two-day, 54-hole tournament features 15 teams.

 

"It was nice to see some putts disappear today, especially in the second round," said WWU Director of Golf Steve Card. "We've been close to having a really good round during this early part of the season, so it was nice to see the team show their potential. Across the board solid golf by the team and we are looking forward to getting back on the course tomorrow."

 

Coming off a 4th-place finish out of 15 teams at the season-opening SMU Bishop Invitational that concluded Saturday, the Vikings are in fine early-season form following Monday's grueling 36-hole performance. Western features four players in the top 10 in the 84-player field, led by sophomore Daniel Blankenburg in third place at 7-under-par 137 (70-67). Blankenburg tied tournament leader Bradley Mulder of Colorado Christian for the low second-round score with his 5-under-par 67 featuring a clean scorecard with five birdies and no bogeys.
 

Three Vikings are tied for fifth place on the leaderboard at 5-under-par 139. Seniors Conrad Brown (69-70) and Denby Carswell (71-68), with sophomore Henry Kippenhan (70-69) played steady golf throughout the day for the Vikings. Kippenhan is playing the tournament as an individual.

Junior Palmer Mutcheson turned in a career-low 2-under-par 70 in the second round and is tied for 29th overall at 3-over-par 147. All five Vikings in the starting lineup posted a round of par-or-better in the second round with senior Christopher Zamani (tied for 53rd) firing an even-par 72 

 

Mulder is the leader for individual medalist honors at 10-under-par 134 with matching rounds of 5-under-par 67, two strokes ahead of Nathan Widjaya of Simon Fraser (-8, 136) and three ahead of Blankenburg. Mulder is coming off back-to-back tournament wins at the San Juan Intercollegiate and SMU Bishop Invitational.

 

WWU's strong team play was highlighted by playing the three par 5 holes at a combined 17-under-par and tied for the team lead with 36 total birdies and two eagles.

 

Tuesday's final round is scheduled for an 8:30 am shotgun start at Bellingham Golf & Country Club. The Vikings will be paired with Colorado Christian and UBC Okanagan. Live results and final round pairings can be viewed online via the Clippd Live Leaderboard.

 

Here is a look at WWU's individual results and the team leaderboard through the first two rounds of the 2026 WWU Invitational played at the Par 72 Bellingham Golf & Country Club.

 

 

The Vikings wrap up play at the WWU Invitational on Tuesday with the final round. The next tournaments feature a trip to Hawai'i playing in the Punahele Jerky Invitational (Oct. 26-27) hosted by Hawai'i Hilo and the HPU Sharks Shootout (Oct. 30-31) hosted by Hawai'i Pacific. The complete 2026-27 season schedule can be viewed at WWUVikings.com/MGolf.

Here is a look at the Vikings 2026-27 fall tournament schedule for the WWU Men's Golf program. All tournament recaps, season statistics and program history can be found on WWUVikings.com/MGolf.