Bearcats Remain in NWC Championship Race after Placing Second at Spring Classic
By Robert McKinney, Assistant Athletics Director, Communications
BREMERTON, Wash. -- The Willamette University men's golf team remained in the running for the 2016-17 Northwest Conference Championship by placing second at the NWC Spring Classic, as action concluded in the 36-hole event on Sunday, April 9 at the Gold Mountain Golf Club. Pacific Lutheran University won the tournament with a score of 583 (297-286), while the Bearcats took second at 592 (298-294).
The NWC Spring Classic is one of three tournaments used to determine the NWC team champion each season. The NWC Fall Classic and the NWC Spring Classic are each worth one-fourth of the title, while the NWC Tournament is worth one-half of the title. This year's NWC Tournament is set for April 22-23 at the Tacoma Country & Golf Club in Tacoma, Washington.
Pacific Lutheran leads the race for the NWC Championship with 16 points after taking first place at both the NWC Fall Classic and the NWC Spring Classic. Willamette holds second place in the overall standings with 14 points on the strength of two second place finishes. George Fox University is third with 10 points. The winner of the NWC Tournament will receive 16 points, with points awarded to other teams on a 14-12-10-8, etc. basis.
Trent Jones (So., Kenmore, WA/Shorecrest HS) of Willamette placed second in the individual standings at the Spring Classsic with a total score of even-par 142. Jones shot a tournament-low 67 on Saturday, followed by a 75 in the second round. Mitchell Baldridge of PLU rallied to win the individual title at 2-under-par 140 by shooting a 68 in the second round, after carding a 72 in the first round.
Willamette's Kenneth Sheldon (So., Ocean Park, WA/Ilwaco HS) was one of three golfers who tied for third place at 145. Sheldon shot 75 in the opening round, followed by a 1-under-par 70 in the second round. Kyle Drugge of Pacific Lutheran and Jeremy Van den Berg from University of Puget Sound each shot 74-71.
Drew Groshong of Lewis & Clark Collge was sixth at 148 (77-71). Logan Davis of Linfield College earned seventh place at 149 (79-70). Thomas Huddleston of PLU and Alex Plusquellec from George Fox tied for eighth at 150, with Huddleston shooting 78-72 and Plusqellec carding 73-77.
Sam Hinton (So., Seaside, OR/Seaside HS) tie for 10th place for the Bearcats with a score of 151. He shot a 78 in the first round and a 73 in the second round. Also tying for 10th were Isaac Gebisz (75-76) of Linfield and Mason Koch (74-77) of GFU.
Completing Willamette's team were Peter Mitzel and Clark Wilson. Mitzel finished at 154 (78-76), while Wilson recorded a score of 161. Wilson shot 85 in the first round, and then improved by nine strokes to 76 over the final 18 holes. All five Willamette golfers shot 76 or lower on Sunday.
Pacific Lutheran's winning team score of 582 and Willamette's second place tally of 592 were followed by Linfield in third place at 599 (305-294). Puget Sound was fourth at 615 (307-308), George Fox was fifth at 621 (308-313), Lewis & Clark placed sixth at 628 (317-311), Whitworth University took seventh at 635 (319-316), Whitman College was eighth at 629 (322-317), and Pacific University placed ninth at 653 (333-320).
The Bearcats will host the Willamette Spring Thaw at the OGA Golf Course in Woodburn, Oregon, on Friday, April 14 and Saturday, April 15.