Willamette Finishes Sixth at Pacific Invitational

By Robert McKinney, Athletics Communications Director, (503) 370-6110

NORTH PLAINS, ORE. -- Willamette University finished in sixth place in the final team standings of the Pacific Spring Invitational, which concluded on Sunday, April 17 with the second round of the 36-hole tournament. The University of Puget Sound won the team title with a score of 594 for a 13-stroke margin of victory.

Puget Sound and Whitworth University entered the day tied for the lead with scores of 301 in Saturday's first round. On Sunday, the Loggers carded a team score of 293, while Whitworth added a score of 306 over the final 18 holes. The Pirates took second place overall with a score of 607.

Pacific University, which shot a 303 in the first round, matched Whitworth at 306 in the second round to claim third place in the final standings with a score of 609. Linfield College was fourth at 615 (313-302), while George Fox University placed fifth at 654 (341-313) and Willamette was sixth at 693 (348-345). Lewis & Clark did not enter a complete team.

Max Bonk from Pacific won the individual championship with an overall score of 9-under par 133. He shot 66 in the first round and 67 in the second round on the 6,451-yard Ghost Creek Course. He had two of the three sub-par rounds of the tournament.

Matt Kitto of Puget Sound, who took second in the final standings at 141, earned the other sub-par round with a 2-under 69 on Saturday. He shot a 72 on Sunday.

Third place went to Jesse Salzwedel of Whitworth at 146 (72-74). Alex Fitch from Linfield achieved fourth place at 148 (74-74). Yutaro Sakamoto of Linfield and Collin Wulff of UPS tied for fifth at 149. Sakamoto carded a 76-73, while Wulff had similar scores, but with more success on the first day, 73-76.

Willamette's top finisher was Jacob Simonson (Fr., Fairview, OR/Reynolds HS) at 163. He shot 85 on the first day, but improved by seven strokes for a solid 78 on the second day. He finished in 23rd place at 163.

Cole Clearman (Fr., Sammamish, WA/Skyline HS) completed the tournament at 173 (85-88), while Kyle Derby (Fr., Oakdale, CA/Oakdale HS) achieved a final score of 177 (87-90). Brendan Dineen (Jr., Portland, OR/Grant HS) finished at 180 (91-89).

Willamette will compete at the Northwest Conference Championship on Friday, April 22 and Saturday, April 23. The tournament will be held at Canyon Lakes Golf Course in Kennewick, Wash.