Defending Champion Bearcats Lead after Day #1 of Culturame Classic

By Mark Colachico, Interim Assistant Athletics Communications Director

ALOHA, ORE. -- The Willamette University Bearcats, who are the defending champions, hold a slim one-stroke lead over tournament-host George Fox University after Saturday's opening round of the GFU Culturame Classic being played at The Reserve Vineyards and Golf Club.

The Bearcats posted a combined opening round score of 9-over 297 over the 6,819 yard, par 72 course located west of Portland. Behind Willamette is George Fox (10-over 298), Pacific Lutheran University (12-over 300), Lewis & Clark College (24-over 312), Linfield College (26-over 314), Pacific University (47-over 335), and Whitman College (49-over 339).

Individually, the Bearcats are led by Ryan Kukula (Sr., Ocean Park, WA/Illwaco HS) with an 18-hole score of 1-under 71 that is tied atop the leaderboard with Pacific Lutheran's Mitch Baldridge.

After the opening round co-leaders, George Fox's Zachary Mode (even-par 72) sits alone in third place followed by a quartet of Bearcats - Chase Lamothe (So., Corvallis, OR/Corvallis HS), Steven Rodriguez (Jr., Red Bluff, CA/Mercy HS), Jonathan Ross (Sr., Tukwila, WA/Foster HS), and Clark Wilson (So., Ocean Park, WA/Illwaco HS) - that are tied for fourth place within identical scores of 1-over 73 after Day #1.

Lamothe, Ross, and Joey Horowitz (Fr., Scottsdale, AZ/Chaparral HS) are competing as individuals for the Bearcats, while Kukula, Rodriguez, Wilson, Colin Fuller (So., Grants Pass, OR/Grants Pass HS), and Peter Mitzel (So., Red Bluff, CA/Red Bluff HS) make up this weekend's team for Willamette.

Fuller and Horowitz each posted opening round scores of 8-over 80 and sit in a six-way tie for 24th, while Mitzel sits in a two-way tie for 33rd with a score of 11-over 83.

The Bearcats' scoring quartet in the opening round consisted of Kukula, Rodriguez, Wilson, and Fuller.

This weekend's second and final round will be played tomorrow -- Sunday, Oct. 12 -- beginning at 8:00 a.m. (PDT) at The Reserve Vineyards and Golf Club in Aloha.