Willamette Takes 3rd at UPS Invitational, as Three Bearcats Tie for 4th Place

By Robert McKinney, Athletics Communications Director

BREMERTON, Wash. -- Willamette University placed third in the final team standings at the UPS Invitational in men's golf with a 36-hole score of 594 on the strength of back-to-back rounds of 297. Olympic College (Wash.) won the team title at 577 (285-292) and Pacific Lutheran University was second at 590 (298-292). A total of nine teams competed.

Three Willamette athletes -- Clark Wilson (Jr., Ocean Park, WA/Ilwaco HS), Trent Jones (Fr., Kenmore, WA/Shorecrest HS) and Sam Hinton (Fr., Seaside, OR/Seaside HS) -- were part of a four-way tie for fourth place on the individual leaderboard with overall scores of even-par 144. Drew Groshong from Lewis & Clark College also tied for fourth.

Clark and Groshong each shot 74-70, while Jones shot 71-73, and Hinton recorded consecutive rounds of 72.

Chase Lamothe (Sr., Corvallis, OR/Corvallis HS) of Willamette tied for 11th at 148. Lamothe carded a 71 on Saturday and a 77 on Sunday. He tied with Austin Billeter of Whitworth University who shot 72-76.

Mitchell Baldridge from Pacific Lutheran earned the individual title with a score of 5-under-par 139. Baldridge shot a tournament-low 68 in the first round, followed by a 71 in the second round.

David Gullikson of Olympic College was second at 140 (69-71). Alex Aguilar, also from Olympic, was third at 141 (69-72).

After the four-way tie for fourth, Oliver Rudnicki of Whitworth held eighth place at 145 (72-73.). Justin Lee of PLU followed in ninth at 146 (74-72). Spencer Jacobson from Olympic was 10th with a score of 147 (71-76).

Olympic, which competes at the junior college level in the Northwest Athletic Conference (NWAC), achieved a tournament-low round of 285 on Saturday. Following Olympic, Pacific Lutheran and Willamette in the team standings were Whitworth in fourth place at 599 (301-298), Lewis & Clark in fifth at 610 (301-309), and Linfield College in sixth at 624 (317-307).

Puget Sound was seventh with a score of 672 (335-337). Pacific University placed eighth at 688 (343-345) and Whitman College took ninth at 726 (364-362).

Willamette's next competition is set for Saturday, March 12 and Sunday, March 13 at the Lewis & Clark Invitational. The tournament will be held at Heron Lakes Golf Club in Portland, Oregon.