Willamette Finishes Fifth at Prestigious West Cup
By Robert McKinney, Athletics Communications Director
LA VERNE, Calif. -- Willamette University finished in fifth place at the West Cup on Tuesday, March 29, as the 54-hole tournament concluded with the final 18 holes at Sierra La Verne Country Club in La Verne, California. The tournament featured many of the top teams in NCAA Division III.
University of La Verne, which hosted the tournament, won the team championship with a score of 896. The Leopards shot 288 in the first round, followed by 301 in the second round and 307 in the third round.
California Lutheran University took second at 904 (294-310-300). University of Redlands and Claremont-Mudd-Scripps (Calif.) tied for third place at 905. Redlands shot 302-308-295 and CMS recorded 299-305-301. Willamette completed the three rounds in fifth place at 913 (298-307-308).
Trinity University (Texas) was sixth at 922 (313-306-303) and Whitworth University placed seventh at 924 (305-314-305). Finishing eighth was Ferrum College (Va.) with a score of 930 (311-315-304).
Chapman University (Calif.) took ninth at 931 (304-311-316), while Christopher Newport University (Va.) was 10th at 936 (310-314-312), Occidental College (Calif.) was 11th at 938 (314-306-318), Pomona-Pitzer (Calif.) was 12th at 958 (314-326-318), Linfield College was 13th at 962 (312-328-322), and Whitman College placed 14th at 1095 (377-361-357).
Clark Wilson (Jr., Ocean Park, WA/Ilwaco HS) of Willamette tied for eighth place on the individual leaderboard with John McCord from Redlands. Wilson and McCord each shot 224, with Wilson carding 69-74-81 and McCord earning 76-79-69.
Wilson's 1-under-par 69 in the first round and McCord's 69 in the third round tied for the low round of the tournament. None of the other athletes in the 78-player field shot a round under 70.
Four golfers tied for medalist honors at 218. They were Alec Spencer of La Verne, who shot 70-75-73, Oliver Rudnicki of Whitworth, who registered 73-72-73, Nick Dallas from California Lutheran, who earned 72-75-71and Justin Bennett of Whittier, with results of 74-73-71.
Bryan Wise from Chapman was fifth at 220 (74-76-70). He finished one stroke in front of Rowan Foxley of Redlands, who took sixth at 221 (73-73-75). Seventh place went to Aaron DiGiamarino of La Verne, who shot 223 (70-73-80).
Wilson and McCord followed in eighth. Nate Gray of California Lutheran and Travis Hindle from Trinity tied for 10th place at 225. Gray carded 72-78-75 and Hindle earned 75-74-76.
Willamette's Chase Lamothe (Sr., Corvallis, OR/Corvallis HS) tied for 17th place with seven other golfers, all at 230. Lamothe carded 75-78-77. Trent Jones (Fr., Kenmore, WA/Shorecrest HS) of Willamette also tied for 17th. He shot 78-78-74.
Also competing for the Bearcats were Steven Rodriguez (Sr., Red Bluff, CA/Mercy HS) and Sam Hinton (Fr., Seaside, OR/Seaside HS). Rodriguez finished at 234 with rounds of 76, 82, and 76. Hinton recorded a score of 244 (85-77-82).
Up next for Willamette is the Northwest Conference Spring Classic, set for April 9-10 at Wine Valley Golf Club in Walla Walla, Washington.