Willamette Leads and Kibbee is Tied for First Place at Pacific Invitational

By Robert McKinney, Assistant Athletics Director, Communications

BANKS, Ore. -- The Willamette University men's golf team ended the first round of the Pacific Spring Invitational on Saturday, Feb. 23 sitting atop the team leaderboard at Quail Valley Golf Course with a score of 286. All five Bearcat golfers shot between 69 and 74, and all were listed among the top six scores of the day.

Andrew Kibbee (Fr., Kenmore, WA/Bothell HS) of Willamette shot a 2-under-par 69 and was tied for the tournament lead with Mac Turner from University of Puget Sound. Austin Davis (Fr., Culver City, CA/Culver City HS) of Willamette was third with a 70.

Also for the Bearcats, Sam Hinton (Sr., Seaside, OR/Seaside HS) was part of a two-way tie for fourth place at 73, while Trent Jones (Sr., Kenmore, WA/Shorecrest HS) and Kenneth Sheldon (Sr., Ocean Park, WA/Ilwaco HS) were tied with each other for sixth place at 74. Brenden Yan of Pacific University shared fourth place with Hinton.

"I really liked that our great focus at practice the last two weeks has carried over to tournament play," Willamette Head Coach Patrick Daugherty said. "Not great conditions ... so the scores they put up today were just that much better. Even though our freshmen put up outstanding scores, we were definitely led by our seniors, who displayed great leadership and poise."

A total of 21 golfers competed on Saturday. The tournament will conclude with the second round on Sunday, Feb. 24.

Willamette's 286 gave the Bearcats a 15-stroke lead after 18 holes. Puget Sound was second in the team standings at 301. Pacific was third at 321 and Lewis & Clark College was fourth at 335.

Big Moment of the Round for Willamette

Andrew Kibbee shot 2-under-par 69 to tie for the lead after the
first round of the Pacific Spring Invitational. His round was solid
despite less than ideal conditions due to the weather.