Lightle Takes 2nd in Playoff at Willamette Valley Cup, as Bearcats Place 3rd

By Robert McKinney, Assistant Athletics Director, Communications

SALEM, Ore. -- Willamette University men's golfer Preston Lightle (Fy., Victoria, BC, Canada/Belmont Senior Secondary School) and Bryden Brown of Lewis-Clark State College (Idaho) tied for first place in regulation with scores of 5-under par 139 following the final round of the Willamette Valley Cup at Creekside Golf Club on Sunday, March 17. Brown, who shot 69 in the first round and 70 in the second round, won the playoff for first place on the initial extra hole, which was Hole 10. Lightle finished in second place, but reached the playoff after improving from a 73 in the first round to the tournament low round of 66 in the second round.

Willamette's "A" team and "B" team also elevated their positions The Willamette "A" team advanced from eighth place at the end of the first round into third place in the final standings after lowering the team's score from 301 to 282. The Willamette "B" team moved up from ninth place after 18 holes into seventh place after the second round, while lowering the team's score from 305 to 292.

Lewis-Clark State took first place in the team standings with a 36-hole score of 574 after carding rounds of 282 and 292. Whitworth University, which was tied for fourth place, just four strokes in front of the Bearcats after the first round, ended the final round in second place at 581 (297-284). Willamette outshot the Pirates by two strokes on Sunday, but finished third at 583. Whitman College was fourth in the final standings at 586 (299-287) and North Idaho College placed fifth at 587 (297-290). Linfield University was sixth at 596 (295-301).

The Willamette "B" team was seventh at 598, while Pacific Lutheran University placed eighth at 602 (296-306), and Southern Oregon University was ninth at 605 (300-305). George Fox University took 10th place at 612 (309-303), Pacific University finished 11th at 625 (311-314), and Corban University was 12th with a score of 649 (330-319). Bushnell University and Lewis & Clark College did not enter full teams.

Following Brown of LCSC and Lightle from Willamette at the top of the individual leaderboard were Whitworth golfers Gabe Cach and Jacob Rawley, who tied for third place at 2-under par 142, three strokes behind the leaders. Cach shot 73-69 and Rawley shot 74-68. Oliver Smith (So., San Jose, CA/Pioneer HS) from the Willamette "B" team held fifth place at 143 after carding rounds of 74 and 69.

Five competitors were included in a tie for sixth place at even-par 144. They were Jarett Giles (70-74) and Josh McCartain (75-69) of North Idaho, Alexander Knox (72-72), Alex Navarro (72-72) from Lewis-Clark State, and Marcus Otto (71-73) from Pacific Lutheran. A total of 82 golfers completed the tournament.

The Willamette "A" team included Lightle, along with Brock Olson (So., Kirkland, WA/Lake Washington HS), Alexander Papajohn (Fy., Parker, CO/Lutheran HS), Jack McMullin (Sr., Seattle, WA/Roosevelt HS), and Kyler Phillips (Fy., Carlsbad, CA/Carlsbad HS). Olson tied for 14th place with a score of 146, while earning a 75 in the first round and a 71 in the second round. Papajohn shot 149 and tied for 24th place after improving by 13 strokes an 81 in the first round to his second round score of 4-under par 68. McMullin carded an overall total of 153 (76-77), while Phillips shot 154 (77-77).

Smith's fifth place result led the Willamette "B" team, which also featured Jack Carr (Fy., Anchorage, AK/West Anchorage HS), Paxton Jones (Jr., Wellington, NZ/Scots College), Connor Murphy (So., Palm Desert, CA/Xavier College Prep), and Lucas Paul (So., Salem, OR/South Salem HS). Carr finished at 151 with a 78 in the first round and a 1-over par 73 in the second round. Jones shot 152 with two rounds of 76. Murphy carded a score of 155 (78-77). Paul shot 156 after lowering his first round score of 82 by eight strokes to a 74 in the second round.

Willamette is scheduled to participate at the George Fox Invitational next weekend on Saturday, March 23 and Sunday, March 24. The GFU tournament will be held at Arrowhead Golf Club in Molalla, Oregon.