Willamette is Tied for Fifth Place after First Day of PLU Invitational

By Robert McKinney, Athletics Communications Director, (503) 370-6110

UNIVERSITY PLACE. WASH. -- The Willamette University men's golf team is tied for fifth place after the first day of the PLU Invitational on Sunday, Oct. 14 at the Chambers Bay Golf Course. Host Pacific Lutheran University was leading the team standings.

Pacific Lutheran registered a team score of 304 for a slim one-shot lead. The University of Puget Sound was in second place at 305. Whitman College was third at 310 and Whitworth University was fourth at 313. Willamette and George Fox University were tied for 5th place, as both teams carded 326.

Linfield College and the Pacific Lutheran "B" team were tied for seventh place at 327. Pacific University held ninth place at 346, Trinity Lutheran College was 10th at 350 and Lewis & Clark College was 11th at 367.

Adam Bean from Puget Sound and Geoff Burke from Whitman were tied for the individual lead after shooting 73. Dustin Hegge and Auston Hilkin, both from PLU, along with Oliver Rudnicki from Whitworth, were tied for third place at 74.

Willamette's top player in the first round was Ryan Kukula (So., Ocean Park, WA/Ilwaco HS), who was tied for 11th place with three other golfers at 77. Jeffrey Lewis (So., Eugene, OR/Sheldon HS) of Willamette was tied for 19th place with an 80. A total of 54 golfers completed the first round.

The five-man team for Willamette includes Kukula and Lewis, plus Cody Plofker (So., Montclair, NJ/Montclair HS), Jacob Simonson (Jr., Fairview, OR/Reynolds HS) and Steven Rodriguez (Fr.). Plofker shot an 83 in the first round, while Simonson finished the round with an 86 and Rodriguez shot an 89. The top four scores each day count toward Willamette's team total.

Action at the tournament will conclude on Monday, Oct. 15 with the final 18 holes at Chambers Bay.