Kukula and Bearcats Win NWC Fall Classic

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

OREGON CITY, ORE. -- Ryan Kukula (Jr., Ocean Park, WA/Ilwaco HS) of Willamette University, who shot a 67 in the first round, added a 76 in the second day of the NWC Fall Classic on Sunday, Oct. 27 to win the individual title with a 36-hole score of 143. Kukula also helped the Bearcats win the team title.

Willamette shot 587 for the tournament with a 287 in the first round and a 300 in the second round. Pacific Lutheran University, which shot 304 on Saturday, registered Sunday's low round at 292 to claim second place overall at 596. The University of Puget Sound was third at 606 (304-302).

Whitworth University attained fourth place at 608 (302-306), while Linfield College was fifth at 626 (314-312) and Lewis & Clark College was sixth at 635 (323-312). Pacific University placed seventh at 664 (327-337), Whitman College was eighth at 665 (335-330) and George Fox University was ninth at 675 (334-341).

Kukula, the NWC Player of the Year in 2012-13, led a strong weekend of results for the Bearcats. His 5-under-par 67 on Saturday was the top round of the tournament for any of the 44 competitors. He held a 5-stroke lead entering Sunday's round and finished the tournament with a margin of victory of four strokes.

He was followed on the leaderboard by Jacob Armelino (Fr., Redding, CA/University Prep) of Willamette, who took second place at 147 (73-74).

In addition, Willamette teammates Chase Lamothe (Fr., Corvallis, OR/Corvallis HS) and Clark Wilson (Fr., Ocean Park, WA/Ilwaco HS) finished in a 5-way tie for third place at 149. Lamothe, who trailed only Kukula at the end of the first day after shooting a 72, finished with a 77 on Sunday. Wilson shot a 76 in the first round and improved to a 73 in the second round.

Also tied for third place were Adam Bean from Puget Sound as well as Dustin Hegge and Kevin McCrossin from Pacific Lutheran. Bean shot 75-74, while Hegge carded 77-72 and McCrossin shot 74-75. Seth Nickerson from PLU went 79-71 and Oliver Rudnicki from Whitworth achieved 73-77, as both golfers tied for eighth place at 150.

Jonathan Ross (Jr., Tukwila, WA/Foster HS) completed Willamette's scorecard with a two-day total of 156.

The NWC Fall Classic counts for one-fourth of the overall 2013-14 NWC championship, while the NWC Spring Classic counts for another fourth and the NWC Championship Tournament is worth one-half. The Fall Classic completed Willamette's fall schedule.