Bearcat Men's Golf Team is Second after First Day of NWC Spring Classic

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

OLYMPIA, Wash. -- Willamette University is in second place in the team standings after 18 holes of the 2015 Northwest Conference Spring Classic in men's golf at Olympia Country & Golf Club. The Bearcats shot 310 and trail Whitworth University's leading score of 308 by just two strokes. Pacific Lutheran University is in third place at 315.

After Whitworth, Willamette and Pacific Lutheran, the next teams are University of Puget Sound in fourth at 322, Linfield College in fifth at 327 and George Fox University in sixth at 328. Pacific University and Whitman College are tied for seventh at 351, while Lewis & Clark College is ninth at 395.

Ryan Kukula (Sr., Ocean Park, WA/Ilwaco HS) of Willamette holds second place on the individual leaderboard with a 75. Samson Martinez of Whitworth owns first place by two strokes with a 3-over-par 73.

Ryan Fenton of Pacific Lutheran and Taylor Klopp of Linfield are tied for third place at 76. Steven Rodriguez (Jr., Red Bluff, CA/Mercy HS) of Willamette is fifth after shooting a 77. A group of six golfers share sixth place with matching scores of 78.

Willamette golfers Jonathan Ross (Sr., Tukwila, WA/Foster HS) and Peter Mitzel (So., Red Bluff, CA/Red Bluff HS) are tied for 12th place with a 79. Oliver Rudnicki from Whitworth also carded a 79 on Saturday. Clark Wilson (So., Ocean Park, WA/ Ilwaco HS) of Willamette shot an 82 and is tied for 21st.

The NWC Spring Classic will continue with the final 18 holes on Sunday, April 12. The course is playing at 6,111 yards with a par of 70.

Willamette's tee times for Sunday are 11:40 a.m. for Wilson, 11:50 a.m. for Ross, 12 p.m. for Mitzel, 12:10 p.m. for Rodriguez and 12:20 p.m. for Kukula.

Each year, the NWC uses a combination of three tournaments to determine the overall team champion. The NWC Fall Classic is worth one-fourth of the title and the NWC Spring Classic is worth one-fourth. The NWC Tournament, set for April 25-26 this season, counts for one-half of the title.

Willamette took second place at the NWC Fall Classic, which places the Bearcats second in the overall NWC standings. Whitworth is in the lead after winning the Fall Classic. Pacific Lutheran placed third at the Fall Classic.