Hinton Leads Bearcats with a 77 in Final Round at West Cup
By Robert McKinney, Assistant Athletics Director, Communications
LA VERNE, Calif. -- Willamette University men's golfer Sam Hinton (Jr., Seaside, OR/Seaside HS) led the Bearcats was a score of 77 during the final day of the West Cup on Tuesday, March 27 at the Sierra La Verne Country Club. Hinton tied for 50th place with a 54-hole total of 239. He shot 81 in each of the first two rounds.
Ben Graham (Fr., Renton, WA/Liberty HS), who held Willamette's lowest score after two rounds at 155, was unable to compete in the third round due to illness. On Monday, he shot a 75 in the first round and an 80 in the second round. He was tied for 21st at the end of the opening day.
Kenneth Sheldon (Jr., Ocean Park, WA/Ilwaco HS) provided the Bearcats with an overall score of 243. He shot a 79 in the first round and then recorded back-to-back scores of 82. Trent Jones (Jr., Kenmore, WA/Shorecrest HS) of Willamette finished at 249 (88-77-84). Spencer Hong (Sr., Bellevue, WA/Singapore American School) improved in each round on his way to a score of 273 (96-80-87).
Josh Hill from Guilford College (N.C.) won the West Cup's individual championship. He shot 3-over-par 216 but matched part at 71 in the first and third rounds. He shot a 74 in the second round. Hill won by just a single stroke, as Cade Lawson from University of Redlands and Slater Sivage from California Lutheran University each shot 217 to tie for second. Lawson carded rounds of 75-73 and 69, while Sivage shot 75, 70 and 72. Lawson was the only golfer to beat the 70-mark with his 69 during Tuesday's final round.
James Mishoe of Guilford took fourth place at 219 (76-72-71). Pitiluk Phanomchai from University of La Verne was fifth at 220 (73-74-073). Two George Fox University golfers, Mason Koch and Alex Plusquellec, tied for sixth place at 221. Koch shot 77-73-71. Plusquelled, who was tied for first place after two rounds, shot 75-70-76. Lance Keiser from Ferrum College (Va.) was eighth with a score of 222 (73-77-72).
Three golfers tied for ninth place at 224. They were Mitchell Baldridge of Pacific Lutheran University (79-70-75), Colin Uecker from Texas Lutheran University (74-76-74) and Tyler Ferrier of California Lutheran (74-75-675).
Guilford earned the team title with a score of 891 (299-301-291). The 291 in the third round was the low team score for 18 holes during the event. No other team scored in the 290s twice. La Verne placed second at 899 (301-301-297), with California Lutheran in third at 907 (308-296-303). Trinity University (Texas) followed in fourth with a score of 916 (314-306-296). Pacific Lutheran was fifth at 918 (316-305-297). Claremont-Mudd-Scripps was sixth at 925 (308-312-304). Willamette placed 17th at 973 (323-320-330).
The Bearcats will be back in action at the NWC Spring Classic on April 7-8 at the Hangman Valley Golf Course in Spokane, Washington. Whitworth University will be hosting the tournament.