Lightle Tops Bearcats with 1-over 73 in Third Round of Bulldog Fall Invitational

By Robert McKinney, Assistant Athletics Director, Communications

BEAUMONT, Calif. -- Preston Lightle (Fy., Victoria, BC, Canada/Belmont Senior Secondary School) led Willamette University with a score of 73 in the third round of the Bulldog Fall Invitational, as the 54-hole tournament concluded at Morongo Golf Club at Tukwet Canyon on Tuesday, Sept. 26. Lightle, who was competing as an individual for the Bearcats, finished in a three-way tie for 23rd place with an overall score of 223. He shot a 75 in each of the first two rounds, before lowering his score by two strokes in the final round. During the tournament, he registered eight birdies, including four in the final round.

Willamette placed 12th in the team standings. Forming the team entry for the Bearcats were Brock Olson (So., Kirkland, WA/Lake Washington HS), Jack Carr (Fy., Anchorage, AK/West Anchorage HS), Alexander Papajohn (Fy., Parker, CO/Lutheran HS), Oliver Smith (So., San Jose, CA/Pioneer HS), and Jack McMullin (Sr., Seattle, WA/Roosevelt HS).

Olson carded a 54-hole score of 228 with rounds of 74, 78, and 76. Carr registered a score of 231 as he shot 77-76-78. Papajohn supplied WU with an overall score of 233 (76-82-75), while Smith shot 238 (80-75-83) and McMullin shot 239 (80-82-77).

Claremont-Mudd-Scripps (Calif.) earned the top three individual scores on its way to the team title at 853. The Stags shot 289 in the first round, 292 in the second round, and a tournament-low of 16-under par 272 in the third round.

Schreiner University (Texas) edged out California Lutheran University for second place by one stroke. Schreiner carded a score of 872 (288-297-287), while California Lutheran shot 873 (297-287-289). Pomona-Pitzer Colleges (Calif) was fourth at 877 (295-292-290) and tournament host the University of Redlands (Calif.) was fifth at 878 (298-288-292). Willamette was 12th at 924 with rounds of 307, 311, and 306.

The individual champion of the tournament was Jamison Tan of Claremont-Mudd-Scripps, who won by three strokes at 7-under par 209 (68-72-69). Joshua Kwon and Adrian Chiu, also from CMS, tied for second place with scores of 4-under par 212. Kwon shot 71-76-65 and Chiu carded 74-70-68.

John Kim from Pomona-Pitzer and Adam Cartozian from California Lutheran shared fourth place at 213. Kim earned rounds of 73-72-68, while Cartozian shot 72-71-70. Yuki Bannai of Pomona-Pitzer held sixth place at 215 (72-70-73).

Four golfers were tied for seventh place. Each golfer in the tie shot 216, with Hudson Solters from CLU shooting 76-70-70, Wesley Bothel from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University (Ariz.) carding 73-73-70, Drew Hermesmeyer shooting 71-74-71, and Aaron Buck producing scores of 70-72-74.

Willamette will compete at the Whitworth Fall Invitational on Sunday, Oct. 8 and Monday, Oct. 9 in Spokane, Washington. The tournament, hosted by Whitworth University, will be held at Liberty Lake Golf Course and MeadowWood Golf Course.