ST. GEORGE, Utah – The Western Washington University men’s golf team remains in 9th place following the second round of the 2019 NCAA Division II West/South Central Regional Championships.
WWU had a five-stroke improvement from Thursday’s opening round, turning in a 2-over-par 290 on Friday at The Ledges Golf Club in St. George, Utah. The Vikings are alone in 9th place in the 20-team field at 9-over-par 585 through the first 36 holes of the 54-hole tournament.
The Vikings will head into Saturday’s final round eight shots back of the current qualifying cut-off mark at 1-over-par, with the top four teams in the tournament receiving a berth to the NCAA Championships that will be played May 20-24 in Daniels, West Virginia. WWU is the No. 2 seed in the West Region and ranked No. 4 nationally after winning six of 10 tournaments during the 2018-19 season leading up to regionals.
“Today was a grind. After a little rain at the start, the weather ended up perfect we just weren’t able to convert many birdies,” said WWU head coach Luke Bennett. “We have absolutely nothing to lose going into tomorrow’s final round.”
Tournament host Dixie State holds a commanding nine-stroke lead over second-place Midwestern State, finishing the first two rounds on its home course at 11-under-par 565. Midwestern State is at 2-under-par 574, followed by UC San Diego (E, 576), Western New Mexico (+1, 577) and Sonoma State (+1, 577). Cal State Monterey Bay (-9) and Midwestern State (-7) and Colorado Mesa (-5) recorded low rounds on Friday to move up substantially on the leaderboard.
Senior Cody Roth (Bellingham, WA) continued his fine play in the regional with a 1-over-par 72 on Friday. Roth is tied for 26th place in the 108-player field at 1-over-par 145 heading into the final round. He is tied for 4th in the field parring 27 of 36 holes through the first two rounds.
Senior Nick Sparling (Dublin, OH/Dublin Coffman/Ohio State) backed up his 1-over-par 73 in Thursday’s first round with an even-par 72 on Friday. He is tied with Roth for the team lead at 1-over-par 145 for the tournament, tied for 26th place in the field.
Sophomore Brody Bonfilio (Boise, ID/Bishop Kelly), the 2019 GNAC Championships individual champion, recorded the lowest round by a Viking so far in the regional at 1-under-par 71. Bonfilio moved up to a tie for 32nd place at 2-over-par 146.
Freshman Jordan Lee (Tacoma, WA/Bellarmine Prep) is tied for 61st at 5-over-par 149 and junior Ethan Casto (Snohomish, WA) is 107th at 20-over-par 164.
Chase Carlson of Colorado Christian holds the lead for individual medalist honors at 9-under-par 135, recording rounds of 67 and 68 through the first two rounds. Carlson holds a three-stroke lead over Spencer Wallace (Dixie State), Hayden Hui (UC San Diego), Blake Bourelle (Sonoma State) and Ben Constancio (St. Edward’s), who are all at 6-under-par 138.
Saturday’s final round begins with the first wave of tee times at 7:30 am MT, with the Vikings beginning their final 18 holes of the regional at 12 pm MT (11 am PT) off the No. 10 tee.
