Jacob Peterson

For the Review

After a successful fall season, in which the Wildcat men’s golf team finished first in all seven of its competitions, the team finished last place in the two-day, six-team Northwest Winter Shootout last weekend to start the spring season.

Next the ‘Cats travel to Fircrest, Ore., to play in the Puget Sound Invitational March 6 and 7. 

Even with the disappointing finish the first tournament, senior captain Kyle Henderson is not worried.

“It was a good experience for us playing with top D-I, D-II and NAIA schools,” Henderson said. “We have another big tourney coming up, and playing competition like this gets us ready.”

Henderson said the team is poised to win the spring season thanks to returning players, plus the addition junior Kevin Duerr, who missed fall season because he was studying abroad.

During the first day of play, Henderson led Linfield shooting a 75 for the afternoon. Senior Jeff Nigro and sophomore Tyler Nelson fared well during the afternoon, both shooting a 77.

Junior Andrew Fitch and sophomore Joel Rychard each finished the day with an 82, and freshman Tony Kordosky brought up the rear, shooting an 84.

In first place after the first day was Oregon State University with a comfortable 282.

As a team, Linfield shot a 311 and brought up the rear in the standings.

In the second day of competition, all players were required to shoot from the black tees, which added an extra 400 yards to the course.

“Some of the D-I coaches said it was the hardest they have ever seen this course,” Henderson said.

After the second day of competition, Henderson shot a 77, good enough to put him in a tie for 14th place with a combined score of 152, for a score of 10 over par.

“It didn’t feel bad, but it didn’t feel great,” Henderson said.  

Finishing in six of the top 10 places, Oregon State golfers dominated the competition, posting a final score of 579.

The University of Oregon finished second with 599, followed by Western Washington University with 602 and University of British Columbia with 615. Concordia University finished in fifth place with 617 and Linfield ended the competition in last place, shooting 636.

Nelson finished 24th overall with a tournament score of 156. With 164, Nigro finished in a tie for 34th place. Fitch and Rychard brought up the back for Linfield, both finishing with a total of 166.

“This is one of our favorite courses to play,” Henderson said. “We have an extra tournament under our belts, and that gives us a one-step advantage on them.”

After winning the fall season, the ’Cats are in great position to sweep the entire season, which would earn them a trip to nationals.

The slow start to the spring season should not be too much to slow the team. They are the going to be one of the top teams in league.