Jessica Prokop – Review staff writer. The men’s golf team took second place at the Whitworth Invitational on Oct. 4 and 5. This is the last tournament before the Fall Classic.
The tournament, hosted by Whitworth University, took place at the Spokane Country Club in Spokane, Wash. Other teams that competed included George Fox University, Pacific University, Pacific Lutheran University and Whitman College.
The final team standings were Whitworth, 610; Linfield, 613; George Fox, 643; Pacific, 644; Whitman, 649; and Pacific Lutheran, 650.
“Going in as two-time defending champs, we expected to take first, but Whitworth had very good new players and a home-course advantage,” head coach Greg Copeland said.
The first round proved to be a difficult day for the team.
“Many of our players hadn’t seen the course, so they weren’t used to it,” Copeland said.
He said that Spokane’s course was the most difficult that the team has played on this season. The fairways have tree lines, quite a bit of water and quick greens. If that wasn’t tough enough, wind gusts reached up to 30 mph during the tournament.
However, sophomore Alex Fitch pulled through and ranked first at the end of the day with a score of 73.
“This was my first time playing the course, and I played well on Sunday,” Fitch said.
Unfortunately, the second day did not pan out in the same way. However, he sank a total of six birdies. Fitch tied for third in overall rankings with a combined score of 151 and seven over par.
“I just wasn’t in a good groove on the second day, and my putts weren’t dropping,” Fitch said.
Senior Tyler Nelson, who is used to finishing at the top of the pack, had an off day Oct. 4. He had a bad cold and was not feeling well in general, Nelson said.
However, Nelson made a comeback Oct. 5. He sank five birdies, totaling eight for the tournament, and ranked first with a score of 69, becoming tournament champion with a total score of 147 and three over par.
“I knew I was still in it after the first day, but I thought I was too far back to take first this time,” Nelson said.
Still, he kept an open mind, he said, which proved to be helpful in the end.
“I was really impressed by Alex in his first round, but on Monday he had a slower start,” Nelson said. “I started out hot, so that made a big difference.”
Nelson, Fitch and senior Yutaro Sakamoto will represent the team in the Northwest Conference Fall Classic, along with three other teammates, who Copeland has yet to choose.
“We will be playing at a course where we had our first tournament, so we should be fine as long as we focus and play our best,” Nelson said.
The women’s team did not play in its tournament, the Heron Invitational, Oct. 5 and 6.
The team believed that the tournament would interfere with too many school days, as it was scheduled for a Monday and Tuesday. Rather than participating, they instead directed their attention toward school and extra practice time.
Head coach Karly Cramer said she does not think this will harm the team in the long run in regards to the Fall Classic because players will be practicing between tournaments.
Cramer said the team will work on putting on the green, because many players struggled with that during the tournament.
The men’s Fall Classic will take place at Heron Lakes Golf Club in Portland on Oct. 17 and 18.
The women’s next tournament is the Linfield Invitational on Oct. 11 at the Michelbook Country Club in McMinnville.