The women played at the Lost Tracks Golf club and the men at the Juniper Golf Course in Bend, Ore. Tough weather conditions proved harsh against the teams.
“It was extremely cold out, and we were exposed to rain, wind and snow for the entirety of Sunday’s round,” sophomore Brinn Hovde said. “The course was flooded, and coaches were forced to squeegee the greens just to keep the course playable. It is exceptionally challenging to golf when your hands are too numb to grip the club.”
On the first day for the women, senior Brynn Hurdus tied for second with a score of 77 against Whitworth University’s sophomore Emily Guhrie. Hurdus fell to ninth place on the second day with a final score of 170.
The women’s team on the first day placed third with 329 — one stroke behind George Fox University.
“Our first-day team score was great, but unfortunately the weather made it extremely difficult to shoot a good score for the second round,” junior Sophie Corr said.
Corr shot a career low of six-over-par 79, which put her in fifth place. By day two, Corr ended up placing sixth scoring a total of 166.
For the final results, the women’s team placed third with a combined score of 693. George Fox had a score of 659, and Whitworth scored 667.
“Considering the conditions we played in, I am very proud of our team for even just finishing the round. That alone is better than the Pacific [University] team that chose to withdraw due to the weather,” Hovde said.
For the men’s team, junior Alex Fitch finished first among the Wildcats, scoring a 76. Fitch was three strokes behind Pacific’s senior Max Bonk, putting him in second place after the first day.
By the end of the first day, the Wildcats, Pacific and Whitworth were in a three-way tie for second place. Each team was 10 strokes behind the University of Puget Sound.
Fitch remained in second place on day two with a score of 155 — still behind Bonk who scored 159.
Two other Wildcats endedup placing in the top 10. Freshman A.J. Taylor shot a 158, receiving sixth place, and senior Yutaro Sakamoto tied for eighth place with 160.
The men’s team placed third with a final score of 644, five shots behind Pacific. Puget Sound won the tournament scoring 632 strokes.
“As a team, I think we were all disappointed with our play. We didn’t score very well. Part of that was the weather, but the other part was physical mistakes,” senior Beau Slayton said.
The NWC Fall Classic is the last game of the fall season. Hovde said she is very excited for the women’s team’s upcoming season.
“We all saw such a big improvement in our games this fall, and with even more time to work with in the spring, the tremendous potential that our team has is really going to show,” Hovde said.
Slayton said he is excited for the men’s spring season, and he wants to work on being more consistent during tournaments.
Sakamoto said he will not continue playing in the spring season due to the weather.
“I cannot deal with Oregon weather anymore. I wish my team the best in the spring,” Sakamoto said.
Tim Marl/Staff reporter
Tim Marl can be reached at [email protected].
