LA GRANDE, Ore. – Some of the top collegiate golfers on the west coast converge upon the small town of Monroe, Ore. this week for the 2013 NAIA Unaffiliated Grouping Men’s and Women’s Golf Championships, hosted by Concordia University at Diamond Woods Golf Club.
For the five Cascade Conference schools competing this week, the tournament will have double meaning as the championship acts as the fifth and final tournament counting towards the 2012-13 CCC Golf Championships, as well as Player of the Year and All-CCC honors.
On the women's side, the Cavaliers used a one-stroke win over the host 'Yotes at the Colege of Idaho Invitational to slightly extend their lead in the season-long standings to 154 strokes heading into this week’s championship tournament. Individually, CU's Sunny Powers holds a two-stroke lead in the running for Player of the Year with a number of golfers still in contention to earn All-Conference honors.
On the men's side, Concordia takes a 91-stroke lead into the CCC Championships after earning a 16-stroke win at the C of I Invite. The race for Player of the Year will likely go down to the final round, if not the final hole, as three golfers are within a half-stroke of each other. Northwest Christian's Tyler Falk leads the standings with an average of 74.00. CU's Jed Dalton is a quarter-stroke back at 74.25 and Warner Pacfiic's Andrew Johnson is just back of Dalton at 74.42.
Joining the Cascade Conference schools at the tournament will be men and women from both Biola (Calif.) and Arizona Christian, as well as men from The Masters College and women from Embry-Riddle (Ariz.) and Simpson (Calif.). The Team and Individual medalist from the tournament will earn automatic bids to the 2013 NAIA Men’s and Women’s Golf Championships. The golfers will play 36 holes on Monday and 18 holes on Tuesday to determine the titles.
The 2013 NAIA Men’s Golf Championship will be contested for the second-straight season on May 14-17 at Creekside Golf Club in Salem, Ore. The 2013 NAIA Women’s Golf Championship will take place the next week on May 21-24 at Wilderness Ridge Golf Club in Lincoln, Neb.