CORVALLIS, Ore. – Oregon Tech was voted as the preseason favorite for both the 2020-21 Cascade Collegiate Conference Men’s and Women’s Golf Coaches’ Polls, announced Monday.
The 2019-20 season left unfinished business as the season was canceled before both the CCC Tournament Championship, presented by U.S. Bank, and the NAIA National Championship.
Last year’s preseason favorite British Columbia will not sponsor men’s and women’s golf this year because of COVID-19 issues with border closures.
The Hustlin’ Owls picked up three first-place votes and 43 total points to earn the top spot on the men’s poll. It will be Justin Wiles first year as the Owls’ head coach after Jeff Corkill announced his retirement at the earlier this year. OIT’s last event was its Oregon Tech Spring Invite where the Owls took second as a team.
New CCC full member Lewis-Clark State College grabbed four first-place votes, but tallied 39 points to sit in second. After a successful fall season, the 2019-20 Warrior golf season ended just one tournament into the spring. The Warriors finished second in the Frontier Conference.
Corban University picked up 36 total points to sit in third, while Bushnell University grabbed 31 points for the No. 4 spot. College of Idaho (19 points), Multnomah University (17 points) and Walla Walla University (11 points) rounded out the poll in spots five through seven.
On the women’s side, the Lady Owls grabbed five first-place votes for 35 points. The Owls’ last event was the OIT Spring Invite, where they took second as a team.
LC State picked up one first-place vote and 27 total points to sit in second. The Warriors come off a second-place finish in the Frontier Conference before the season was abruptly canceled.
Two points separate LCSC and Corban, with the Corban Warriors grabbing 25 points to sit in the No. 3 spot. Bushnell isn’t too far behind either, sitting in fourth with 21 points. College of Idaho (13 points) and Walla Walla University (seven points) close out the women’s poll in fifth and sixth, respectively.
The first NAIA national poll is set to be released on Oct. 16.