DUPONT, Wash. - Led by a solid first round, the Lewis-Clark State College Men’s Golf team stands third after the opening 36 holes of the Saint Martin’s Invitational at The Home Course on Friday.
The 54-hole tournament features 12 teams, nine of which are NCAA Division II squad. LC State, the only NAIA school, and two community college teams round out the field. The tournament concludes with the final 18 holes on Saturday.
The Warriors have a team score of 585, which is 13 strokes behind leader Western Washington. Simon Fraser stands second at 575.
Going into the season, Warrior first-year coach Brady Campbell said he was really looking forward to this tournament because of the quality of the field and to see how the Warriors would stack up. He found some of the answers on Friday and hopes the Warriors can improve during Saturday’s final 18 holes.
“The guys played solid golf today, minus a tough stretch to start the afternoon round, but I was proud of them for rallying at the end to keep up in contention” Campbell, who previously played and coached in the GNAC, said. “Playing against teams I used to coach against gave me a great perspective on where our team is at. We can compete with anyone and we are looking forward to coming out and pushing for a win.”
Kristof Panke, who matched par with a 144 score, leads the Warriors and stands tied for 11th overall. He had rounds of 73 and 71. Panke recorded nine birdies on the day.
Teammate Jorgen Lie Viken is just a shot behind at 145 and had the Warriors’ best round of the day with a 70. In that opening round, Viken had two birdies and 16 pars. He followed it up with a 75. Devon Caruso shot rounds of 73 and 74 to stand a 147, which leaves him in a tie for 19th overall.
“Kristof and Jorgen both gave us some under-par scores today, and Devon really battled to help us stay in it,” Campbell said.
After Saturday’s play, the Warriors jump right back into action when the men’s and women’s teams play host to the Warrior Invitational on Monday and Tuesday at the Lewiston Golf & Country Club. The invitational serves as one of three Cascade Collegiate Conference tournaments this season.
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Team scores – 1, Western Washington 290-282-572. 2, Simon Fraser 285-290-575. 3, Lewis-Clark State 290-295-585. 4, CSU-San Bernadino 295-292-587. 5, Dominican (Calif.) 298-290-588. 6, tie, Hawaii Hilo 298-292-590, Hawaii Pacific 296-294-590, and Montana State Billings 292-298-590. 9, Bellevue CC 299-299-598. 9, Northwest Nazarene 303-296-599 . 10, Saint Martin’s . 11, Gray’s Harbor CC 307-310-617.
Overall leader – Ryan Feyrer, Gray’s Harbor, 68-69-137.
LC State – Kristof Panke 73-71-144, Jorgen Lie Viken 70-75-145, Devon Caruso 73-74-147, Carlos Davila 74-75-149, Jacob Waller 77-78-155.