Senior co-captain Michael Butler has fired three rounds of par-or-better this season. PHOTO: WWU Athletics
Vikings Move Into National Coaches Poll at No. 14
September 28, 2018
BELLINGHAM, Wash. – With wins in back-to-back tournaments to open the 2018-19 season, the Western Washington University men’s golf team earned a national No. 14 ranking in the first regular-season Bushnell Golfweek Division II Coaches Poll of the season.
WWU received 157 points in the poll, and claimed one of the 19 first-place votes. Three-time NCAA Division II national champion Barry University is No. 1 in the poll receiving 13 first-place votes, and the top seven teams in the rankings are all out of the state of Florida.
“It is early and there is still a lot golf to be played, however I very pleased with the effort and play of my guys to start the year,” said head coach Luke Bennett. “It has created some great momentum that we’ll continue to build on.”
The Vikings, who have advanced to the NCAA II Championships in each of the last 20 seasons, won the season-opening Saint Martin’s Invitational by a 17-stroke margin and continued the perfect start to the season with a two-stroke win at the WWU Invitational earlier this week.
Senior co-captain Cody Roth (Bellingham, WA) leads the team with a scoring average of 70.50 (-1.50 to par) and is tied for the team lead with four rounds of par or better. Senior Nick Sparling (Dublin, OH/Dublin Coffman/Ohio State) also has turned in four rounds of par or better and is second with a 71.67 scoring average (-0.33 to par).
The Vikings are scheduled to return to tournament action Oct. 8-9 at the Concordia Invitational at Columbia Edgewater Country Club in Portland, Oregon.
The complete fall and spring schedule, as well as historical information on the program, can be viewed atWWUVikings.com/MGolf.
Here is a look at the current Bushnell Golfweek Division II Coaches Poll:
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