A weekend of good weather is not something to waste here in the Pacific Northwest, and the Puget Sound men’s and women’s golf teams seemed to take that mentality to heart at the Pacific Invitational last weekend. When it was all said and done, the men came away hoisting the championship trophy after their first place finish. The women finished in fifth place overall and know that they have one more week to put it all together at the Conference Championships.
Through one day of the Pacific Spring Inviational, senior Sarah Bicker (Salt Lake City, Utah) and freshman Matt Kitto (Lake Oswego, Ore.) each found themselves in second place in the women’s and men’s fields, respectively. Kitto climbed into second place after shooting a career best 69 (-2) while Bicker shot a solid 80 (+9).
Kitto wasn’t the only Logger in the top five after the first day; he was joined by junior Collin Wulff (Albany, Ore.) who claimed fourth place after shooting a round of 73 (+2).
The men’s field was looking ultra competitive as the top three teams were separated by a total of two shots. Puget Sound was tied for first with Whitworth, with a team score of 301 (+17), while the Pacific Boxers and individual leader Max Bonk finished with a team score of 303 (+19) to claim third place after day one.
Following a stellar first day, Kitto returned to the course on day two looking to help Puget Sound pull away from a first place tie and claim the team title. He did just that, finishing in second place with an individual score of 141 (-1) and the Loggers came out on top with a team title.
“It was great to see Matt play well last weekend at the Pacific Invite. It gave the whole team a boost and let us know that good scores were out there to be had on the course,” sophomore Derek Wilson (Bellevue, Wash.) said. “We went out trying to match his score the next day and it led to a victory.”
Kitto’s second place finish set the pace as five Logger golfers finished in the top 15. Wulff finished in fifth after shooting a two-day total of 149 (+7). Freshman Derek Wilson (Bellevue, Wash.) and junior Riley Conlin (Golden Valley, Minn.) both walked off the course after shooting 74 (+3) to finish in 11th and 12th place respectively. Senior Greg Kirkpatrick finished in a tie for 14th to round out the top Logger finishers.
The women’s team also teed off on day two, sitting in second place in the team race, but came away with a disappointing fifth place finish. Seniors Bicker and Natalie Nackamine (Honolulu, Hawai’i) tied for sixth place to lead the Loggers. Nakamine improved by two strokes during the second day to finish with a score of 168 (+26). Bicker also finished with a 168 (+28) but this came after a disappointing second round in which she shot an 88 (+17) after being tied for second when the day started.
The women’s tournament was won by George Fox. The Lady Boxers won by an impressive 49 strokes over second place Whitworth.
The Loggers will be on the road next week when they travel to the Northwest Conference Tournament. The men’s team will look to duplicate their results from the Pacific Invitational while the women’s team has their sights set on a first place finish of their own.
“In order to finish in first place again this weekend at the Conference Championship we have to stay in the moment and focus on playing good golf and not on what it means if we win. We have to go out there and play with confidence and prove why we are the team to beat.”