Linfield Holds Narrow Lead After NWC Men's Golf First Round

Pacific came into the conference tournament with the overall lead in the race for the NWC team crown.

Pacific's Max Bonk goboxers.com/

McKENZIE BRIDGE, Ore. - Linfield College took a three-stroke lead over Pacific University after Saturday's first round action of the the Northwest Conference Men’s Golf Championships being played at Tokatee Golf Club in McKenzie Bridge, Oregon.

With a total of four players carding sub-80 rounds, the Wildcats fired a total of 15-over-par 303 compared to Pacific's 306. Puget Sound stayed in contention with a 311, followed by Pacific Lutheran at 314, Whitman 315, Willamette 327, Whitworth 331 and George Fox 348.

Pacific's Max Bonk, who has earned six individual tournament titles so far this season, is leading in the medalist chase after carding a two-under-par 70.

Bonk is the defending tournament medalist. He leads Whitman's Brian Barton by two strokes with PLU's Jason Casey three strokes off the pace. Other top first-day individual rounds were turned in by Linfield's Andrew Fitch and Pacific's Sean Hamer at 74, Linfield's Yutaro Sakamoto at 75, and Linfield's Alex Fitch and Puget Sound's Jordan Hodge at 76.

Pacific came into the conference tournament with the overall lead in the race for the NWC team crown. The Boxers earned seven points for a second-place finish in the NWC Fall Classic and eight points for finishing first in the NWC Spring Classic for a total of 15 points, one ahead of Linfield and two ahead of Puget Sound. Teams in the Fall Classic and the NWC Spring Classic receive one point for each team they beat. The stakes at this weekend’s conference championship tournament are doubled, however, as two points are awarded to a team for each conference opponent that it defeats.

The complete standings entering the 36-hole NWC Championships looks like this: Pacific 15; Linfield 14; Puget Sound 13; Whitworth and Willamette 9; Pacific Lutheran and Whitman 5; George Fox 2; and Lewis & Clark 0.

Linfield won last year’s NWC championship tournament, held at Apple Tree Golf Club in Yakima, Wash., with a 36-hole total of 591, including an even-par 288 on the first day.

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