Gearing up for the Northwest Conference Championships April 21 and 22, the Whitworth men’s golf team joined Whitman College and Pacific University for a preview at Canyon Lakes Golf Course in Kennewick last Saturday.
“Most teams will have a practice round the day before a big tournament,” head coach Warren Friedrichs said. “We take three teams and do the practice round in a three-way match, serving as a practice round and giving us a little competition.”
Although the contest didn’t count toward the Championships points-wise, the teams kept score and Whitworth ended the round on top with a score of 321. Whitman scored 326 and Pacific scored 332.
“Whitman has beat us a couple times,” Friedrichs said. “So in that sense it was a pretty good day.”
Sophomore Jesse Salzwedel and sophomore Stephen Plopper were the lowest scoring Pirates, shooting 77 and 78 respectively. Junior Christian Boudreau followed with a score of 84, while senior Jeff Aly shot an 85.
“The green at Canyon Lakes for the men were rock hard and very fast,” Friedrichs said. “Scores were pretty high for the course because it played pretty difficult.”
Throughout the year teams have been playing for points, with each win earning one point towards a team’s total accumulation. The Pirates currently stand in third place with 11 points, behind Linfield (15 points) and Whitman (13 points). Championships are a unique tournament that offers double the points for a win, which is a huge opportunity to grab a spot at the NCAA National Tournament.
According to coach Friedrichs, the Pirates are prepared to take on their competitors next weekend.
“We’re ready, but golf is odd,” Friedrichs said. “It’s not a consistent game; it’s a confidence thing, [and] we’ve got to get mentally ready and go have some fun.”
Whitworth will host the Tournament next weekend at Canyon Lakes, teeing off Saturday at 1 p.m. and finishing Sunday morning beginning at 7:30 a.m. The winner at Championships will earn an automatic bid to Nationals.
Contact Corina Gebbers at [email protected].
