PLU Places Second, Casey and Spitzer Earn All-Conference

Final Results

McKENZIE BRIDGE, Ore. - It was a double win for Linfield College on Sunday as the Wildcats won the Northwest Conference Men's Golf Championships at Tokatee Golf Club, and as a result garnered their second consecutive overall point title in the conference men's golf standings.

The Wildcats followed their opening round 303 with a 301 on Sunday for a 36-hole total of 604, nine shots ahead of a Pacific Lutheran team that on Sunday carded the best round of any team in the tournament with a 299 for a 613 total. Puget Sound fired a solid 304 for a 615 total. Pacific came into the tournament with the overall conference points lead, but after shooting a 306 on Saturday the Boxers scored a 312 to finish fourth in the tournament with a 618. Rounding out the team scores were Whitman with a 315-322 - 637, Whitworth 331-313 - 644, Willamette 323-327 - 650, and George Fox 343-327 - 670.

Pacific's Max Bonk successfully defended his individual championship, following his opening round 70 with a 75 on Sunday for a two-round total of 145. A trio of golfers tied for second. Linfield's Tyler Nelson and Pacific Lutheran's Kyle Spitzer both carded 78-72 - 150, while Whitman's Brian Barton had a 72-78 - 150. Three golfers shot two-round totals of 151, including Linfield's Andrew Fitch and Yutaro Sakamoto and Pacific Lutheran's Jason Casey. Pacific's Sean Hamer rounded out the top eight with a 152.

Pacific came into the conference tournament with the overall lead in the race for the NWC team crown after earning 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. Teams in the Fall Classic and the NWC Spring Classic received one point for each team they beat.

The stakes at the conference championship tournament are doubled, however, as two points are awarded to a team for each conference opponent that it defeats. Linfield, trailing Pacific by one point entering the weekend, picked up 16 points by winning the tournament and finished the overall season with 30 points. The Boxers' fourth-place finish dropped them into a second-place tie with Puget Sound, both finishing with 25 points. Pacific Lutheran moved up to fourth place with 19 points, followed by Whitworth with 15, Whitman and Willamette with 13 each, George Fox with 4 and Lewis & Clark with 0.

The following golfers earned 2008-09 all-conference honors: Max Bonk, Pacific; Brian Barton, Whitman; Tyler Nelson, Linfield; Kyle Spitzer, PLU; Andrew Fitch, Linfield; Yutaro Sakamoto, Linfield; Jason Casey, PLU.

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