First Conference "Major" This Weekend

The Northwest Conference Fall Classic, one of three tournaments used to determine the conference team champion and the NCAA tournament automatic qualifier, is scheduled for Saturday and Sunday, Oct. 17-18, at Heron Lakes Golf Club in Portland, Ore.

Results of the NWC Fall Classic count as one quarter of the season score. Teams in the NWC Fall Classic and the NWC Spring Classic receive one point each for each team they beat, and two points for each team they beat in April's NWC Championship event.

The women's tournament will be played from the white tees of the Heron Lakes Green Back course (Par 72, 5,813 yards), while the men will play from the blue tees of the Great Blue course (Par 72, 6,491 yards). Heron Lakes Golf Club is located less than 10 miles north of downtown Portland between the Willamette River and the Columbia Slough.

Linfield is the two-time defending men's conference champion and won the 2008 NWC Fall Classic, coming from one stroke down to finish with a 36-hole total of 596. The Pacific Boxers placed second with a 599, while Pacific Lutheran placed sixth with a 645. Fall Classic medalist honors went to Whitman's Brian Barton, who carded 70-72 - 142. He was the only player to break par on Kennewick's Canyon Lakes Golf Course.

Whitworth Pirates won the 2008 Northwest Conference Women's Golf Fall Classic by 14 strokes at the Juniper Golf Course in Redmond, Ore. The Pirates finished with a 36-hole total of 698, while Pacific Lutheran finished sixth with a two-round total of 813. Willamette's Whitney Ueno took medalist honors with a two-day score of 74-82 - 156.

Whitworth and Puget Sound tied for the conference women's championship, with Puget Sound earning the conference's automatic berth to the national tournament based on a win at the season-ending conference championship event.

- PLU -