NORTH PLAINS, Ore.—Lewis & Clark College men's golf posted their lowest round as a team (293, +9) at a conference event this season, to finish Day One of the Northwest Conference Championship in fourth place.
THE BASICS
Men's Golf – 4
th out of 9 Teams – 293 (+9)
HOW IT HAPPENED
All five River Otters finished +5 or better, to put Lewis & Clark in contention to move up the end-of-the-year NWC standings.
Junior
Luke Blankinship and sophomore
Joonho Moon each shot a 72 (+1) to lead the team. The pair are both tied for 11
th after 18 holes.
Blankinship recorded a double bogey on his second hole but settled down from there and tied for the team lead with four birdies. He finished the day with four birdies, 10 pars and four bogeys. Moon played clean golf with no double bogeys and just three bogeys across his round. He got off to a hot start with back-to-back birdies on the Par 4 10
th and Par 3 11
th hole (his third and fourth holes of the day).
Sophomore
Tanner Moody placed third on the team and tied for 22
nd overall. He notched a 74 (+3) on Sunday. Moody matched Blankinship with four birdies, including three on the front nine.
Sophomore
Charlie Hageman posted a round of 75 (+4) to place third on the team. Hageman finished the day in a tie for 24
th overall. He started the day with birdies on two of his first four holes and added a birdie on the Par 5 fourth hole.
Sophomore
Mason Hill finished fifth on the team and tied for 33
rd overall. He registered a 76 (+5) on Day One. Hill recorded one birdie and 12 pars across his first round.
BY THE NUMBERS
- The River Otters round of 293 (+9) was two strokes better than their first round at the NWC Spring Classic (295, +11) and four better than their total in the first round at the NWC Fall Classic (297, +13).
- Lewis & Clark leads a tight pack of teams battling for fourth place. The River Otters (+9) have a slight edge after Sunday over Pacific Lutheran University (+10), George Fox University (+13) and Pacific University (+13).
- Moody was making his first appearance at an NWC event since the 2024 NWC Fall Classic. His round of 73 (+3) is his best career round at an NWC event.
- After Day One, Lewis & Clark moved up to sixth in the NWC end-of-year standings ahead of Whitworth. The Pirates came into the day with a nine-stroke lead of Lewis & Clark but shot a 307 (+23). The River Otters will take a five-stroke lead over the Pirates into Monday's final round of the NWC season. Lewis & Clark trails fourth-place Pacific Lutheran (14 strokes) and fifth-place George Fox (nine strokes) in the season standings.
WHAT'S NEXT
Lewis & Clark will close out their season on Monday, when they tee off at 9 a.m. for round two of the NWC Championship Tournament at Pumpkin Ridge Golf Club.
