Thanks to consistent golfing by the five members of the Western men’s golf team, they finished second at the West Regional Tournament and third in the West/Northwest Super Regional Wednesday in Petaluma, Calif.
With the high placements at the regional, the team earned an at-large berth to the NCAA Division II National Golf Championships May 14-17 in Houston, Texas.
“You always want to be in the national tournament, and this shows we belong there,” Western head coach Steve Card said.
Western earned their first berth in the national tournament with an overall score of nine-over par, 873 during the three-day regional tournament.
The team captured second place to a dominant Sonoma State University, who completed the 11-team competition as the only team under par. They finished three-under over 54 holes.
“We played on Sonoma’s home field,” Card said. “So there is no shame in getting second place at the tournament.”
Western junior Jake Koppenberg and freshman Thomas Jun led Western ending the tournament with scores of four-under par and one-under par respectively.
Koppenberg tied for second place in individual play, only one stroke behind first-place junior Ryan Sperry of Grand Canyon University.
“I’m happy with the individual effort I had, but I’m more happy with the team effort,” Koppenberg said. “It’s always good to come to the tournament as a team.”
Packer finished three-over par in the tournament. Western sophomore Julian Peters and Western junior Brandon Brown finished the tournament with scores of 15-over par and 20-over par respectively.
Card said though some players had problems on a few holes, all finished well at the end of their rounds.
“They have some solid play at the end of their day,” Card said. “That’s when the pressure is on, and we still played our best golf of the spring.”
Western was initially ranked as the No. 3 team for the tournament. Card said it didn’t make a difference in their approach to the national tournament.
“It’s just a fulfillment of a season-long accomplishment,” Card said.
The team started off the three-day tournament shooting five-over par on Monday. This left Western in second place as Sonoma State began building a commanding lead over the rest of the field, going three-under par.
Western fell to third as the team added two strokes to their team score on the second day of play, even though Jun had his best day of the tournament, and finished two-under for the day.
On the last day of the tournament, both Packer and Koppenberg helped bring the team back down to an even par with a combined five-under.
Western has one week to prepare and will be able to end their season at the national tournament in Houston. The four-day competition already has some on the team studying up on their putting and hitting a few balls at the driving range, Packer said.
“I’m excited about the team we have, and that my senior year will end at the tournament,” Packer said. “I think all of us are playing off our confidence.”
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