The Linfield golf teams both competed at the Northwest Conference Championship on April 21 and 22. The men played at the Canyon Lakes Golf Course in Kennewick, Wash., while the women’s team competed at Columbia Point Golf Course in Richland, Wash.

The Linfield women’s golf team placed fifth at the Northwest Conference Championships on Saturday and Sunday.

Whitman College, George Fox University and Whitworth University were the top three teams after the two-day tournament in Richland, Wash.

On Saturday, Linfield was in fourth place, with a total of 358.

Sophomore Alexandria Smith placed highest out of the Linfield women on the first day, placing ninth out of 40 players.

Wildcats senior Sophie Corr placed 14th, junior Brinn Hovde placed 16th, sophomore Hannah Christianson placed 23rd and senior Lydia Smith placed 27th.

On Sunday, Linfield slipped into fifth place in the conference, with a total of 699.

“The first day we played alright, but we definitely struggled [on Sunday],” Alexandria Smith said. “For me, it was the little shots that got in the way of scoring well.”

Smith once again placed highest for Linfield, tying for 14th place with Elizabeth Martin from Whitworth.

Corr placed 20th, Hovde placed 21st, Christianson placed 27th, and Lydia Smith placed 29th.

On the men’s side, the Wildcats placed first out of the nine NWC teams.

With a score of 596, Linfield beat Whitworth University by a mere three points.

The Wildcats had three men in the top-10. Defending his conference title, senior Alex Fitch nabbed first and finished with a score of 142 strokes.

Tying for fourth, freshman Connor Magnuson finished the game in 149 strokes.

Fellow freshman Taylor Klopp was in a three-way tie with Whitworth University’s Joey Degroff and Willamette University’s Cody Plofker.

The final two members of the men’s golf team placed in the top-30. Sophomore A.J. Taylor landed in 17th place, while Tommy Schmitz finished in 30th.

The men’s team earned its fourth NWC title win for the last five seasons.

As the women’s season comes to an end, the men’s team will continue on to the next round, where it will play in the National Collegiate Athletic Association Division III Championships.

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Meghan O’Rourke/Opinion editor
Kaylyn Peterson/Sports editor
Meghan O’Rourke can be reached at  linfieldreviewopinion@gmail.com.
Kaylyn Peterson can be reached at linfieldreviewsports@gmail.com.

Venturing north, the women’s golf team faced off with five Northwest Conference teams March 10 and 11 at the Pacific Lutheran University Invitational in Walla Walla, Wash.

Restarting the season, the Wildcats pushed through wind and rain during the first day of the PLU Invitational.

“Spring golf can be rough because of the conditions that we will be playing in,” junior Brinn Hovde said. “Rain, hail and snow are all things that we will be facing, which can definitely add some complications to the game.”

The Wildcats finished the PLU Invitational in third place out of the seven teams.

The team scored a total of 526 strokes, 94 strokes above par. The invitational winning team was George Fox University, scoring 491.

Linfield’s top competitor was sophomore Hannah Christianson, who placed 14th. Following closely behind Christianson were her four teammates, sophomore  Alexandria Smith, Hovde, and seniors Sophia Corr and Lyndia Smith, placing 16th, 17th, 18th and 21st.

“We all have our minds in the right spot and that’s a solid foundation to build off of,” Hovde said. “We are excited for the season, and I know that we will embrace this to perform at a level to get us on top.”

The team placed fourth in the first day of the invitational. Taking the lead of the competition was Whitman with a team score of 329 strokes.

The Wildcats trailed the lead team by 26 strokes.

Hovde said, the five-woman team hopes to keep its high standings this spring, despite a drop in team members.

During the last nine years, the membership of the women’s golf team has bounced around from as many as 10, to a low of four.

Coach Brian Trowbridge joined the team in the  2010-2011 season.

However, only a year and a half later, Trowbridge resigned, and he was replaced by interim head coach James Yen.

Hovde said that the team would have to be self-motivated during the coming season.

“This spring we are going to have to keep working hard to maintain our high standing in the conference,” Hovde said. “We lost a couple players but we are going to keep it in the right perspective and step up to take on the extra responsibility.”

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Kaylyn Peterson/Sports editor
Kaylyn Peterson can be reached at linfieldreviewsports@gmail.com.

The men and women’s golf teams hosted their three way tournament Oct. 8 at Michelbook Country Club. The teams went up against
Willamette University and Pacific
University. Both teams finished first.

The men’s golf team finished on top with a total of 305, which was only 17 strokes above par.

Senior Alex Fitch finished first in the competition with only 69 strokes, three below par.

Two other top competitors for
Linfield were freshman Ryan Nolan and sophomore A.J. Taylor, who tied for third with Willamette freshman Johnathan Ross. All
together, the Linfield men had seven players in the top 10.

The women’s team had similar results, placing them in first with a total of 339, which was 51 strokes above par.

The women’s team had six of its competitors place in the top 10. Sophomore Danielle Lungren placed
highest of the Linfield women coming in third with a total of 83.

Sophomore Alexandria Smith placed fourth with 84 strokes, while sophomore Hannah Christianson and junior Brinn Hovde tied for fifth only two strokes behind her.

“It’s at our home course so we were all comfortable with the holes, which made things easier on us,” Hovde said. “This really allowed us to focus on making good shots and help us score low as a team.”

The women’s team will be playing at the George Fox
Invitational on Oct. 14 and 15 in Newberg, Ore.

 The men’s team will have the weekend off, but will play again Oct. 22 and 23 at Heron Lakes Golf Course in Portland, Ore., for the NWC
Classic.

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Kaylyn Peterson/Sports editor
Kaylyn Peterson can be reached at linfieldreviewsports@gmail.com.

Both the men and women’s golf teams were busy this weekend. The two teams competed at Quail Valley golf course in Banks, Ore.,  on Sept. 24 and 25 for the Pacific Invitational.

On the first day of the competition, the Linfield ladies placed fifth with 343 strokes total, which was 55 strokes above par. The team was only 27 strokes behind George Fox University, the winners of the day. Sophomore Alexandria Smith tied for seventh place, with George Fox freshman Whitney Jammerman, Willamette University freshman Nicole Smith and Whitman College sophomore Elaine Whaley.  Alexandria Smith ended the first day with eighty strokes, only eight above par. Sophomore Hannah Christianson was only four strokes behind Alexandria Smith, and she was placed eighteenth.

The men’s team led the way for the rest of the teams at the Pacific invitational on the first day. Sophomore A.J. Taylor finished the day with 69 strokes, earning him third place. Following right behind Taylor, senior Alex Fitch tied for fourth with two other golfers. Freshman Ryan Nolan eagled the 10th hole. The Wildcats beat Willamette out of first place by two strokes, and the team finished with as score of 283, putting the team five under par.

On the second day of the Pacific Invitational, the men’s team had four golfers in the top 10. Moving up to first place, Finch beat the rest with a score of 70. Following not too far behind him was Taylor, who finished 10 strokes behind Fitch in the overall.  As a team, the men came out with a combined 591, only 15 above par.

In the two competitions that the men’s team has participated in, they have taken first in both.

On day two of the competition, the women’s team finished with 337 strokes, earning them fourth place. The women’s top competitor was Christianson, who came in 12th place with 84 strokes. The entire team finished within 14 strokes of each other on the second day. The women’s team’s overall score for the whole invitational, was 680 strokes, which was 104 strokes above par. There were some major improvements during this competition for the women. One in particular was junior Brinn Hovde, who took eight strokes off her score the second day.

“Our team is looking strong this year. We are definitely starting out a higher level than we did last year so that is exciting for us to see,” Hovde said.

Some challenges the women’s team faces are the other teams they compete against Hovde mentioned in an email, “it is challenging because the teams in our conference have so much depth that we are competing against not one, but multiple other teams that are strong competitors throughout the season. We have what it takes so I’m excited for us to put it to work.”

The two teams have high hopes for the season.

Both team tees off Oct. 1 and 2, where the women’s team will be at the Whitman Invitational at the Wine Valley Golf Club and the men’s team compete at Spokane Country Club.
___________________________________________________________________Kaylyn Peterson/Sports editor
Kaylyn Peterson can be reached at linfieldreviewsports@gmail.com.