Monday, April 18, 2016

COEUR D’ALENE, Idaho – A pair of solid rounds for Western Washington junior Chris Hatch and a record-breaking opening round for junior Brett Johnson have the Vikings leading after the first two rounds of the 2016 GNAC Men’s Golf Championships at the Coeur d’Alene Resport Golf Course.

Hatch performed well in both rounds, shooting a season-low six-under-par 65 on the opening round and an even-par 71 on the second 18 to finish at 6-under-par 136. Hatch registered six birdies in his opening round and eagled the par-4 17th hole.

That would have tied the GNAC record for the lowest single round at the GNAC Championships had it not been for his teammate Johnson, who carded a 7-under-par 64 in his opening round. The junior finished with eight birdies in the round to surpass the previous single-low round of 65 set by Western Washington’s Craig Crawford in 2012. Johnson went on to score a 73 in the second and sits in second place individually at 5-under-par 137.

The play of the Vikings’ top-two players led Western Washington to the lead with a two-round team score of 555. The Vikings are 13 strokes up on defending GNAC champions Simon Fraser, who sits in second with a score of 568. Concordia is in third in their first GNAC Championship with a score of 574.

Simon Fraser sophomore Chris Crisologo sits in third place individually at 4-under-par 138, which included a low round of 4-under-par 67 on the opening 18 holes. Northwest Nazarene’s Kenyan Fanslow sits in fourth with a two-day score of 139 and Saint Martin’s Austin Spicer is in fifth at 140.

Northwest Nazarene is in fourth place in the team competition at 12-over-par 580. Saint Martin’s is fifth with 587 and Montana State Billings is sixth at 599.

The final round of the GNAC Men’s Golf Championships will begin at 8 a.m., with all groups beginning on the first tee.