GNAC Golf

2009-10 GNAC Players-of-the-Week


Dietz	Dailly	Varelia	Rosborg	Prante

Week of Sept. 20-27: Zach Dietz, Saint Martin's (Jr., Jerome, ID) earned medallist honors in the Saint Martin's Invitational, carding rounds of 71 and 69 to finish the 36-hole tournament at four-under 140. It was the first individual win for a SMU golfer since Hiro Nezu won the inaugural GNAC championship in 2008. Dietz also led SMU to the team title, the first for the Saints in the three-year history of the golf conference.

Week of Sept. 28-Oct. 4: Xavier Dailly, Western Washington (Jr., Burlington, WA – Burlington-Edison) finished seventh in the Western Washington Invitational at the Bellingham Golf and Country Club last Monday and Tuesday with a 54-hole score of three-under par 213. Dailly, a transfer from Washington State, had a final round four-under par 68, leading the Vikings to a fourth-place team finish, 11 strokes back of first-place Dixie State.

Week of Oct. 5-11: Nick Varelia, Western Washington (So., Kent, WA – Kentwood) finished second with a 54-hole score of three-under-par 213 to lead the Vikings to the team title in the Grand Canyon Fall Invitational at Goodyear, Ariz. The Vikings tied Oklahoma City for first place with a team score of 863, but were awarded the team trophy based on its fifth man score. It's the first regular-season team title for the Vikings since 2006. Varelia, who averaged 77.1 shots a year ago, lowered his season average to 72.8 with rounds of 72, 71 and 70.

Week of Oct. 12-18: Olof Rosborg, Saint Martin's (Sr., Stockholm, Sweden – River Ridge) finished tied for fourth place in the abbreviated Chico State Interwest Wildcat Classic at the Butte Creek Country Club. Rosborg finished the 36-hole event at even par 144, three shots back of medallist Sylvester Gama of Chico State.

Week of Oct. 19-25: Sheldon Prante, Saint Martin's (Sr. Olympia, WA) carded a two-under par 70 in the final round to finish sixth in the Sonoma State Invitational with a 36-hole score of 144. Prante's final round, his best of the season, enabled the Saints to tie Western Washington for third with a 585 team score. The Saints entered the round six shots back of the Vikings. Prante began the round with a season-average of 75.4 and his previous finishes had been 29 th and 35 th in tournaments at Saint Martin's and Chico State.

2008-09 GNAC Players-of-the-Week


Jun	Grunig	Harr	Koppenberg	Gates

Week of Sept. 22-28: Thomas Jun, Western Washington (So., Federal Way/Todd Beamer), who was the Vikings' No. 3 scorer last year with a 74.2 average, won medallist honors in the 37th annual Western Washington Invitational with a 36-hole score of 138. Jun had back-to-back rounds of 69.

Week of Sept. 29-Oct. 5: Jake Harr, Montana State Billings (Jr., Buhl, ID), shot a 54-hole total of seven-under 206 (65-71-70) to lead the Yellowjackets to a share of the team title in the Rocky Mountain Invitational Sunday and Monday at the Peter Yegen Golf Club in Billings. MSUB finished the tournament with a team score of 834 to tie Lewis-Clark State for the top spot. In two tournaments on the young season, Harr is averaging 72.3 shots per round.

Week of Oct. 6-12: Jake Koppenberg, Western Washington (Sr., Everett, WA) finished fifth in the Grand Canyon Fall Classic with a 54-hole total of 211 on rounds of 70, 71 and 70 on the par-72, 7,121 yard The Golf Club of Estrella course in Goodyear, Ariz. Koppenberg led the Vikings to a 10th place team finish in the tournament.

Week of Oct. 27-Nov. 2: Jake Koppenberg, Western Washington (Sr., Everett, WA) shot a final round of eight-under par 64 to win the Dennis Rose Intercollegiate golf tournament at Mauna Lani North Course in Kohala Coast, Hawaii. Koppenberg, who completed the fall season with a 69.1 average, came from four shots back to win the event with a 54-hole score of 202. The 64 was his 13th round in the 60s during his two years as a Viking. Last year he had a school-record 62 and led the GNAC with a 71.3 average. The Player-of-the-Week is his second this fall and the fifth in his career.

Week of Feb. 23-Mar. 1: Jake Koppenberg, Western Washington (Sr., Everett, WA) finished fourth in the Cal State Bakersfield Elco Intercollegiate with a 54-hole total of three-under 213. Koppenberg, who leads the GNAC with a 70.2 scoring average, had rounds of 70, 71 and 72 on the par-72, 7,200 yard layout. The Vikings finished with a 875 team score, 25 shots behind winner Nova Southeastern.

Week of Mar. 22-29: Zach Grunig, Northwest Nazarene (Fr., Meridian, ID) finished eighth in the Concordia Invitational with a 36-hole score of 148. Grunig, who came in averaging 77.8, carded rounds of 76 and 72, finishing just six shots back of medallist Sam Ayotte of Southwestern Oregon.

Week of Mar. 30-Apr. 5: Thomas Jun, Western Washington (So., Federal Way, WA – Beamer), who came into the tournament averaging 74.9 strokes per round, carded a six-under par 210 to finish 11th in the Grand Canyon Thunderbird Invitational at Goodyear, Ariz. Jun had rounds of 71, 68 and 71. The 68 was the lowest round of his collegiate career. Five times previously he had shot rounds of 69. Jun is now averaging 74.2 and ranks second in the GNAC in scoring behind teammate Jake Koppenberg, who is averaging 71.2.

Week of Apr. 6-12: Travis Gates, Montana State Billings (So., Billings, MT) finished fourth in the Colorado Mines Bob Writz Invitational to lead the ‘Jackets to a third-place team finish. Gates had rounds of 70 and 76 for a two-over par total of 146. The 70 was his lowest round of the spring season. He had a 68 during the fall season at the Rocky Mountain Invitational. Gates currently leads MSUB in scoring with a 75.5 average and ranks eighth in the GNAC.

Apr. 13-19: Jake Koppenberg, Western Washington (Sr., Everett, WA) won his first collegiate spring-season golf title finishing first in the Cal State Stanislaus Invitational with a three-under par total of 213. Koppenberg had rounds of 70, 71 and 72 in finishing three shots ahead of three players, including teammate Thomas Jun and Justin Lanman of Saint Martin's, who had 216 totals. Koppenberg's only two previous titles came in the fall portion of the schedule. He won the Hawaii Hilo Invitational last fall and the Grand Canyon Fall Classic in 2007. Koppenberg takes a GNAC-best 71.1 scoring average into Monday's conference championship meet.

2007-08 GNAC Players-of-the-Week


Koppenberg	Brown	Packer

Week of Sept. 17-23: Jake Koppenberg, Western Washington (Jr., Everett, WA), a transfer from the University of Idaho, carded rounds of 70 and 64 to finish with a eight-under-par 134 total in the Saint Martin's Invitational. Koppenberg finished second and also led the Vikings to a second-place team finish in the 36-hole event.

Week of Sept. 24-30: Sean Packer, Western Washington (Sr., Sumner, WA – Auburn-Riverside) finished seventh in the Western Washington Invitational with a three-under par 54-hole total of 213, including a tournament-best 65 in the second round. After two tournaments, Packer leads the GNAC with a stroke average of 70.2 for five rounds.

Week of Oct. 1-7: Jake Koppenberg, Western Washington (Jr., Everett, WA – U. Idaho) set school records for a single round (62) and tournament (200) in winning the Grand Canyon Fall Invitational with a 16-under par total. Koppenberg is averaging 69.8 strokes per round for three tournaments this fall.

Week of Mar. 31-Apr. 6: Jake Koppenberg, Western Washington (Jr., Everett, WA) finished second in the Grand Canyon Invitational at Goodyear, Ariz. to lead the Vikings to a fourth-place team finish. It was Koppenberg's sixth Top 10 finish in eight tournaments this season and dropped his scoring average to 70.9, which is a school-record pace.

Week of Apr. 14-20: Brandon Brown, Western Washington (Jr., Kent, WA) finished fourth in the Cal State Stanislaus Invitational at Turlock, Calif., with a 54-hole total of even par 216. Brown came into the tournament ranked just sixth in the GNAC in scoring and fifth on his own team with a 75.7 average. His 54-hole total was 11 shots lower than any of his teammates and his bogey-free round on Tuesday was one of just five below par for the day. “With the high winds he had to deal with, that was a very impressive round of golf,” said Western coach Steve Card . “It's arguably one of the most impressive performances I've seen in my 15 years coaching here. It was by far his best performance as a Viking.”