By: Evan O'Kelly, Associate Commissioner for Communications

PORTLAND, Ore. – The 2024-25 men’s golf season is officially underway, with all five Great Northwest Athletic Conference teams hitting the links over the next week.
 
Montana State Billings kicked its season off earlier this week by winning the South Dakota Mines Hardrocker Invitational. Northwest Nazarene, Saint Martin’s, Simon Fraser and Western Washington will begin their campaigns at the True North Classic running Monday-Tuesday at Riverway Golf Course hosted by the Red Leafs in Burnaby, B.C. MSUB will join the other four GNAC teams later next week, for the SMU Bishop Invitational at The Home Course in DuPont, Wash., on Sept. 26-27.
 

SEPTEMBER EVENTS
Date	Event	Location	GNAC Teams
9/23-24	True North Classic	Burnaby, BC	NNU, SMU, SFU, WWU
9/26-27	Bishop Invitational	DuPont, WA	MSUB, NNU, SMU, SFU, WWU
9/30-10/1	WWU Invitational	Bellingham, WA	MSUB, SMU, SFU, WWU

 

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 ‘JACKETS FIRST TO TEE OFF: Getting off to a good start in a four-team, two-round event at Golf Club at Red Rocks in Rapid City, S.D., the Yellowjackets swept the top three individual spots and posted a two-round team score of 611 (308-303) to win the tournament by 11 strokes. Newcomer Graedon Woodward was impressive in his MSUB debut, winning medalist by five strokes with a 2-under-par 142 (70-72). Woodward’s 2-under-par 70 on the par-72, 6,882-yard course was the lowest round among the field of 24 competitors. Hayato Ito came in second with a 3-over-par 147 (75-72) and Logan Connolly placed third with a 6-over-par 150 (78-72). One of the youngest teams in the conference, MSUB said goodbye to four all-conference selections from the 2023-24 campaign. Adam Buie is in his fourth season leading the Yellowjacket golf program. 2024-25 MSUB Schedule | 2024-25 MSUB Roster
 

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VIKINGS LOOK TO MAINTAIN TITLE: Western Washington, which received votes in the GCAA preseason coaches poll, will look to defend last year’s GNAC Championships team title as it debuts next week. The Vikings’ top returner is first-team all-conference junior Peter Dionne-Yahr, who ranked third in the conference last year with a scoring average of 72.9 strokes per round. Senior Cole Reynolds is the other Viking returner who competed in both the GNAC Championships and NCAA West Region Championships a season ago. WWU will close the month by hosting four GNAC teams at the WWU Invitational on Sept. 30-Oct. 1 at Bellingham Golf & Country Club. Luke Bennett is in his 12th season leading the WWU program. 2024-25 WWU Schedule | 2024-25 WWU Roster.
 

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RED LEAFS WELCOME CONFERENCE ACROSS BORDER: Simon Fraser will begin its season with hosting duties, as the conference teams will get a good look at one another in next week’s event. The Red Leafs also received votes in the GCAA preseason poll, and won GNAC team titles in 2015, 2018 and 2023. SFU will be without 2023-24 GNAC Player of the Year Michael Crisologo, who was the medalist at last year’s GNAC Championships. Returning to the squad are first-team all-conference selection Denby Carswell and second-team pick Justin Bjornson. Carswell ranked second in the conference last year with a scoring average of 72.5 strokes per round, while Bjornson was 15th at 74.1 strokes per round. That duo, along with returner Brendan O’Brien, all represented the team at both the GNAC Championships and the NCAA West Region Championships last year. Krysta Schaus was recently introduced as the SFU interim head golf coach and begins her first season in charge of the program. 2024-25 SFU Schedule | 2024-25 SFU Roster.
 

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NEW-LOOK SAINTS READY TO COMPETE: Saint Martin’s features just one returner to its roster, with senior Carter Sheets posting a scoring average of 75.4 strokes per round last year. The Saints will look to a duo of Regis transfers in junior Christopher Gunlikson and sophomore Gavin Klein, as well as Grays Harbor College transfer Rasmus Tamker to provide depth. SMU’s roster also features a trio of freshmen. The Saints are led by Anne Bahr, who is in her second season leading the program. 2024-25 SMU Schedule | 2024-25 SMU Roster.
 
NIGHTHAWKS BACK IN ACTION: Northwest Nazarene will also compete at Monday’s event in Burnaby, featuring a mix of returners with experience and new faces on its roster. Sophomores Kasey Gaff and Benjamin Mulder are the two returning players who represented the Nighthawks at last year’s conference event. Gaff finished the 2023-24 campaign with a scoring average of 75.0 strokes per round, and Mulder was close behind at 75.5 strokes per round. Fred Sutton is in his third season leading the NNU program. 2024-25 NNU Schedule | 2024-25 NNU Roster.
 

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GNAC MEN’S GOLF IN THE REGIONAL AND NATIONAL RANKINGS

Golf Coaches Association of America National Rankings
The GCAA Division II national rankings will be released periodically throughout the 2024-25 academic year.
 

Date	Team 1	Team 2
8/30 (Preseason)	RV SFU	RV WWU
9/20	None	None

CLIPPD SCOREBOARD NATIONAL RANKINGS
The Clippd national and regional rankings will be released periodically throughout the 2024-25 academic year.
 
CLIPPD SCOREBOARD REGIONAL RANKINGS
 
2025 GNAC MEN’S GOLF CHAMPIONSHIPS
The 2025 GNAC Men’s & Women's Golf Championships, presented by the Coeur d'Alene Resort, will be held April 21-22 at the Coeur d'Alene Resort Course in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho.
 
2024-25 GNAC MEN’S GOLF PLAYERS OF THE WEEK
The first GNAC Men’s Golf Player of the Week will be selected on Monday, Sept. 30.