By: Evan O'Kelly, Associate Commissioner for Communications
BOULDER CITY, Nev. – The path to becoming a Viking made almost too much sense for
Rex Wilson.
The Burlington, Wash., native already had one of his best childhood friends –
Conrad Brown – on the 2025-26 roster, and he elected to transfer from the University of Utah back to his home state to continue his career.
Almost a year later, things couldn’t be working out much better for the sophomore, who was named the 2025-26 Great Northwest Athletic Conference Newcomer of the Year. He has been an integral piece in the Vikings’ success this year, posting the fourth-best stroke average in the GNAC at 72.4, tying for second at the GNAC Championships and earning first-team all-conference recognition.
“It was a factor, and we definitely talked about it,” Wilson said on the connection with Brown, whom he has been golfing with since he was around 10 years old. “He started at WWU and then transferred. With him coming back to WWU we had both talked about doing that together.”
2026 NCAA Men’s Golf Championships
May 18-22, 2026 | Boulder Creek Golf Course | Boulder City, Nevada
The Western Washington Vikings won the 2026 NCAA West/South Central Regional Championships in Stockton, Calif., May 7-9, securing the program’s 11th spot into the national championships. The event kicks off on Monday morning, with a live leaderboard
available online here.
Wilson came out of the gates on fire to open the year, shooting a collegiate-best score of 9-under-par 207 (70-69-68) in his very first event of the year at the Chico State Wildcat Classic on Sept. 15-16. He continued posting strong performances throughout the season, including a season-best single-round score of 5-under-par 67 on Feb. 24 at the Division II Invitational in Stockton, Calif. He also played his part in helping deliver last week’s NCAA West/South Central Regional Championship crown, kicking off with a 2-under-par 70 in the opening round. “We went there seeing teams we haven’t seen yet and knowing we had to play good golf just to make it (to nationals),” Wilson said on last week’s regional. “We had confidence, but at the same time had to go out and perform. To do that and play as well as we did was awesome. I give a lot of credit to Conrad the way he played last week, winning the tournament. The rest of us chipped in rounds when we needed to. Our captain
Peter (Dionne-Yahr) had an amazing second round, and all the guys came together.”
Wilson grew up on the confines of Skagit Golf & Country Club in his hometown, where he and Brown played virtually every day in the summers. Last summer, he broke the course record shooting an 11-under-par 60 as he hinted he was reaching towards the peak of his game.
In addition to his proven ability to shoot low scores, Wilson will bring some valuable information to his teammates having previously played at Boulder Creek Golf Course – the site of next week’s NCAA Championships. Attending one of his brothers’ tournaments, Wilson got a first-hand look at the lengthy layout during a practice round before watching his sibling compete in a tournament. “This course is long – around 7,600 yards – so we are going to have some mid-to-long range irons into some par-4s,” Wilson said on the upcoming championship course. “Specific for this one we will be assuming the greens are going to be a little firmer. The weather is pretty dry and hot right now, so when we are chipping we will be focusing on certain landing spots that we know are going to release more.”
WIlson's collection of 14 competition clubs.
| What's In The Bag? - Rex Wilson |
| Driver |
Titleist GT |
| 3 -Wood |
Titleist GT |
| 3-Iron |
Titleist T200 |
| Irons (4-through-P) |
Titleist T100 |
| Wedges (50, 54, 60) |
Vokey SM11 |
| Putter |
LAB Golf OZ |
What is your go-to club around the greens? “Ninety percent of the time around the greens I’m going with my lob wedge. It is what I practice with the most and I am pretty comfortable with it. If I’m at the front going to a back pin location I might pull out the pitching wedge, but pretty much everything else is my lob wedge.”
Wilson has been a natural fit into the WWU lineup all season, being 1 of 3 players to compete in all 10 events and 29 rounds across the year. He has notched four top-10 finishes, three top-five finishes and highlighted his year with a victory at the preview event in Stockton in February.
“Coming over here making the transfer, we had high hopes,” Wilson said of his outlook ahead of the campaign. “We have a bunch of upperclassmen who have all been around the block. We have had a lot of tournaments coming down the stretch close with another team, and with that experience we have a lot of the time we have come out on the good side of it. We all know how to handle those situations and play with that pressure, and that’s going to benefit us.”