By: Evan O'Kelly, Associate Commissioner for Communications
BOULDER CITY, Nev. – Behind every successful team is a source of steady leadership, an anchoring presence of solidarity and unity.
For as individual a sport as golf can be, it is no exception to this guiding principle. Accordingly, it is no coincidence that the NCAA Championships-bound Western Washington men’s golf team has exactly that leadership figure in senior captain
Peter Dionne-Yahr.
Four years of pouring his heart in soul into the Vikings’ program has rewarded the Kent, Wash., native with a journey he has dreamed about making since his freshman campaign in 2022-23. “It’s a full-circle moment,” said Dionne-Yahr, who competed on the team during the regular season but was not among the lineup when WWU last advanced to the NCAA Championships in 2023. “My first year seeing a player the caliber of what Jordan (Lee) did that year and how great of a bond that team had – it is similar to this year how strong of a bond we have. It reflects what we are doing and how we are playing. We have such a great group of guys around and it makes the competition more fun.”
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.
Not only do the Vikings have a veteran who has mastered instilling the team-first mindset among the lineup, they have one of the top players by measure of statistics in the history of the Great Northwest Athletic Conference. Through his 94 rounds played dating back to the fall of 2022, Dionne-Yahr holds an average of 72.88 strokes per round which ranks him No. 6 all-time in conference history.
Dionne-Yahr has a tendency to shine brightest under the lights of the postseason, with his collegiate low-round of 6-under-par 66 coming at the NCAA regional championships last May. He carded another 66 (this time 5-under-par) a month ago at the GNAC Championships. His top collegiate 54-hole total of 5-under-par has been achieved twice – both in playoff settings. The first came in the form of a 208 (67-72-69) during his sophomore season on his way to a fourth-place finish at the 2024 GNAC Championships. At last year’s NCAA West/South Central Regional Championships, Dionne-Yahr posted a 5-under-par 211 (68-66-77) to lead his team with a tie for 20th among the field.
Top scores and high-ranking statistics tell a story of success, but in the eyes of the three-time first-team all-GNAC golfer they don’t mean everything. “The ones that stick out are when you’re playing in a high-level tournament and throw in a bogey-free round,” Dionne-Yahr said. “Those are always confidence builders in a way and are something I can be proud of, because it can be a lot of pressure. Having those types of rounds are fun, especially on hard courses.”
More often than not, Dionne-Yahr has delivered those kinds of rounds in championship tournaments. Ahead of next week’s NCAA Championships, he has competed in 18-career postseason rounds and has made par or better 10 times. That averages out to 71.94 strokes per round when he has represented WWU at the GNAC or NCAA regional championship tournaments.
“It is nice to have experience with it, and now I have gone to regionals three years in-a-row,” Dionne-Yahr said of his postseason repetitions. “We tend to all lean on each other, and we have so much confidence in each other’s games. You don’t have to feel tense knowing you have such a great group of guys. They are all phenomenal golfers and we know we can take a deep breath out there. At the end of the day it is all about enjoying each other’s company and the game of golf.”
| What's In The Bag? - Peter Dionne-Yahr |
| Driver |
TaylorMade Qi4D |
| 3-Wood |
TaylorMade Qi4D |
| 2-Iron |
TaylorMade P-DHY |
| Irons (4-through-W) |
TaylorMade P7CB |
| Wedges (50, 54) |
TaylorMade MG5 |
| Lob Wedge (58) |
TaylorMade Hi-Toe |
| Putter |
TaylorMade Spider Tour X |
What’s a part of your game you’re proud of developing? “What’s gotten better for me is driving the ball. I recently got fit for a full new set, and it has been really helpful for me to drive the ball a lot better. I have seen a major improvement with that and I have a lot more confidence with that club now.”
A refined driver swing has given Dionne-Yahr supreme confidence on the tee boxes (Photo: Ron Smith).
Baseball was Dionne-Yahr’s first love in terms of sports, and his original ideation of competing collegiately in golf was to see if he could walk-on at the University of Idaho. When that never materialized, he got in touch with WWU head coach
Luke Bennett and made his way close to his hometown in what turned out to be a rewarding decision. “When Luke reached out I just felt like I had to take that opportunity,” Dionne-Yahr said. “You only get to play college golf once.”
Now four years later, Dionne-Yahr will bring his expertise on the course and leadership among his teammates to the championship links just outside of Las Vegas. He has never played the Boulder Creek Golf Course previously, but he has the utmost confidence in his reliable preparation routine. “I know down in Vegas it can be windy and this will be a firm course,” said Dionne-Yahr. “I am really going to be focusing on hitting the correct landing spots because I know I will get some roll-out. When I’m down there I’ll be relying a little bit on
Rex (Wilson) – he has played it. You just have to see the course, take some good notes and come up with a game plan. Once we have the pin locations we can figure out the best places to land the ball on the greens, and hitting fairways is always important.”
The Vikings won their second tournament of the 2025-26 campaign in the fall and have not looked back since, with last week’s regional victory being the squad’s fifth team win of the year. Two postseason trophies have already made the trip back to Bellingham, and there is one more out there for the taking on the biggest stage of all. The realization of what his team sought out to do back in September is a testament to the leadership Dionne-Yahr has exemplified along the way. “It was a really cool feeling,” he said on hoisting the regional trophy last week. “At the start of the season we all knew that we could do it, but it was a matter of getting to regionals and executing. I have always dreamed of winning regionals, and now we are even more excited to go down to Vegas and compete.”
Dionne-Yahr (center) has had a goal of a regional championship title since debuting at WWU in the fall of 2022.