MCMINNVILLE, Ore.– The 2025 Northwest Conference Golf Championships are officially underway after the first day of competition. Both men and women began at the Michelbook Country Club in McMinnville, Ore. bright and early this morning, teeing off at 8:30 AM PST. Round one finished up with the George Fox women and the Linfield men leading the scoreboards.
Men
The Linfield Wildcats came out strong in the opening round of the 2025 NWC Championship Tournament, posting a team score of 295, finishing 7-over par to claim the top spot heading into day two.
The scoreboard is a tight one– the margin between first and ninth place is a mere 22 strokes. Willamette and Whitman share the second place spot with an 11 over par score of 299, just edging out George Fox at 300 and Pacific Lutheran at 301. Lewis & Clark is in sixth at 303, followed by Whitworth at 311, Puget Sound at 314, and Pacific (Ore.) at 317.
On the individual leaderboard, Linfield’s Zach LaPlaca and Ryder Ng hold the first two spots– LaPlaca 3-under par (69) and Ng 1-under (71). George Fox’s Truman Fletcher and Brenden Borck are tied with Ng for second after carding 1-under 71s. Just one shot back are Willamette’s Brock Olson and AJ Papajohn, and Whitman’s Grady Brown– all tied at fifth with even-par 72s.
Women
On the women’s side, the George Fox Bruins got off to an early lead, and combined to finish 9-over par with a team score of 297. Whitman holds second place with a team score of 302 (+14), just ahead of Whitworth in third at 315 (+27). Pacific (Ore.) follows in fourth with 320 (+32), leading Pacific Lutheran at 338 (+50), Lewis & Clark at 342 (+54), Puget Sound at 343 (+55), and Linfield at 357 (+69). Willamette did not field a full team on the first day of the tournament.
Individually, George Fox’s Alison Takamiya tops the leaderboard with a score of 67 (-5). In second place sits Whitman’s Cindy Lou at 70 (-2), while Stella Fergin of Whitworth holds third place at 73 (+1). Katelyn Lam of George Fox and Stacia Sarty of Whitworth are tied in fourth at 75 (+3).
The action continues at Michelbook Country Club in McMinnville, Ore. on Monday, April 21st at 9:45 AM for the men and 10:15 AM PST for the women.