North Plains, Ore.– The Men’s and Women’s golf teams of the Northwest Conference are set to compete at the NWC Fall Classic this October 4th and 5th. This year’s tournament will be hosted by Pacific University (Ore.) at the Pumpkin Ridge Ghost Creek Golf Course– the action begins with a 9:00 AM tee time for both the men’s and women’s teams.
Live Coverage
Men's Livestats Link
Women's Livestats Link
Men
The Willamette Bearcats, the Linfield Wildcats, and Whitman Blues enter the first Northwest Conference Championship tournament of the 2026-2027 as the top three contenders on the men’s side. Last season, the Bearcats claimed victory in two of the three NWC tournaments, edging out the Wildcats to claim the 2026 NWC Champion title last spring. Willamette earned the automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament for the previous two consecutive seasons, posting a 27th place finish at the 2026 NCAA Championships. Bearcat golfers to watch this weekend are seniors AJ Papajohn and Kyler Phillips, as well as sophomore Michael Baldwin.
The Linfield Wildcats claimed victory at the 2026 NWC Spring Classic, posting consistent results throughout the season to make a tightly contested race for the championship title. Senior Douglas Bailey enters the tournament as a top competitor– last spring he represented the Wildcats at the 2026 NCAA Championships as one of nine individuals selected at-large nationally, finishing T-27 in the nation. The Whitman Blues round out the top three contenders, finishing second at both fall and spring classics, and third at the NWC Championship tournament. The Blues look to make an impact with returner Grady Brown and newcomer Issac Elaimy, who claimed the top two spots at this season’s recent Whitworth Invitational, posting a dominant team win against fellow NWC competition.
Women
The George Fox women’s squad enters the tournament as the reigning powerhouse, having captured 13 consecutive Northwest Conference Championships. The Bruin women return to the Northwest Conference Fall Classic after a clean-sweep season at the NWC Fall Classic, Spring Classic, and NWC Championship Tournament. At the NCAA Tournament, the Bruins finished their season in 18th in their 16th straight NCAA appearance. Junior Katelyn Lam & senior Abby Matelski look to lead the Bruins to another Fall Classic victory, both posting top scores for their team in this season’s recent Saint Martin's Invite.
The Whitworth Pirates followed close behind the Bruins in last season’s race for the Championship title, taking second at both the Spring Classic and the NWC Championship Tournaments. In the 2026-27 season, the Pirates posted a tournament win at the Bearcat Invitational, led by individual medalist Ashley Maki and teammate Stella Fergin as the runner-up.
Other top Northwest Conference golfers to watch this weekend include returning NWC Championship Tournament individual medalist Camilla Yoo of Whitman– as well as top individual competitors Bead Boonta of Pacific (Ore.), and Jayda Thomas of Pacific Lutheran.