BANKS, Ore.—All nine Lewis & Clark College men's golfers earned at least one victory, to lead the Pioneers to their first tournament victory in over 15 years on Saturday and Sunday at the Quail Valley Golf Course.
THE BASICS
Lewis & Clark 12, Pacific University 6
HOW IT HAPPENED
The two teams agreed to a match play tournament to kick off the 2024-25 season. Lewis & Clark won six of the nine matches on Saturday to take a 6-3 lead and added five more wins and two ties on Sunday to cruise to a 12-6 overall win over host Pacific University in the Pines Cup. Six of Lewis & Clark's nine golfers were making their Lewis & Clark debut and five were making their collegiate debuts.
First year
Charlie Hageman and junior
Ben Oates each went 2-0 to lead Lewis & Clark to the team victory.
Hageman put together the best weekend of anyone on the course as he recorded a tournament-low score of 141 (-3). After trailing by two holes after eight holes on Saturday, he won four of the final 10 holes to defeat Kamas Romney 2&1. The first year tied for the second-lowest score on the team on Day 1 with a round of 71 (-1). He was even better on Sunday. Hageman won five of the first eight holes to cruise to a win of 5&3. His score of 70 (-2) was the lowest round of any player on Sunday and tied for the lowest round by a Pioneers player on the weekend.
Oates put together the best tournament of his collegiate career with a personal-best score of 154 (+10). He won nine of his first 11 holes on Saturday to post a 9&7 victory. On Sunday, he was even after the first five holes, but won six of the next seven holes to post a 6&5 win. Oates notched a career-best round of 76 (+4) on Saturday and added a 78 (+6) on Sunday.
Sophomore transfer
Luke Blankinship registered the second-lowest tournament score on the team and third overall with a mark of 144 (Even). He defeated Ryan Murray 3&1 on Saturday after winning holes 16 and 17. Blankinship added a tie on Sunday when he and Charlie Cloud played an extremely tight match. The sophomore recorded a 71 (-1) on Saturday and added a 73 (+1) on Sunday.
First year
Joonho Moon matched Blankinship with 1.5 points for the Pioneers. The California native recorded a 73 (+1) on Saturday and a 72 (Even) on Sunday to finish the weekend with a 145 (+1) over the 36 holes. He posted the third lowest tournament score on the team. Moon fell 6&5 on Saturday before coming back with a dominant 6&4 win on Sunday.
First year
Mason Hill was the final Pioneer to finish with a win and a tie. Hill opened the weekend with a 72 (Even) before registering a 75 (+3) during the final round. His two-day score of 147 (+3) was fourth-best on the team. Hill played a back-and-forth match with Pacific's Braedan Hart on Saturday. He led by one hole early, fell behind by two holes early on the back nine, before winning four of the final five holes to win 2&1. On Sunday, he tied Korach who had earned one of the Boxers three wins on Saturday.
Sophomore
Kenji Pickeral recorded the lowest score on the team on Saturday with a 70 (-2). He dominated his opponent 6&5 to earn the win. On Sunday, Pickeral finished with an 82 (+10) in a tight 2 Up loss to Romney. He closed out his first collegiate tournament with a score of 152 (+8) to finish with the fifth-best score on the team.
Junior
Millen Mistry notched the second-best tournament score of his career (157, +13) over the weekend. He dropped his opening match 4&3 to Charlie Nicol while shooting an 80 (+8). Mistry shaved off three strokes (77, +5) on Sunday and cruised to a 7&5 victory. He trailed early in the match before winning five-consecutive holes and eight holes in a nine-hole span.
Senior captain
Jon Westlake went 1-1 over the weekend. He notched a victory on Saturday as he led from start-to-finish in a 4&3 victory. Westlake registered a 77 (+5) on Saturday and added an 83 (+11) on Sunday. In his match on Sunday, he fell 3&2 to Nicol. He wrapped up the weekend with a score of 160 (+16).
First year
Tanner Moody was the final Pioneer to earn a victory. On Saturday, he fell 5&3 to Jordan Nakamura while shooting an 84 (+12). He bounced back in a big way with a win and a big score improvement on Sunday. Moody posted a collegiate-best round of 79 (+7) and never trailed in a 5&4 win over Hart. He posted a two-day score of 163 (+19).
BY THE NUMBERS
- The Pioneers team victory is their first victory since at least 2009. Lewis & Clark won 11 of the 18 matches and added two ties.
- Three Lewis & Clark golfers opened the tournament with scores below par and the team finished with four of those rounds across the two-day tournament. The last Pioneer to post a round below par was Alex Hong, who notched a 71 (-1) on April 10, 2022 on Day 2 of the Northwest Conference Fall Classic.
- Hageman, who went under par on both days, is the first Pioneer men's golfer to finish a tournament under par since Drew Groshong posted back-to-back rounds of 70 (-1) to finish the Pacific Invite with a 140 (-2) on September 24-25, 2016.
- Blankinship's tournament score of 144 was the second-lowest of his career. As a first year at Macalester College, he shot a 136 (70-66) at the Midwest Region Classic.
WHAT'S NEXT
Lewis & Clark will host the Orange & Black Tournament on Monday, September 23 and Tuesday, September 24 at the Tualatin Country Club.
