WALLA WALLA, Wash.—Lewis & Clark College men's golf turned in their second-best round of the season on Monday, to finish in the top-four at a Northwest Conference Tournament event for the first time since the 2016 NWC Fall Classic. 
 
THE BASICS
 
Men's Golf – 4^th out of 9 Teams - +6 (294-288) 
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
 
Sophomore Luke Blankinship and first years Charlie Hageman and Mason Hill all finished in the top-10, to help Lewis & Clark post their best finish at an NWC event in almost a decade. 
 
The Pioneers final score of 582 (+6) put them just four strokes out of first place. Willamette University, who also won the NWC Fall Classic, finished with a 578 (+2) after going +11 on Day Two. George Fox University and host Whitman College ended the tournament tied for second with a score of +3 (583). The Bruins were the only team to post a better team score than Lewis & Clark (Even) on Monday as they went two-under par. 
 
Lewis & Clark finished eight strokes clear of Pacific Lutheran University (+14), 10 strokes ahead of the University of Puget Sound (+16), 11 in front of Whitworth University (+17), 14 clear of Linfield University (+20) and 25 in front of Pacific University (+31). 
 
Blankinship and Hageman finished the weekend in a tie for fifth overall with a score of 143 (-1). The duo were two of the three Pioneers who finished under par on Monday, to help Lewis & Clark make a push from tied for fifth to fourth overall. 
 
Blankinship tied his season-low round of 69 (-3) on Monday to finish under par in a tournament for the first time this season. He posted a bogey on his second hole of the day before recording an eagle on the par five 15^th to get under par for the day. He would stay there for the rest of his round and went as low as -4. Blankinship ended his round with four birdies, one eagle and two bogeys. 
 
Hageman finished one-under for the second-straight NWC event after carding a 70 (-2) on Day Two. The first year was +2 after his first four holes. He birdied the par three 14^th and the par five 15^th to get back to par. On the front nine, Hageman added three birdies and one bogey to register his fifth round of below-par golf of the season.
 
Hill was the third Pioneer to end the day under par. He carded a career-low round of 71 (-1), to finish in a tie for 10^th overall. Hill ended the tournament with a 145 (+1). The first year went on a red-hot run to close out his front nine. He was sitting +1 after his first four holes, before birdieing the next five holes to close out the front nine at -4. He would post three bogeys on the back nine but still beat his collegiate-low round by one stroke. 
 
First year Joonho Moon was Lewis & Clark's fourth scorer on Monday. He carded a 78 (+6) to finish the tournament with a 155 (+11). Moon ended his first NWC Tournament in a tie for 36^th overall. Moon played a mostly clean round on Monday with 12 pars and six bogeys. He went through a strong stretch on the back nine where he posted five pars and one bogey over the course of six holes. 
 
Senior Jon Westlake finished fifth on the team on Monday and fourth for the tournament. He notched a 79 (+7) on Monday. For the week, Westlake finished 33^rd overall with a score of 152 (+8). Westlake closed out his first nine holes with five pars in a six-hole stretch to sit at +3. He posted his lone birdie of the day on the par 3 sixth. 
 
BY THE NUMBERS

• Men's Golf's two-day total of 582 is the program's second-best score of the year (581 at the GFU Invitational) and best score at an NWC Tournament since at least the 2008-09 season. The Pioneers shot a 611 (+5) to finish fourth at the 2016 NWC Fall Classic. That performance was the program's lowest tournament score at an NWC event in the last 15 years prior to this week. 
• Hageman earned his first collegiate top-five finish this week. In the two NWC Tournaments this year, he has finished at -1 both times and placed tied for eighth (NWC Fall Classic) and tied for fifth this week.
• Blankinship posted his second top-five finish of the year and Hill recorded his second career top-10 showing. It was the first top-10 finish for both players at an NWC event. 
• Hill shot a career-low round of 71 on Monday and a career-low tournament score of 145. His previous career-lows were 72 (Even) and 147 (+3), both of which he posted in the team's season opening tournament. 
• Blankinship notched a season-low tournament score of 143 (-1). He also shot a 143 at the GFU Invitational but par was 71 at the tournament.
• As a team, Lewis & Clark finished tied for second in the field on par 3s (3.16, +8) and tied for third on par 4s (4.20, +16). The Pioneers placed second in the field in birdies (29) and tied for first with just three double bogeys. 
• Hill wrapped up the week tied for second in the field with his 2.90 average (-1) on par 3s. Blankinship was tied for second on par 4s (4.00, Even) and seventh on par 5s (4.60, -4). 
• Hageman led the team and was tied for fourth in the field with his nine birdies. Blankinship added seven to finish tied for ninth. Hill (six), Moon (four) and Westlake (three) each chipped in at least three birdies. 
• Blankinship was one of five players to post an eagle this week. 
• Lewis & Clark will enter the NWC Tournament sitting in seventh overall in the NWC Team Standings due to their finish at the NWC Fall Classic (seventh place). The Pioneers made up a lot of ground on three of the six teams ahead of them this week. They trail third-place George Fox by 10 strokes, Linfield/PLU by six strokes and sixth-place Whitworth by just two strokes. The team standings will be determined by an aggregate score of the three tournaments this season. Willamette currently leads Whitman by six strokes heading to the NWC Tournament.  

WHAT'S NEXT 
 
The Pioneers will be off this weekend, before traveling to the NWC Tournament on Sunday, April 20 and Monday, April 21. This year's tournament will be hosted by Linfield University at the Michelbrook Country Club.