LAKEWOOD, Wash. – Linfield men's golf saw an 18-stroke improvement in the second round of action to place sixth at the Northwest Conference Spring Classic, hosted by Puget Sound at the Oakbrook Golf Club.
 
The Wildcats finished with a team score of 322 in the opening round on Saturday before turning in a 304 in Sunday's second round. They ended the weekend at 626, eight strokes behind George Fox and Whitman, which tied for fourth place.
 
Linfield was paced by sophomore Bryce Hatcher, who tied for 16^th place with George Fox's Joshua Lackey with a two-round score of 12-over-par 154. After carding 11-over-par 82 on Saturday, he bounced back with a 10-stroke improvement at 1-over-par 72 on Sunday on the par-71 course.
 
Fellow sophomore Riley Lynch and junior Ahron Abraham finished in a four-way tie for 20^th place with scores of 157. Lynch also saw a large improvement between rounds, shooting 83 on Day 1 and 74 on Day 2. Abraham had a low round of 76. Rounding out the Linfield scoring players was sophomore Trevor Price, who placed 28^th at 160. Sophomore Chris Cayford was 36^th at 164.
 
Pacific Lutheran finished at 585 to edge out Willamette by eight strokes for the team title. Caden Arnold led the Lutes, earning medalist honors with a score of 1-under-par 141. He was the only player in the tournament to finish under par as he won by five strokes.
 
NEXT
The NWC Championship will take place at the Creekside Golf Club on April 23-24 in Salem.