Keeping in line with the general success that Bellevue College sports is having this quarter, both golf teams have been positively dominant, building off their previous success with two more consecutive tournament wins.
Both teams participated in the third round of the Olympic College Invitational, with both winning. The men scored a total of 18 above par, with the next closest opponent being Southwest Oregon at 41 above par. Tyler Spalti and Ryan Knox both topped the leaderboards with a grand score of 147, although Spalti came away with the medal. The rest of BC’s ranks filled out with Jaeger Christian at five, Austin Duffy at six, and Dallon Bennett and Christian Taylor tying at 10 out of 23 total contestants.
The women had similar dominance, posting a total score of 43 above par, followed by Skagit Valley at 60 above. Sarah Lawrence eked out a win over Skagit’s Frances Monahan, edging her out by four points. Tori Berger and Ashley Clark both posted in the top five, while Hunter Humbert fell to 17 and Danyel Korpe finished at 19 out of 22 players.
The Highline Invitational on April 25-26 was more of the same. The Bellevue men’s team finished at 19 points above par, followed by Skagit Valley once again at 46 over. Jaeger Christian medaled at the event, with Dallon Bennett and Tyler Spalti sweeping the top three for Bellevue. Ryan Knox got in the action in fifth while Austin Duffy and Christian Taylor tied at ninth of 25 players. In fact, the total score difference between the Bellevue players was a mere 12; Christian finished one over par with a 145 score and Taylor/Duffy had a 157 score at 13 over par.
The women’s score at the SVC Cardinal Classic was slightly closer, with Bellevue “only” winning by 18 points, finishing at 72 over par versus Skagit Valley’s 90 over par. With only three schools competing, 17 students participated, and Bellevue’s Danyel Korpe was the worst finisher for the Bulldogs at eleventh. Sarah Lawrence once again finished first at the event with Tori Berger tying for second, Hunter Humbert tying for fourth and Ashley Clark placing ninth.
Neither team has lost a single event this spring, going a perfect 8-0 in total. In fact, the only time a Bellevue student didn’t place first at an event was back on April 6-7 at the first edition of the Olympic Spring Invitational, when Skagit’s Carson Linville won out. Even then, he was followed by three members of Bellevue College in the next three spots. So far, the men have spread some of the love around, with their three medalists all being different players, those being Spalti’s and Christian’s placements recently as well as Ryan Knox medaling at the BC Spring Shootout back in March 15.
Meanwhile, not only has the women’s team dominated at all four events, but Sarah Lawrence has come away with the top spot at each of them. She is another caliber of athlete out there and is making Bellevue College really proud.
There are a number of events still on the schedule going forward for either team. Both teams expect to make an appearance at the East Region Invitational at Moses Lake on May 11-12 and the NWAC Invitational at DuPont on May 16-17.
