By Jacob Norling
April 24, 2023
 
(SURPRISE, Ariz.) Westmont Men's and Women's Golf began play in their third and final GSAC Championship on Monday, when they competed in day one of the three-day tournament. The Warriors were slow to start in the Arizona sun, but by day's end found themselves more comfortably in the middle of the pack.
 
"Overall, we had a couple of good players from each team," said Westmont head coach Josh Ault. "If we can just round out the team and get our third, or fourth and fifth people to pick it up, we'll be fighting for a couple top-three finishes.
 
"There's a couple first-place teams out here that may be hard to catch, but I think we can legitimately compete for some top-three or top-four finishes."
 
For the men, Westmont ended the day in fifth place out of the eight schools, with the Warriors' top-four combing to shoot 15 over par. OUAZ currently leads at -8, with The Master's (-6), Arizona Christian (+1), and Menlo (+3) rounding out the four schools in front of Westmont.
 
Individually, Peyton Hendricks led the way for Westmont, finishing the day in 7th place a stroke under par (71). Hendricks played holes 10-18 to start the today, and finished his first nine holes a combined three over par. On his back nine however, Hendricks birdied four different holes to end his round on a high note.
 
Andy Knight ended the tie in a tie for 14th place, after finishing his round with a score of 74. After shooting two over par on the front nine, Knight finished the back nine in an even 36 strokes, thanks to a birdie on six. Rounding out Westmont's quartet was Danny Manginelli in a tie for 23rd (77), and Brock Yurkovich in a tie for 35th (81).
 
Westmont's fifth golfer, Noah Lodewyk, finished the day in 38th with a score of 84.
 
"For the men, Peyton's back nine was incredibly strong," offered Ault. "Peyton had to fight for it after a rough front nine, and it was good to see him battle through that. At one point the men were in last place, but at day's end, they fought all the way back to fifth.
 
"Andy also struggled a bit to begin, but he also had a really solid finish. It was really cool to see that fight in them, and I'm really proud of that."
 
On the women's side, Westmont finished the day in fifth place out of the eight schools with a combined score of +28. OUAZ leads all schools (+20), with Vanguard (+25), Menlo (+27), and Hope International (+28) all in front of Westmont.
 
Individually, Westmont's Meredith McDougal ended the day in a tie for third after shooting just three over par (75). McDougal is currently four strokes back of HIU's Day Martinez, who ended the day one under par.
 
McDougal shot three over on the front nine, but needed only 36 strokes to complete the back nine, which included a birdie on hole 17. Westmont's next-best score was Charlie Bloom's, whose 79 earned her 13th place after day one.
 
Rounding out Westmont's top four was Mallory Hopper (80), who finished tied for 14th, and Sydnee Magpoc (83), who finished tied for 21st.
 
Westmont's fifth golfer, Elizabeth Oloteo, finished the day in a tie for 24th with a score of 84.
 
"Meredith being top-3 is fantastic," noted Ault. "She was really good today, and then we had another couple of solid performers as well. Mallory and Charlie also played really well, and it was nice to see their fight. Hopefully tomorrow we see everybody up and down putting up a battle."
 
The Warriors return to Briarwood Country Club on Tuesday morning, when they compete in day two of the GSAC Championships.