WWU Women's Golf Places Seventh at Punahele Jerky Company Invitational

Vikings Open Hawaii Trip Placing 7th at Waikoloa Beach Resort

The Western Washington University women’s golf team opened its two-tournament trip to Hawai’i by placing seventh at the Punahele Jerky Company Invitational, shooting a team score of 69-over-par 629 at the par 70 Waikoloa Golf Resort, wwuvikings.com reported. Across the 36-hole tournament played on Monday and Tuesday, the squad carved out a seven-shot improvement from an opening-round 318 down to a 311 on the final day.

Junior Heewon Pak paced the Vikings starting lineup on the Big Island, earning a top-10 finish by tying for eighth place in the 56-player field. Pak completed the tournament at 8-over-par 148, fueled by a steady opening 76 followed by a 2-over-par 72 in the final round.

Natalie McLane Earns Top-20 Individual Finish

Freshman Natalie McLane added a top-20 individual performance for Western Washington, finishing at 14-over-par 154 after rounds of 80 and 74. Senior Shannon Berry finished tied for 38th at 26-over-par 166, freshman Natalie Edwards tied for 40th at 28-over-par 168, and junior Jadyn Gracie rounded out the travel squad in 45th place at 33-over-par 173.

While the team made strides on the scorecard from round one to round two, WWU Director of Golf Steve Card noted that consistency remains an uphill battle for the roster. Card pointed out the group is still working to put together a complete round that matches its full potential.

Overall, as a team, we showed some improvement. However, we are continuing to struggle with putting together a solid round that reflects what we’re capable of. Heewon had a good tournament, finishing with a solid 72 today. Natalie was able to find something with her swing and had a nice round today. We’re looking forward to continuing to show improvement at the next event at Mauna Lani. — WWU Director of Golf Steve Card

Hawai'i Hilo Shares Team Championship Honors

At the top of the team leaderboard, tournament host Hawai’i Hilo shared team champion honors with Hawai’i Pacific, as both programs finished at 35-over-par 595. Seattle Pacific landed just three strokes back to claim third place at 38-over-par 598. Individual medalist honors went to Zoe Garcia of Seattle Pacific and Kailee McKee of Hawai’i Hilo, who both tied at 2-over-par 142.

Position	Team	To Par	Rd 1	Rd 2	Total
1 (Tie)	Hawai’i Hilo	+35	299	296	595
1 (Tie)	Hawai’i Pacific	+35	296	299	595
3	Seattle Pacific	+38	297	301	598
4 (Tie)	Simon Fraser	+43	303	300	603
4 (Tie)	Vanguard	+43	301	302	603
6	Menlo	+55	303	312	615
7	Western Washington	+69	318	311	629
8	Northwest Nazarene	+83	318	325	643
9	Saint Martin’s	+89	326	323	649
10	South Puget Sound CC	+182	363	379	742

Looking Ahead to the HPU Sharks Shootout

The Vikings will not have to wait long to put those lessons into practice. Western Washington closes out the fall portion of its 2026–27 schedule this weekend at the HPU Sharks Shootout, running October 30–31 at the Mauna Lani Resort Golf on the Kohala Coast of Hawai’i. Following this final autumn test, the spring season will resume on February 8–9 at the LA Spring Kickoff hosted at Glendora Country Club in Glendora, California.