SPOKANE, Wash. - Whitworth heads into the 2009 Northwest Conference Tournament in the unfamiliar position of fifth place in the conference standings. Now in its sixth year of existence as a reborn varsity program, the Pirates had finished no lower than second place in each of the first five seasons.

Click here for the NWC Tournament website.

Ryan Young

But recent results give Whitworth reason to hope that the team can finish well in 2009 and build momentum for a return to the top next year. The Pirates are coming off of a second-place finish at an NWC three-way event in Kennewick on April 11th, falling only to NWC-leading Pacific by eight strokes. Then Whitworth went on to win the NWC "North" Tournament last week in Yakima, knocking off Puget Sound in the process. The Loggers are currently one spot ahead of the Pirates in the conference standings.

Ryan Young (So., Mill Creek, Wash.) was the medalist at the NWC "North" Tournament, shooting a two-over par 74 for his second individual title of the year. Jeff Aly (Fr., Bellevue, Wash.) has posted the Pirates' best individual score during both the NWC Fall Classic and the NWC Spring Classic last month.

The Pirates (9 points) are tied with Willamette for fourth place in the current standings. The NWC Fall Classic and NWC Spring Classic both count 25% toward the final conference standings, while the end-of-the-year NWC Tournament counts 50%.

Current NWC Golf Standings (Through NWC Spring Classic):
School	Fall Classic	Spring Classic	NWC Tourn.	Final
Pacific (Ore.)	7	8	--	15
Linfield	8	6	--	14
Puget Sound	6	7	--	13
Whitworth	5	4	--	9
Willamette	4	5	--	9
Pacific Lutheran	3	2	--	5
Whitman	2	3	--	5
George Fox	1	1	--	2
Lewis & Clark	0	0	--	0

NWC Spring Classic Results

Whitworth Golf Schedule / Results

Whitworth Roster