Washington, Pa. – The West Liberty University men's golf team closed the first tournament of the 2023-24 spring season in fifth place at the California (PA) Vulcan Fire Classic. The Hilltoppers carded a second round score of 307 (+19), a three shot improvement from round one, as they totaled a 36-hole score of 617 (+41) at the Lone Pine Country Club. A pair of WLU athletes ended the tournament inside the top-10 of the individual leaderboard as Justin Doerr was tied for fourth at 148 (+4) and Noah Seivertson skyrocketed up the standings to eighth at 149 (+5) with the lowest score of the week for the Black & Gold.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED

• Justin Doerr opened and ended the day with scores of par on holes four and three respectively while also tallying three birdies en route to a 73 (+1) and a top-5 finish in the tournament.
• Noah Seivertson recorded a score of par or better on 16 of the 18 holes on day two as he collected three birdies that led the lowest round of the tournament for the Hilltoppers at 71 (-1).
• Awethu Mkhwanazi started and ended the day with scores of par on holes six and five respectively as he recorded a pair of birdies to get to a round two total of 78 (+6) to finish tied for 20^th overall and second in the WLU lineup.
• Despite starting the day with a double bogey on hole five, Bo Orecchio regrouped to score par or better, with one birdie, on 13 holes in round two as he totaled a 77 (+5) as he finished tied for 25^th in the tournament.
• After starting the day with double bogey on three of the first four holes, Derek Graham settled in and recorded scores of par on 12 of the final 14 holes of the day to earn a round two score of 79 (+7).
• Jayson Beckner notched scores of par or better on eight holes on Tuesday afternoon, including one birdie, as he rounded out the West Liberty team lineup with a round two card of 82 (+10).

WEST LIBERTY TEAM SCORING

RANK	INDIVIDUAL	R1	R2	TOTAL
T-4	Justin Doerr	75 (+3)	73 (+1)	148 (+4)
T-20	Awethu Mkhwanazi	77 (+5)	78 (+6)	155 (+11)
T-25	Bo Orecchio	79 (+7)	77 (+5)	156 (+12)
T-32	Derek Graham	79 (+7)	79 (+7)	158 (+14)
59	Jayson Beckner	86 (+14)	82 (+10)	168 (+24)
WEST LIBERTY INDIVIDUAL SCORING
8	Noah Seivertson	78 (+6)	71 (-1)	149 (+5)

UP NEXT
The West Liberty University men's golf team will next be in action at the MEC Spring Classic on April 8-9. The action will take place on the Palmer Golf Course at Oglebay Resort in Wheeling, West Virginia.