MOLALLA, Ore. – Mathew Durkin birded the second playoff hole to earn medalist honors at the George Fox Invitational, played Monday and Tuesday at Arrowhead Golf Club.
The Whitworth men finished in a tie for second place with Pacific Lutheran, five shots behind Linfield.
Durkin outdueled Pacific Lutheran's Koen Solis on the second playoff hole, the par-5 18th to come out on top. Durkin shot the best round of the tournament on Monday, posting a 66 for a five-stroke lead on the field. He scuffled over the front nine on Tuesday with a 38 (+3), then recovered to finish the round with a 75 for a total score of 141 (-1).
The Pirate team was in first place after Monday's round of 295, two strokes ahead of host George Fox and four strokes ahead of Linfield. Whitworth posted a 298 on Tuesday for a final score of 593. Linfield finished with a 289 for a final score of 588. PLU followed up a 307 on Monday with a 286 on Tuesday to tie the Pirates at 593.
Peyton Simonds shot 73-73 – 149 to move up eight spots on Tuesday into a tie for 12th place on the leaderboard. Kallen Maioho posted a 75-77 – 152 to finish in a tie for 24th place. Andy Hobson (78-78 – 156) and Max Hosfield (83-73 – 156) finished in a tie for 37th. Hosfield moved up 23 places on Tuesday.
Whitworth's B team finished in 10th place after posting a score of 323-315 – 638. Rhett Nordberg (77-76 – 153) finished in a tie for 26th place to lead the B squad.
This week's tournament was the final tuneup before the 2026 Northwest Conference Spring Classic, one of three events that determines the final league standings, which are cumulatively scored over the course of the three tournaments. Whitworth goes into the Spring Classic in fifth place, two strokes behind PLU and three behind Linfield. The Bucs are 19 strokes behind first place Willamette.
