Union-Bulletin

PORTLAND - With freshman Scott Martin shooting a 1-under par 71, Whitman College carded its best team score in more than a decade and jumped over two other schools on Sunday to finish third at the Northwest Conference Fall Classic at Heron Lakes in Portland.

Martin, who had Sunday's second-best individual score, paced the Missionaries to a 297 team total (top four golfers). That was low team score - by five strokes - in the closing round.

By shaving 18 strokes off its Saturday score, Whitman skipped past Pacific Lutheran and Whitworth to finish third with a 36-hole total of 612, six strokes behind second-place Linfield.

Puget Sound followed Saturday's 288 with a 305 on Sunday to take first place with a 593 team score.

Whitman's third-place finish was its best performance at the Fall Classic since 2000, when it also placed third.

Martin's Sunday score knocked six shots off his opening round 77, giving him a share of third place with a 148 total.

Pacific Lutheran's Dustin Hegge shot rounds of 68 and 76 to take medalist honors at 144. Puget Sound's Matt Kitto (69-77 146) was the runner-up.

Whitman's Geoff Burks also had a better round on Sunday, shooting a 1-over par 73 to tie for eighth place at 151.

Andrew Welch was five shots better in the closing round, firing a 75 to finish at 155.

Jonathan Standen completed Whitman's team score on Sunday with a 78. That was seven strokes better than his opening round and left him with a 163 total.

John Abercrombie also played for Whitman, shooting back-to-back rounds of 80 for a 160 total.

The tournament, which wraps up the fall golf season, counts for 25 percent of the team scoring used to determine the final season-long standings.

The men's classic was played on the Great Blue Course (6,491 yards) at Heron Lakes.