WALLA WALLA, Wash.  – Sophomore Paul Smoot (pictured) posted a career-low 70 in the second round, bolstering the NCU men's golf team to a fifth-place finish at the Walla Walla Invitational this week at Wine Valley Golf Club.
 
The second round proved to be the best of the tourney for the Beacons as they posted a 294, tying for the fourth-lowest score in school history. Smoot's two-under 70 was joined by a pair of 73's from Josh Goins and Levi Dean and a 78 by Justin Gilbert.
 
As a team the Beacons took fifth, scoring 910 to finish just one stroke behind The College of Idaho. Corban won the team event (867) followed by Walla Walla Community College (870) and Oregon Tech (874).
 
Goins led the team individually, finishing in tenth place with a three-round score of 221. Dean followed in 19th (229) and Gilbert took 26th (234). Smoot was close beind in 31st (238) and Austin Dame claimed 35th (240).
 
Golfing as an individual, Jack Singleton scored a 242 to take 38th place.
 
The Walla Walla event closes out the fall season for the Beacons and through three Cascade Collegiate Conference tournaments the Beacons are sitting in fourth place in the CCC standings, two strokes behind Warner Pacific for third. Corban currently holds a 28-shot lead over Oregon Tech in the race for the regular season championship.
 
NCU has improved each tournament this fall, beginning with a 950 at the non-conference Oregon Tech Invite, followed by a 931 at Corban, a 916 at Warner Pacific and now a 910 at Walla Walla. The team resumes competition in the spring with the Capitol City Match Play event on March 4-5.