GIG HARBOR, Wash. --- The Pacific Lutheran University Men's Golf team opened up the spring season on Tuesday morning at Canterwood Golf and Country Club, hosting Northwest Conference foe, Whitworth University, in a head-to-head dual match. The Lutes fell to the Pirates after 18-holes of Nassau Match Play, 16.0 – 6.0.
 
In the format new to the Lutes, each match was worth three-points for the team, based on the head-to-head result on the front nine, back nine, and total match.
 
Junior Koen Solis teed off first for the Lutes in the rain, tying the match on the ninth hole with a par to half the first nine-hole sequence. Solis ultimately lost three of the final four holes on the back nine to fall 2 & 1 on both the second nine and overall match. Paired in the same group, freshman Geo Pirrie saw his first spring action of his career, but could not overcome an early three-down deficit, losing all three points to his Pirate opponent.
 
After trailing by five through 14-holes, sophomore Tanner Frinell won three of the last four holes of the rain-soaked day to grind out a half-point for the team, halving the back-nine but coming up short overall, 5 & 4. Freshman Soren Bostrom came through with wins on holes eight and nine to secure a whole point, winning the front two-up. While the match on the back-nine was level through 17, his opponent won hole 18 to take the back-nine point one-up, as Bostrom took the overall match, 2 & 1. Through the first two groups and four matches, the Lutes trailed the Pirates, 9.0 – 3.0.
 
Sophomore Marcus Otto led his match by two through seven-holes, but ended up halving the front-nine with his opponent. He responded by winning five holes on the back, cruising to a 4 & 2 victory on both the back and overall match, securing a total of two-and-a-half points for PLU. Luke Butler battled from two-down on the front to halve the back-nine, but fell overall two-down.
 
The final group of the day featured just one Lute, Aiden Aoki, facing a pair of Whitworth opponents, two-on-one. After working the overall match back to all-square through 13-holes, his opponent in the No.7 spot took each of the final five to win the three points for the Pirates and secure the team match win for Whitworth. Aoki's secondary match against the Pirates No.8 saw numerous square matches on the back-nine, but the Pirates came through on the final two holes to earn the one-point win for Whitworth.
 
PLU struggled to make birdies in the torrential downpour that remained persistent throughout the day, falling to the Pirates 16.0 – 6.0 in the spring season opener. Otto led the Lutes, securing 2.5 of 3.0 total points in his match.
 
Men's Golf will travel to their first tournament of the spring next week, heading south to Thousand Oaks, California, to play in California Lutheran's tournament at Moorpark Country Club on Monday and Tuesday.
 
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