DENVER - Grand Canyon's Jake Chanen and Siripatsorn Patchana have been named Western Athletic Conference Men's and Women's Golfers of the Week, respectively, for the week of March 14 through March 20.
Chanen, a sophomore from Phoenix (Thunderbird HS), took advantage of his home course advantage at the GCU Invitational, tying for fourth among a talented field. After shooting a 1-under-par 70 in round one and an even-par 71 in round two, he saved his best for last, firing a 2-under-par 69 to move up six spots into a tie with Missouri's Hayden Buckley, who is ranked 41st nationally. Chanen finished the tournament with a 3-under-par 210, just three strokes back on medalist Casey Scott from Pacific. As a team, the Lopes finished third among 15 teams, just six strokes back of 40th-ranked Missouri.
Patchana, a freshman from Anusawaree, Bangkok, Thailand (NIVA International School), battled a tough field at the Hawkeye El Tigre Invitational in Nuevo Vallarta, Mexico, finishing in a tie for sixth place. Consistent the entire tournament, she used three identical rounds of 1-over-par 73 to earn the top-10 finish with a 3-over-par 219. Her score was better than four top-100 golfers and tied another as she managed the pressure well to lead the ‘Lopes against several nationally-ranked teams.
Other men's nominees: Chicago State's Eduardo Falcon finished in a tie for 17th at the Butler Spring Invitational, carding a 165 over 36 holes for the Cougars … NM State's Isaac Merry led the Aggies at the Lone Star Invitational, tying for sixth with a 2-under-par 214 … Utah Valley's Jake Godfrey led the Wolverines to an eighth-place finish at the ORU/SFA Spring Break Challenge, shooting an 8-over-par 221 to tie for 19th.
Other women's nominees: CSU Bakersfield's Macey Mills led the ‘Runners with a scoring average of 76.6 over five rounds, posting a sixth-place finish at the Pizza Hut Lady Thunderbird and 34th-place finish at the Sacramento State Invitational … Chicago State's Felicia Davenport claimed her first-ever medalist honor at the Butler Spring Invitational, winning a playoff on the third hole and finishing with a 12-over-par 156 … NM State's Pun Chanachai was the top finishing Aggie golfer at the Hawkeye El Tigre Invitational, shooting a 6-over-par 222 to finish in 11th place.