Erwin Has Slim Lead In Nw Open

Todd Erwin shot a 4-under-par 68 Tuesday to take a two-shot lead heading into today’s final round of the Northwest Open golf tournament at Bend, Ore.

Erwin, who won the Washington Open in 1992 and 1993, missed only two greens on the 6,895-yard course at Awbrey Glen Golf Club to move to 7-under 137 for the tournament. Bill Porter of Quincy, Wash., stands second after 36 holes, one stroke ahead of Jeff Coston.

Erwin, who plays out of Southcenter Golf in Tukwila, Wash., and Porter shared second place earlier in July, when Coston won the Rosauers Open at Spokane’s Indian Canyon Golf Club.

Porter matched Erwin’s 68 on Tuesday. Coston, from Semiahmoo Golf and Country Club in Blaine, Wash., finished with a 69, after carding a hole-in-one on the par-3 eighth hole.

Porter, who won the Oregon Open in June, and Coston are former Nike Tour players. Coston followed his Rosauers Open triumph by winning the Wilson Pacific Northwest PGA section championship at Spokane Country Club in August.

Mike Rorholm is the top Spokane golfer heading into today’s final 18 holes. He stands at 143, one shot ahead of Indian Canyon’s Gary Lindeblad and two in front of Steve Prugh from Manito Golf and Country Club.

Following Tuesday’s round, the field was cut to the low 71 pros and ties. It took 151 to make the cut.

Penny Knowles of Useless Bay Golf and Country Club in Langley, Wash., finished with a 36-hole total of 158 to win the Washington State Women’s Golf Association senior amateur championship at Spokane Country Club.

The Eastern Washington University men finished with a 54-hole total of 890, 20 strokes behind champion Nevada, as the Rocky Mountain intercollegiate tournament concluded at Cheyenne, Wyo.

Eastern’s Kyle Kelly and Ed Kavran of University of Idaho, joined a tie for 11th place among individuals with totals of 217. Idaho shared 11th place with a team total of 897.

Eastern Washington’s women wound up 15th among 17 teams with a 1,012 total in the Ram Fall Classic at Fort Collins, Colo.

Kylie Smith was the top individual for the Eagles, tying for 53rd place at 247.

Men’s soccer

Whitworth scored three goals in the first 26 minutes and went on to defeat Evergreen State 5-0 at Whitworth.

Starting with Lenny Peterson, who scored unassisted after 3:10 of the first half, the Pirates received their goals from five different players. They improved their record to 2-0.

Boxing

The Pay-Per-View telecast of Saturday night’s Oscar De La HoyaHector Camacho WBC welterweight championship fight may be ordered, for $29.95, by telephoning TCI of Washington in Spokane at 489-9000.

Meetings

The University of Idaho Vandal Boosters luncheon meeting has been scheduled for noon today at the Ram restaurant, 908 N. Howard St., in Spokane.

Realignment

The seven-college Pacific West Conference will be joined next year by four schools from the Pacific Northwest Athletic Conference, including Lewis-Clark State College, Central Washington and Western Washington.

BYU Hawaii and Hawaii Pacific also will join, swelling the PacWest to 13 schools.

The merger of the NCAA Division II schools was approved by athletic directors who met in Seattle.

, DataTimes