NEWBERG, Ore. -- After a fall season that saw much improvement for a young squad, the George Fox men's golf team still has a lot to prove. 

The Bruins competed in five tournaments in September and October, finishing third in three of them. In those tournaments, the Bruins traveled multiple teams — with some golfers competing for the George Fox "B" team — in order to get much-needed experience under their belt.

Sophomore Eli Harrell, competing in his first season for GFU, was the top finisher for the Bruins in the Northwest Conference Fall Classic. Harrell shot a 146 (+4) at Oswego Lake CC to finish fifth in the tournament. The sophomore was no stranger to the top of the leaderboard, finishing fourth in the Orange and Black Invite to kick off the fall season as well.

Also no stranger to the top of the leaderboard is senior Truman Fletcher. A First Team All-NWC golfer in 2024-25 who finished 10th at the Fall Classic, Fletcher enters the spring season as the lone senior on the squad.

Christian Chacon has seen some great growth through the fall Season as well, head coach Caleb Fernandez said. The freshman started the season outside the starting five, but put together some great rounds in the fall, finishing with a top three finish in Confluence Classic, and coule be working his way into the top of the lineup for the start of the spring season.

Below Fletcher and ahead of Chacon are a pair of junior "Ians" — Ian Powers and Ian MacArthur. While Powers has been on the team since his freshman year in 2023-24, McArthur comes to Newberg this season from Grand Canyon University, where he competed for their club golf team. Powers competed for the Bruins at the Fall Classic, placing 35th.

Tying Powers at Oswego Lake was Luke Powell, one of three freshmen on the team alongside Chacon and Otto Klein. Powell shot a 157 (+15) at the Fall Classic, and while Klein and sophomore Blake Johnston have been earning valuable time with the "B" team, the group of freshmen have been adapting quickly.

Those freshmen will have to prove themselves quickly: Fox will compete in one of the earliest Division III golf tournaments of the year in the West Coast Invite, a tournament in Southern California co-hosted by Lewis & Clark and Claremont-Mudd-Scripps. The Invite, held on February 9 and 10, is a full month and a half before Fox's next tournament on March 30.

48 days after the Bruins compete in Riverside, Calif. they'll host their annual tournament at Arrowhead GC. Then, it's conference time. The 2026 NWC Spring Classic will be up north in Tacoma, played at Oakbrook GC, before the NWC Championship at Pumpkin Ridge on April 19-20. Fit in a trip to McMinnville for the Wildcat Open between the two conference events, and Fox has five tournaments in the spring of 2026.

The Bruins are projected to be a middle-of-the-road conference team in the coaches preseason poll, but the Bruins have shown immense flashes in several rounds for the past few years.

Now, it's all about putting things together.