After missing the boat last year, the No. 7 Oregon men’s golf team returns to the NCAA Championships in Los Angeles Tuesday looking to make its mark on a 30-team field. @@http://www.goducks.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=500&ATCLID=205433922@@
The first of three rounds of stroke play begins Tuesday, and the top eight teams from that advance to Friday’s quarterfinals. Oregon is joined by five other Pac-12 teams in the field, including No. 3 California, No. 5 UCLA, No. 6 USC, No. 8 Washington and No. 9 Stanford, as well as top overall seed Texas, No. 2 Alabama and No. 4 Auburn.
The Ducks are led by a pair of seniors: Pac-12 Player of the Year Eugene Wong (ranked fourth in the nation) and all-Pac-12 First-Team member Daniel Miernicki (eleventh in the nation). Miernicki comes into play on the heels of a second-place finish at regionals, while Wong tied for 19th overall in his last competitive event. Freshman Jonathan Woo also arrives in the midst of a hot streak after tying for seventh overall at regionals, and Oregon’s ticket is rounded out by senior Andrew Vijarro (153rd in the nation) and redshirt junior Robbie Ziegler (179th in the nation). @@http://www.goducks.com/ViewArticle.dbml?SPID=246&DB_OEM_ID=500&ATCLID=205429135@@
The Ducks took third place overall in their last NCAA Championship appearance back in 2010 — a program best. Oregon also took 22nd in 2009 and 27th in 2008. Head coach Casey Martin’s squad missed out on the championships last season after a disappointing 10th place finish at regionals. @@http://www.goducks.com/SportSelect.dbml?SPSID=4384&SPID=246&DB_OEM_ID=500&Q_SEASON=2010@@ @@http://www.goducks.com/ViewArticle.dbml?SPID=246&DB_OEM_ID=500&ATCLID=204955745@@ @@http://www.goducks.com/ViewArticle.dbml?SPID=246&DB_OEM_ID=500&ATCLID=3744253@@ @@http://www.goducks.com/ViewArticle.dbml?SPID=246&DB_OEM_ID=500&ATCLID=1476934@@
The Ducks tee off at 7 a.m.