The Oregon men’s golf team entered the NCAA West Regional on May 15 in Bremerton, Wash. as a No. 16 seed. They ended up taking second place in the team standings behind the play of senior Joey Benedetti, who shot three consecutive rounds of 3-under-par 69 to win the individual title by four strokes.
Today, the Ducks enter the NCAA Championships at Purdue University’s Kampen Golf Course seeded, again, No. 16 in the field. As the No. 16 seed, Oregon will play the first two rounds with No. 17 seed Augusta State and No. 18 UC Irvine. USC, ranked No. 3 in the country in the Golfweek/Sagarin Index, is the top seed in the tournament. Georgia, the top-ranked team in the index, is the No. 2 seed.
It’s the first time the Ducks have played in the national championships since 2003.
“It’s the biggest tournament we’ll play in as amateurs, so we’re thinking about that but trying not to think about it,” Benedetti said. “If we can play smart and just enjoy the moment I think we’ve got a pretty fair chance of doing well.”
The Kampen course is a links-style par-72 that will play 7,431 yards for the NCAA Championships and is one of the top-rated collegiate courses in the country.
“I think we play better on the harder golf courses, just because you don’t have to shoot 20-under as a team each round just to stay competitive,” Benedetti said. “The harder the golf course the better we usually play so we’re looking forward to getting out there.”
Benedetti’s win at the regional tournament was backed by the solid play of senior Derek Sipe and freshman Isaiah Telles, who tied for 11th-place at even par. The team also counted scores from freshmen Jake Dukeminier and Sean Maekawa en route to the program-best second-place team finish at the regional tournament.
“It’s been kind of a nice little transition with the seniors this year, teaching (the freshmen) how to play college golf since it’s such a long year,” Benedetti said. “You’re really just trying to play well toward the end of the year.”
Benedetti certainly played his best golf late, winning his first college tournament in what could have been his last attempt. His finish was the only regional first-place finish in the history of Oregon golf. The previous high was a second-place finish by Ben Crane in 1998. Crane has gone on to a career on the Professional Golf Association Tour.
“When you’re in the same sentence with guys like Ben Crane and Peter Jacobsen it’s quite a thrill,” Benedetti said. “I’m not letting it get to my head quite yet but it’s good to see that some of my accomplishments stand up there with the great Oregon golfers.”
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