In a game of inches, the Oregon men’s golf team came from miles behind but fell short at its only home tournament of the year.
Trailing by eight going into the final round, the Ducks missed a two-peat at their own Duck Invitational on March 20 and 21 by a single stroke. Oregon scored a team total 858. Tournament winner Washington scored 857 at the Shadow Hills Country Club.
Consistency from top to bottom of the roster secured the Ducks’ silver medal. They shot 50 birdies over three rounds of under-par golf.
Oregon head coach Steve Nosler said “three straight rounds of under-par golf by our team is very good.”
Junior T.J. Duncan continued his impressive play. After an eighth place, one-under par performance at the Southwestern Intercollegiate in February, Duncan paced the Ducks at the Oregon Invitational. He finished in fifth with a two-under 214 in his best performance yet in an Oregon uniform.
Junior Matt Genovese (216, tied for 10th) and freshman Chris Carnahan (219, T19th) gave the Ducks strong performances. Senior co-captains Ryan Lavoie and Andrew Tredway (221, T26th) also placed for the Ducks.
While the men fell just short at the Duck Invitational, the women’s golf team blew out its competition at the Colby Invitational in Carmel, Calif., taking the tournament by a whopping 10 strokes.
The Ducks were aided by the one-two-three finishes of senior captain Kylie Wilson, fellow senior Angie Rizzo and junior Jerilyn White. The three golfers finished a mere three strokes apart.
The win moved Oregon to 24th in the national rankings.
The women are in San Diego today for the Executive Women’s Golf Association/Lady Aztec Invitational. The two-round, 36-hole tournament features 20 teams, but only two ranked teams other than Oregon.
The tournament will be the second-to-last regular season outing for the Ducks before they host the Pacific-10 Conference Championships at the Eugene Country Club April 24th through 26th.