Freshman Marcus Sostak shot a five under par 67 on Tuesday to lead the Oregon men’s golf up the leaderboard and into a sixth place finish at the Fresno St. Lexus Golf Classic, at the Sunnyside Golf Course in Fresno, Calif. March 12-13. The Ducks, with a total score of 880, finished 31 strokes behind tournament champions San Diego State and just two strokes behind the tournament hosts after shooting five over par as a team in that final round, making a move up from ninth, their position after the first two rounds Monday. This week’s performance was an improvement of 11 strokes over last week’s effort at the USC College Invitational, an event that was played on a shorter par 71 course.
Playing about four hours north on the I-5 corridor from his home in Costa Mesa, Calif., Sostak turned in the best round of his collegiate career on the final 18 holes of the three round tournament. In addition to five birdies on Tuesday, Sostak was the only Oregon player to have a round without a bogey over two days play. Sostak finished the tournament at two over par in a tie for 13th overall after starting the final round in 40th. He began his tournament on Monday with a bogey, but Sostak eagled the next hole, one of two earned by a Duck. That good feeling didn’t last, because the Oregon freshman bogeyed his next four holes on his way to a five-over-par first round. Sostak scored three birdies and three bogeys in his second round, but a double bogey on the 12th made it a two-over-par second round heading into the career day on Tuesday.
Junior Derek Sipe continued his strong play this season by turning in an even par final round, an 18-hole stretch that featured seven birdies, but also contained four bogeys as well as a triple bogey on the 17th hole. Sipe ended the event at four over par, earning him a tie for 23rd. Junior Ted Whitney came out on fire in his final round as well, posting three birdies in his first four holes. Whitney finished two under par for the day and six over par for the tournament.
After shaking off an eight-over-par first round, senior Matt Ma played two over par in the last two rounds. Eric Hastings also enjoyed three birdies in four stretch, this one coming in the second round of the event, but he ended the tournament rounding out Oregon’s top five at 11 over par. Junior Joey Benedetti carded a 79 and a 76 in the last two rounds of the event, but he did not compete in the first round on Monday, meaning he did not receive an official place.
Oregon will spend the start of its spring vacation at its only home date of the season, the Duck Classic Mar 26-27.