Junior Derek Sipe continued his hot start to the spring season, setting a new school record while leading his team to a tie for 10th place at in the UH-Hilo Intercollegiate at the Waikoloa Village Golf Club in Hawaii Feb. 7-9.
In the second round of the 54-hole tournament, Sipe shot an eight-under-par 62, breaking the previous mark for the lowest single round of 63 set by Jimmy White at the Northwest Collegiate Classic in 2003.
Sipe turned in a seven-under 203 for the tournament, a score that put him in a tie for 12th place. Junior Joey Benedetti and freshman Marcus Sostak also played under par for the tournament, each finishing with scores of 208.
The Ducks’ team score of 833 strokes was their best performance on the Waikoloa course since the squad finished fourth in 2001.
Sipe began his run in Hawaii much like he ended the PING-Arizona Intercollegiate Jan. 29-30. His first-round 67 was just one stroke off his personal best, a feat that he matched twice in Tucson.
Benedetti and Sostak were right behind the pace set by Sipe, each shooting 68 for the first 18 holes. As it turned out, the Ducks were just getting warmed up. On the second day, Sipe played a near-perfect round, shattering his personal record and the single-round school record.
“Derek was just phenomenal today,” coach Casey Martin said on Thursday. “He really had it going with his putter and that was the whole key for him.”
The hot streak spread to the entire team on Thursday. Sostak matched his personal record for the second time in the tournament, this time with a round of 67. Benedetti once again carded an under-par round with 69 as did Hawaii native and senior Matt Ma.
Junior Zeke Reyna joined in with a par score of 70. Oregon’s round on Thursday catapulted the team into fifth place after 36 holes, nine strokes behind No. 3 Oklahoma State.
Sipe’s record round put him in second place, one stroke behind the leader.
“We had a very good day as a team,” Martin said. “I don’t know how it will stand up compared to everyone else, but I’m pretty pleased with what we shot today.”
Martin’s words proved to be prescient as he watched his team experience a setback in the final round. Benedetti posted the Ducks’ best round of the day at 71, followed by scores of three over par by Sostak and Reyna. Sipe turned in a 74 to finish seven under par for the tournament and eight shots behind Jonathan Moore of Oklahoma State, the individual winner.
At the end of the day, Oregon tied with Texas Tech for 10th place, 11 strokes behind Oregon State and 12 behind another conference rival, Washington. Stanford captured the team title in a playoff with Oklahoma State.
The Ducks return to action Mar. 5-6 at the Ashworth Invitational in Thousand Oaks, Calif.