The Oregon men’s golf team will tee off the 2007 portion of its season Jan. 29-30 at the PING-Arizona Intercollegiate held at the Arizona National Golf Course in Tucson, Ariz. The Ducks can only hope for improvement from their performance in last year’s edition of the event, where Oregon finished last out of 16 teams. Sophomore Landon Banks turned in the team’s best scorecard in that event, shooting a 13-over 226, which was good enough for a tie in 62nd place.
This year’s field looks just as tough on paper. Five squads that entered the event finished the fall season ranked in the top 20 nationally. The first two rounds of the 54-hole tournament will be played on Monday with the final 18 holes played on Tuesday.
Four of the five Oregon entrants in last year’s tournament remain on the team roster this season. The fifth member of that squad, Chris Dukeminier, graduated, but there will soon be another member of that family heading to the links for Oregon. Dukeminier’s younger brother Jack, a Sheldon High School standout, was one of four players to sign letters of intent to join the Ducks next season.