For the first time this season, the Oregon men’s golf team is the highest-ranked team at a tournament, and therefore the favorite at the U.S. Intercollegiate in Palo Alto, Calif., this weekend.
And for the first time, the No. 18 Ducks are practically shrugging that off as trivial. Instead of thinking about Palo Alto, the golfers have their eyes on Fresno.
That’s Fresno, Calif., the site of the NCAA West Regionals May 18-20. According to Oregon head coach Steve Nosler, the U.S. Intercollegiate will be a tune-up for the regionals, where the streaking Ducks hope to make their third-straight NCAA Tournament appearance.
However, Oregon won’t completely overlook the Stanford-hosted U.S. Intercollegiate. Nosler expects his Ducks, who jumped into the top-20 this week with a fourth-place finish at the Pacific-10 Conference Championships, to keep their momentum going.
“I want to keep whatever momentum that we can going toward regionals,” Nosler said, “and hopefully play well enough there and extend that on to nationals.”
One player that should gain momentum for the Ducks is senior co-captain Ryan Lavoie. The Pasco, Wash., native is the only ranked Oregon player at No. 38. Lavoie had a good postseason last year, and was the only Duck to make the final cut at the NCAA Championships. Lavoie is shooting for his second individual title of the season this weekend.
Along with Lavoie, Nosler will play four other golfers this weekend. Lavoie’s co-captain, senior Andrew Tredway, had the lowest round of any Oregon player at the Pac-10 Championships, a seven-under 65 in the first round. Freshman Chris Carnahan has played well all season, and he should benefit from his first postseason experience. Sophomore Aaron Byers and junior T.J. Duncan have both played well at points during the season.
“If all five of these boys go down there and play well, this will probably be the group I stay with [for regionals],” Nosler said. “But that’s not written in blood.”
The field at the U.S. Intercollegiate is relatively weak compared to the competition that Oregon will face at the regionals, but it does include the No. 18 Cardinal and No. 24 Oregon State. The 18-team field includes only five ranked teams, including the Ducks.
But the Ducks face at least one challenge this weekend — the golf course. The Stanford Golf Course is one of the top collegiate courses in the country, and plays longer than most of the courses the Ducks have seen this season, which should suit Oregon’s long-driving game.
The West Regionals will be played at the River Bend Golf Course in Fresno, a course the Ducks have never played before. The NCAA Championships will be May 31-June 3 in Auburn, Ala., at the Grand National Golf Course.