The Oregon men’s golf team was a mere stroke away from making it to the NCAA Championships for the third year in a row this weekend at the NCAA West Regionals in Fresno, Calif.
Unfortunately, close only counts in horseshoes, not golf.
In a shocking turn of events, the 19th-ranked Ducks dropped from 10th to 15th on the second day of the regionals and never fully recovered. The top 10 teams from the regionals advanced to the NCAA Championships later this month.
The Ducks finished tied with Oregon State for 13th.
Three teams finished tied for the all-important 10th spot. California won a trip to the NCAAs from Stanford and Idaho on a three-hole playoff. Oregon finished a stroke behind those three teams, and two strokes behind ninth-place Pepperdine.
“This is one of the biggest sighs of relief,” Golden Bear head coach Steve Desimone said. “We were fortunate.”
The Ducks didn’t get the consistent performances head coach Steve Nosler professed were the key to Oregon’s success at the regionals. Senior co-captain Andrew Tredway shot a final round, two-under par 70 to lead Oregon with a one-under par 215 overall. The Ashland native finished 35th.
Oregon scored a 290 the first round, then a 292 the second round and finished with a 284, but that wasn’t enough to propel them into 10th.
Behind Tredway, junior T.J. Duncan shot a one-over par 217, while sophomore Aaron Byers and freshman Chris Carnahan tied with two-over 218s.
Byers had the Ducks’ most impressive round of the tournament, a three-under par 69 in the final round.
The surprise for Oregon came from their top player, 41st-ranked senior Ryan Lavoie. The Pasco, Wash., native and Oregon co-captain finished 104th of 141 golfers with an 11-over par 227. Lavoie’s was the worst Duck score, so was not factored into the team’s score as is customary in college golf.
No. 8 Arizona won the West Regionals by four strokes over No. 11 UNLV. The other teams to qualify for the NCAA Championships were No. 5 Arizona State, No. 6 Fresno State, No. 9 Brigham Young, No. 13 New Mexico, No. 21 Washington, No. 33 Southern California, No. 43 Pepperdine and No. 35 California.
Pepperdine, the lowest-ranked team to place at the regionals, did so largely because of the course record set by sophomore Michael Beard. 61st-ranked Beard made five birdies and an eagle on his way to a final round, seven-under par 65, a Riverbend Golf Course record.
“I was in a pretty good frame of mind,” Beard said. “We feel like we belong.”
The Ducks missed their chance at a third straight NCAA Championships, and their 12th ever. This year marked the second time the Ducks have had an all Pacific-10 Conference player (Ryan Lavoie) and missed the cut at the West Regionals. In 1994, Ted Snavely won a spot on the all Pac-10 team and the Ducks did not make the NCAA Championships.
Oregon has not made three consecutive trips to the NCAA Championships since 1975-1978, when a young man by the name of Peter Jacobsen, now a successful PGA Tour pro, led the Ducks.