The Oregon men’s golf season came to a close Thursday at the NCAA Championship tournament as the young Duck squad placed 22nd overall, a five-place improvement from last year’s finish.
The long season, which begins in September and ends in late May, featured some exceptional play from the team’s four freshmen: Daniel Miernicki, Andrew Vijarro, Eugene Wong and Robbie Ziegler. The group earned the No. 1 spot on Golfstat.com’s Top 25 Freshman Class Impact Ranking, with an average round score of 73.18.
“We are not going anywhere; the four of us are committed to doing the best we can for the four years we are here together,” Miernicki said.
The year began a bit shaky, with the team placing no better than fifth during its first five tournaments, but after getting used to the college game and lifestyle, the players began to turn things around at the Braveheart Classic in early March. The Ducks got their first tournament win of the year, while Ziegler proved inexperience would not be a problem for the young squad as he finished in second place overall.
“Coach Martin always makes sure we have fun during practice and tournaments, but when we need to work, he lets us know,” Sophomore Isaiah Telles said. “I think that our team has been growing and learning from each other each and every day.”
After its first win, Oregon continued to improve before its coming-out party at the 2009 Pacific-10 Conference Championship tournament. Miernicki – a Second Team All-Pac-10 selection – led the way for the Ducks with his third-place finish, while Telles and Wong tied for ninth place overall. With three players in the top 10, Oregon took second place in one of the toughest golf conferences in the nation, earning a trip to the West Regional tournament in Daly City, Calif.
“I think they can be as good as they want to be,” third-year head coach Casey Martin said. “They’ve got great drive; we just have to get better and have to continue to do those little things.”
At the West Regional, Oregon beat out many of the strongest teams in the nation en route to another second-place finish overall. This time, Wong led the Ducks with his career-low 7-under 65 final round score, which brought him all the way up to fifth place. Miernicki followed closely behind in seventh, with Telles behind him in 10th, while Ziegler tied for 12th.
But the NCAA Championship tournament proved to be too much for the young Duck squad and the season ended on a somewhat sour note.
“I think we are a bit disappointed,” Miernicki said. “We would have loved to have played better and perhaps have made it to match play. But at the same time, we are so young and I think we have a much better understanding of what we are going to need to do to be able to compete with the best teams in the nation.”
He and Wong again led Oregon, finishing in ties for 37th and 90th, respectively. Though the team did improve three places overall on the final day, it clearly had higher aspirations than a 22nd-place finish. But Miernicki says the team already has its sights set on next season.
“Our goal is to win Pac-10s and make a run for the national championship,” Miernicki said.
Martin had similar positive feelings about the season.
“I was really encouraged by our season, especially with our spring being as young as we are,” he said.
Now that the offseason is here, most of the players will compete on their own schedules at home, before returning for the fall season.
NOTES
? The team will return every player next fall except for sophomore Eric Grimberg, who will transfer to another program in hope of more playing opportunities.
? Sophomore Jack Dukeminier was named to the Pac-10 All-Academic First Team last week, for his 4.00 GPA as an economics major.
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