The Oregon men’s golf team will compete in the three-day Baton Rouge Regional beginning Monday.
If the Ducks finish in the top-five of the regionals, they will advance to participate in the NCAA Championships with a chance to repeat as national champions. The NCAA Championships are held in Sugar Grove, Illinois on May 26-31.
The Ducks tee off at 6 a.m. Pacific Time on Monday. The starting five they will use for the regionals is led by the duo of No. 1 collegiate golfer, Wyndham Clark and No. 6 Norman Xiong. Sophomores Edwin Yi and Ryan Gronlund, as well as freshman Kevin Geniza round out the starting lineup for the Ducks.
Clark became the first Pac-12 medalist for the Ducks since 1978. He was named Pac-12 Golfer of the Year, and a finalist for the Ben Hogan Award, given to the nation’s top college golfer. The winner will be announced May 22.
Xiong was named Pac-12 Freshman of the Year and was selected to participate on the 10-member 2017 Arnold Palmer Cup American team. Clark and Xiong were both selected as semifinalists for the 2017 Division I Jack Nickalus National Player of the Year award. Finalists will be announced May 25. Gronlund and Yi were named as All-Pac-12 Second Team. The Ducks are coached by the 2017 Coach of the Year Casey Martin.
The Ducks are the No. 2 seed (No. 7 ranked overall) in the regional, with host the Louisiana State University Tigers (No. 6 ranked overall) the top seed in the regional. The Ducks are the only Pac-12 team represented in Baton Rouge. Also, participating in the regional is: Virginia, Duke, Northwestern, Arkansas, Jacksonville, Kentucky, South Florida, Iowa, Georgia State, Jacksonville State, Loyola-Maryland and Alabama State.
In addition to Clark and Xiong, Sam Burns of LSU is the only other golfer ranked in the top-15 individually participating in this regional. Clark averages a score of 69.56 per round, with Burns just .09 behind. Xiong averages a score of 70.53 per round.
Day two of the event will tee off at 6 a.m. and the three-day event concludes Wednesday with a tee time of 5:30 a.m.
Follow Zak Laster on Twitter: @zlast3445
Preview: Men’s golf heads to Baton Rouge looking to qualify for NCAA Championships
May 14, 2017
The Oregon men’s golf team wrapped up the Trinity Forest Invitational on Tuesday, finishing in eighth place overall in Dallas. The Ducks were 8-over par after the three-day event, snapping their streak of 15-straight top-five team finishes. Florida topped the other 12 schools competing, shooting 17-under. Ryan Gronlund was the …
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