Coming off a third place finish in the Amer Ari Invitational in Hawaii, the No. 10 Oregon men’s golf team heads to Palm Desert, California to compete in the Wyoming Desert Intercollegiate. The three day tournament starts Friday, Feb. 17 at 7:30 a.m.
Senior Wyndham Clark and freshman Norman Xiong, ranked No. 4 and No. 8 in the NCAA, will look to lead the Ducks in their third tournament of 2017. Clark led the team in their first tournament of 2017 in Arizona by taking first individually. At the Amer Ari Invitational, Xiong was the highest finisher for the Ducks, taking seventh place. Last week, both golfers were announced as being in the top-six of the first Arnold Palmer Cup rankings. To be in the top-six means you automatically qualify to compete in the Arnold Palmer Cup match in June.
Sophomore Edwin Yi finished in a tie for 40^th with a 2-under finish in Hawaii. Golfing as individual in Hawaii, freshman Kevin Geniza finished tied for 20th with a 6-under par. After having his scores count towards the team totals in the first two tournaments, redshirt sophomore Ryan Gronlund will be golfing in California as an individual. In his last tournament, he finished tied for 33rd place at 3-under par.
Redshirt senior Sulman Raza, who sank the putt that gave the Ducks its first national championship last season, will be making his 2017 debut with the team in this tournament.
The No. 5 Texas Tech Red Raiders, winners of the Amer Ari Invitational, will be the highest ranked team participating in this event. The Ducks and and No. 24 Colorado are the only teams participating from the Pac-12.
“I am excited to see our young guys get a chance to compete,” head coach Casey Martin told GoDucks.com. “Kevin (Geniza) has really improved and I expect he and Norman (Xiong) to play very well despite being freshmen.”
Also participating in this event will be, Wyoming, Arkansas-Little Rock, University of California-Fullerton, Cal State Northridge, University of Denver, Fresno State, Gonzaga, Kansas, Loyola Marymount, Nebraska, Old Dominion, Oral Roberts, South Dakota State, Southern Utah, Stephen F. Austin, TCU, Texas-Arlington, UC Riverside and UNC Wilmington.
Follow Zak Laster on Twitter: @zlast3445