On the morning of March 24, men’s golf coach Casey Martin sent a text message to his players asking them not to check the latest Golfstat rankings.
Predictably, the players could not suppress their curiosity, and logged into the Web site shortly after receiving the message.
What they saw shocked them: Alone at the top stood Oregon, No. 1 not only in the Pacific-10 Conference but also in the entire nation.
“We weren’t expecting to be No. 1 that quick, that soon,” sophomore Eugene Wong said. “None of us expected to be that good that quickly, so it was just a really good confidence boost for us because we know that now we can compete with any team in the nation.”
The ranking was a sign of hard work finally paying off and brought smiles to the faces of each member of the team.
“That’s what we all work for,” sophomore Andrew Vijarro said. “To get it so soon, being that we start three sophomores, a couple juniors and a senior … that’s a good feeling.”
It is difficult to argue with Golfstat’s assessment of the fast-improving Ducks. Oregon has placed fourth or better in its last five tournaments, two of which the team won outright.
Perhaps the most fitting testament to Oregon’s dominance this spring is the fact that a third-place finish in its last tournament was considered a disappointment. The Ducks were plagued by fatigue and a slow start in the Barona Collegiate Cup, and never fully recovered.
“We just didn’t play very well,” Martin said. “We got off to a really poor start, we kind of dug ourselves a hole. I think the guys might have been a little tired and just got off to a miserable start, and then they kind of turned it on at the end but it was a little too late.”
Vijarro agreed with Martin’s assessment, chalking up much of the team’s performance to lack of energy. Before arriving in California, the Ducks had hosted their own tournament just two days earlier. While the rest of the school enjoyed spring break, Vijarro and his teammates toiled through 54 long holes.
“Talking to the guys, we were just exhausted,” Vijarro said. “We were physically and emotionally drained; we’d been playing forever. I think we just needed a few days off and we didn’t get it.”
Because of the third-place finish, Oregon may not retain the No. 1 ranking for long. Still, its dominance in past tournaments cannot be ignored. The Ducks won the Oregon Duck Invitational by a comfortable seven strokes on March 23, as Wong and fellow sophomore Daniel Miernicki claimed the top two spots individually.
Oregon’s most impressive win, however, came at the USC Collegiate Invitational on March 2, where the team won by an astounding 16 strokes.
“In college, that’s a huge amount,” Vijarro said. “Normally, tournaments are spread by about one stroke.”
For as well as the season has gone so far, the Ducks are careful not to get complacent. They travel to Arizona State for the Thunderbird Invitational on Friday, and Martin knows the team will have to be focused and ready to play.
“The field will be very, very tough at ASU,” Martin said. “It will be a very big challenge for us.”
Oregon has proven unfazed by many of the challenges presented to it so far this season, and the players are not afraid to set their sights high.
“Our ultimate goal is to win that national championship,” Vijarro said. “Just giving ourselves a shot at it this year would be awesome.”
[email protected]
Ducks climb atop conference, nation in Golfstat polls
Daily Emerald
March 29, 2010
Courtesy of Geoff Thurner
0
More to Discover