The Oregon men and women defended their home turf well last week. Both teams earned top-five finishes in their respective fields at the Oregon Duck Invitational. For the men, valuable ground was gained toward earning an NCAA Regional spot. The Ducks finished ahead of nine other teams in their region competing at the tournament.
The Oregon women played well en route to recording a team total score of 909. However, it was one stroke too many as California edged out the Ducks with a final round of 302 that gave the Golden Bears the team title. It was Oregon’s second consecutive second place finish at the Oregon Duck Invitational.
Johnna Nealy and Kim McCready of Oregon continued their successful ways as both carded a final round 76. Their teammate Erin Andrews also delivered a strong performance. The junior from Las Vegas tied for 15th place at 231 –her best finish of the season.
The individual title proved as close a race as the team title. Three-time defending individual champion Kim Welch of Washington State appeared on track to win her fourth Oregon Duck Invitational title until she faltered in the final round. Welch bogeyed on hole No. 16 and settled for a score of 76. It would not be enough to hold off a late rally by Kay Hoey of Long Beach State. The 49er kicked down the door to first place by shooting a final round 73, bringing her score to 218, and took the individual title by one stroke.
The Oregon men came out of the gate strong in the first two rounds of the tournament, but a weak final round left a top-five finish in jeopardy. Strong individual performances by sophomore Jay Snyder and juniors Gregg LaVoie and Chris Dukeminier carried the Ducks to a fifth place finish by carding a 71, 74 and 76 in the final round, respectively. Snyder’s 71 marked a career low for the Vancouver, B.C., native. He tied for 16th with a 2-over 218.
The team title for the men’s Oregon Duck Invitational went to Washington, whose final round score of 284 gave the Huskies a six-stroke win over second place finishers Nevada and San Diego State. Second-ranked Georgia Tech finished fourth at 867, followed by the Ducks at 869.
Washington’s James Lepp split the individual title with Michael Putnam of Pepperdine. Both finished at 8-under 208. Roberto Castro of Georgia Tech took third place. The Yellow Jacket carded a
three-round total of 210. He was followed by Ryan Panichpakdee of Long Beach State and Zach Bixler of Washington, who tied for fourth at 213. Matt Ma of Oregon recorded his second top-10 finish of the season as he tied with two other players for sixth place with 214.
The Oregon men are currently competing in the Western Invitational at Santa Cruz, Calif. The women play next at the Ping/ASU Invitational in Tempe, Ariz., where they are scheduled for three rounds April 1-2.