The Oregon men’s golf team hopes to keep the ball rolling as they enter the U.S. Intercollegiate this weekend, their last regular season tournament.
Oregon has finished in the top six in the last four tournaments and looks to extend that one more Saturday and Sunday. The tournament is hosted by Stanford on the Cardinal’s 6,835-yard, par 71 golf course.
“We are playing with more confidence,” Oregon head coach Steve Nosler said. “We are into a roll and better prepared.”
The Ducks will be sending the same five golfers who have made Oregon successful in its past four tournaments. Senior Aaron Byers will play at No. 1 with a 72.1 strokes per round average.
Joining him will be juniors John Ellis (72.7) and Chris Carnahan (73.2), senior Brandon Harnden (73.8) and sophomore Mike Sica (75.3).
In the busy schedule they’ve had in the past six weeks, the Ducks have finished second at the Cleveland Southwest Invitational March 4-5 and won the Oregon Duck Invitational March 25-26.
Oregon took sixth after a rough final round at the Western Intercollegiate on April 9, and was fourth at last week’s ASU Thunderbird Invitational.
“We’ve been on a busy schedule, but I think we’re mature enough to be ready to play at Stanford,” Nosler said. “It’s a good course and fits our game well.”
The men will compete against a competitive 16-team field, including No. 9 USC and No. 19 San Diego State. The Ducks and Washington State, are just outside of this week’s Golfweek/Sagarin top 25 .
The U.S. Intercollegiate will be Oregon’s last chance to perfect its game as postseason begins April 25 with the Pac-10 Championships.
The Ducks have been gearing up all year for the Pac-10 tournament and are confident as they will be competing close to home — at the Trysting Tree Golf Course in Corvallis. Oregon is almost guaranteed a spot in the NCAA West Regional, which will be held May 16-18 in New Mexico.
“I have all the confidence in the world that we will play well,” Nosler said.