After a dismal opening round Thursday, the Oregon men’s golf team fought its way back to finish fifth at the 2002 Pacific-10 Conference Championships.
The Ducks shot an eight-over 368 in the final round played Saturday and slipped into fifth place in the final standings at 1,471. Oregon played at the 7,022-yard, par-72 Trysting Tee Golf Course in Corvallis.
“It wasn’t a stellar round by any means, but it wasn’t terrible either,” Oregon head coach Steve Nosler said. “A couple of guys fought really hard just to get what they got.”
Junior John Ellis shot a one-over 73 in Saturday’s final round to finish tied for seventh at 289. The Ducks also carded a 72 from senior Brandon Harnden, a 73 from junior Chris Carnahan and 75s from senior Aaron Byers and sophomore Mike Sica.
Defending champion USC, which entered the final round in third, took control with a four-under 356, the best round of the day. Stanford shot 373 Saturday, but still finished 15 strokes behind the Trojans.
USC finished one-over par at 1,441, with the Cardinals at 1,456, while Oregon State took third with 1,458. UCLA fired a 359, the second-lowest round of the day, to edge out Oregon by two strokes at 1,469.
“I would have liked to finish a little higher,” Nosler said, whose team was in a tie for last after Thursday’s beginning round. “Except for that first round, we hung in there fairly decently.”
The Ducks were sitting nicely after Friday’s third round, where they climbed into a tie for fourth after being in seventh at the conclusion of Thursday. Oregon fired their second consecutive 365 for the third-lowest score of the day.
Byers shot two-under 70 for the Ducks on Friday, and the team also
received even-par 72s from Harnden and Carnahan. After solid rounds, Byers sat in a tie for seventh, where Harnden was lifted into 18th and Carnahan was in a tie for 38th.
Third-round leader Jim Seki of Stanford carded a two-over 74 Saturday, but it was still barely enough to win Pac-10 medalist honors by one stroke. Teammate Phillip Rowe and USC’s Kevin Stadler finished tied for second at 285.
Byers and Harnden tied for 11th at 2-over 290 when it was all over, while Carnahan tied for 35th at plus-10. It was the highest conference finish of their careers for Ellis, Byers and Harnden.
With their upper division finish in the Pac-10 Tournament, the Ducks have locked up a spot for the NCAA West Regional, beginning May 16 in Albuquerque, N.M.
“I would expect we will have to play a little better to advance at regionals,” Nosler said.