The Oregon men’s golf team foundered Thursday in the first round of the NCAA West Regional and walked away in 16th after 18 holes.
Senior Aaron Byers’ 2-under 70 placed him in a tie for fifth and helped to keep Oregon in contention for a bid to the NCAA Championships. But now the Ducks have to fight an uphill battle on the challenging 7,368-yard, par 72 South Champions Course in Albuquerque, N.M.
Oregon entered the tournament seeded 11th, but their 12-over 300 puts them 15 strokes behind first-round leader Texas. The Ducks, however, are just six strokes out of 10th place.
The top 10 teams and two individuals from Albuquerque will advance to the NCAA Championships May 29-June 1 in Columbus, Ohio.
Jason Hartwick led Texas to the first-day lead with a 4-under 68. The Longhorns fired off 285, four strokes better than eighth-seeded San Diego State’s 289. Fresno State, Minnesota and Nevada are all keeping it a tight race and are tied for third at 290.
Byers’ 70 put him in a tie with eight other golfers including Oregon State’s David Yarnes; both are just two strokes back of first-round leader Hartwick.
With five birdies and three bogies, Byers, a senior from Albany, Ore., shot off his lowest round in an NCAA Regional. Pepperdine’s Jason Allred, UNLV’s Brandon Askew and Minnesota’s David Morgan shared a tie for second at three-under 69.
The other Ducks did not fare as well as Byers, as junior John Ellis and senior Brandon Harnden forced to count 76s to put them in a tie for 77th. Junior Chris Carnahan and sophomore Mike Sica shot disappointing 78s to tie for 105th.
Oregon is following in the same footsteps as last year’s regionals at the Trysting Tree Golf Course in Corvallis, where the Ducks sat in 21st after the first round.
They fought back to 14th after the second day but were doomed in the end and finished 18th overall.
Oregon will begin second round play at 8:15 a.m. today.
Jesse Thomas is a freelance reporter
for the Emerald.