For the second tournament in as many weeks, Oregon had a poor second-round performance to drop out of the top 10 and fall near the bottom of the standings.
The Oregon men’s golf team struggled in the second day, falling 13 spots to finish in 19th in the Taylor Made/Waikoloa Intercollegiate tournament. The Ducks had a team score of 291 Thursday on the par-72, 6,594-yard Kings Beach Golf Course. Oregon opened the tournament Wednesday with a team score of 288, good enough for a sixth-place tie after the opening round.
Currently, Oregon’s total score from the first two rounds of the three-round tournament is 579.
Oregon’s real bright spot from the first round of play was junior Mike Sica, who was tied for 12th after the opening round. However, Sica struggled for a 76, giving him a total of 146 for the first two rounds, and he dove from 12th overall to 70th. Senior Chris Carnahan continued his consistent play, as he is in the same spot in the standings (21st) as he was Wednesday. Carnahan shot a 71 yesterday after an opening-round 70, leading the Ducks with a score of 141. Freshman Gregg LaVoie carded a 72, a one-stroke improvement from Wednesday, and finds himself 60th overall with a score of 145.
Senior John Ellis matched his total from day one, finishing again with a score of 74, placing him 84th overall. He is followed by junior Jimmy White, who improved by eight strokes with a second-round 75. White is 119th overall.
Leading the field is Pacific-10 Conference power and No.12 UCLA, which currently holds a one-stroke lead over No. 3 Texas Christian. UCLA, which improved by 12 strokes from the first round, has a team score of 555, 24 strokes ahead of the Ducks. Individual leaders include Texas Christian’s junior Adam Meyer and senior Adam Rubinson. Meyer holds a two stroke lead over teammate Rubinson for the 1-2 spots on the leaderboard.
If Oregon — which had a steak of four-straight top-10 finishes before last week’s 14th-place finish in the Ping-Arizona tournament — hopes to continue its top-10 finishes, it will have to better the competition by 12 strokes Friday.
The Ducks wrap up the third and final round today, before taking a two week break, followed by a trip to Westlake Village, Calif. Oregon will compete in the Southwestern Invitational March 3-4.