The Oregon men’s golf team returns to Eugene after a disappointing second day at the par-71, 6,583-yard Alister Mackenzie Invitational Tuesday in Fairfax, Calif.
“We could never quite recover from our second round,” Oregon head coach Steve Nosler said. “We’re still a young team getting our feet wet and we’ll get better as we get more experience, but we’re still not playing at the level we need to.”
The inexperienced Ducks did recover somewhat on Tuesday after finishing 13th on Monday, shooting a final round 3-over 287 to move into a tie for 12th with Nevada. The Ducks finished the tournament with a team score of 868.
Oregon finished 33 shots back from tournament-host and winner California, which came back from 14 shots down to overtake first-day leader Northwestern. The Wildcats’ lead imploded Tuesday after posting a final round 289.
Northwestern ended up tied with No. 4-ranked UCLA after both teams posted a final score of 835. Oregon State backed up its surprising first and second round finishes by ending the tournament at fourth with a score of 845. San Jose State finished fifth at 847.
Senior Mike Sica was the Ducks’ low scorer of the tournament. He fired a 1-under 70 on Tuesday, bringing his three-round total to a 1-over 214, good enough for a tie for 26th.
South Eugene High School graduate Jimmy White tied for 31st with a 2-over 215 following a final round 69. The 69 was White’s best round of the tournament.
Sophomore Justin St. Clair and freshman Matt Ma tied for 50th with 7-over 220s. Ma and St. Clair posted identical 72-74-74 rounds for the tournament. Sophomore Kyle Johnson finished in a tie for 71st by posting a total of 224.
The Ducks will finish their fall season at The Prestige, Nov. 3-4, in La Quinta, Calif.