You will have to excuse Jimmy White if smoke was seen coming from the Trysting Tree Golf Course in Corvallis on Friday.
He was on fire.
The Oregon senior shot a school, course and tournament record 9-under par 63 during Friday’s final round of the Northwest Collegiate Classic, launching him 16 spots into a tie for fourth. White’s round, which featured nine birdies and nine pars, broke the previous record by one stroke.
“Jimmy just played as solidly as you can play,” Oregon head coach Steve Nosler said. “That was a truly great round of golf.”
White, who attended South Eugene High School, was competing as an individual for the Northwest Classic, meaning his score didn’t count toward the Oregon team score. The Ducks could have used White’s 63, as they carded a final round 10-over 298, dropping them one spot into a tie for fourth with New Mexico State.
“We went back a step today and probably should have finished a spot or two higher,” Nosler said. “But we did have a lot of good individual rounds at this tournament, and if we get the right five together on the same day, we’ve got a chance to be pretty special.”
The Ducks finished with a three-day total of 869, 23 strokes behind tournament winner UC-Irvine. Long Beach State finished second, 15 strokes off the pace, while Washington State finished third at 17 strokes back.
White’s final round put his three-day total at 7-under 207, three strokes behind tournament winner Travis Bertoni of Cal Poly San Luis Obispo. Sophomore Justin St. Clair, who graduated from Springfield’s Thurston High School, led Oregon’s contingent of five by finishing eighth with a 3-under 213. Senior Mike Sica and sophomore Gregg LaVoie, who was also competing as an individual, finished tied for 10th at 214.

Ducks head to Washington
Oregon begins play today at the Opus Northwest Husky Invitational in Bremerton, Wash.
The 54-hole tournament, which runs through Tuesday, will take part on the par-72, 7,035-yard Olympic Course at Gold Mountain.
The Ducks will send White, Sica, St. Clair, LaVoie and freshmen Eric Hastings and Dustin Pewarchuk to the 10-team tournament, which includes two of the top four schools in the nation. No. 3 UCLA, No. 4 California and No. 17 Brigham Young will present the tournament’s stiffest competition.
“It’s a quick turnaround from out last event,” Nosler said. “We’ve got to think soundly and play smart on this course because it is not as forgiving as others that we’ll play.”
The Ducks finished fifth the last time they played in the Husky Invitational, which was in 2001.