The Oregon men’s golf team finished the final round in Hawaii on Friday with a team score of 293, giving the Ducks a 16th place finish at the TaylorMade/Waikoloa Intercollegiate. The Ducks finished with a team total 876 on the par-72, 7,074-yard Waikoloa King’s Course in Waikoloa, Hawaii.
The Ducks stayed within striking distance of the top 10 for most of the tournament. However, the team — composed of two freshmen and three sophomores — never seemed to be able to gain any momentum, squandering any chance for their first top-10 finish since the Husky Invitational in September.
For the second consecutive year, sophomore Gregg LaVoie was the Ducks’ top finisher in Hawaii. LaVoie carded two rounds of even par and finished with a three-round total of 2-over 218, good enough for a tie for 47th place. Sophomore Justin St. Clair was the next highest finisher, posting a 73-73-74-220, dropping him from 48th in the second-round to a tie for 55th.
After a final round 76, sophomore Kyle Johnson dropped from 40th to 63rd and ended with a combined total of 73-72-76-221. Freshman Matt Ma carded a final-round 74 after posting the best individual round of the tournament for the Ducks, a 1-under 71 in the second round and fell into a tie for 72nd with fellow freshman Dustin Pewarchuk. Pewarchuk shot a 76-73-73-222 after finishing last week’s PING-Arizona Intercollegiate in the top 20.
Fifth-ranked Georgia Tech took home the team title after finishing with a final-round team score of 278. The victory gives the Yellow Jackets their fourth victory in seven years at the event. Fourth-ranked UCLA finished three strokes back with a team total 20-under 844. Arkansas finished third with a 845 and No. 8 Arizona State and Oklahoma finished fourth and fifth with team totals of 850 and 852, respectively.
Individual honors went to Anthony Kim of Oklahoma, who finished with a 11-under par 205. Kim was the third different leader in the three day event. Second-round leader Scott Gordon finished in fourth place after carding a final-round 72. Hawaii-Hilo’s Nick Mason and Arizona State’s Chez Reavie tied for second at 9-under par 207.
The Ducks will return to action March 1 and 2 at the Cleveland Golf Classic, held at the North Ranch Country Club in Westlake, Calif.