The Oregon men’s golf team wrapped up its fall season tying for 10th at The Prestige at PGA West, played on the par-72, 7,156-yard Greg Norman course in La Quinta, Calif. For the Ducks, it was their best Prestige finish since 2000, when they finished ninth.
Freshman Joey Benedetti lead the Ducks after shooting a final round 1-over 73 to finish in a tie for 10th. The Huntington Beach, Calif., native carded four birdies and five bogeys to mark his best performance as a collegiate athlete. Benedetti finished the tournament with an 11-over par 227 for the three rounds.
Eleventh-ranked UCLA topped the field with a final round 294, bringing its total score to 904. This made for an impressive nine-stroke lead over second-place finisher and host UC Davis, who scored a 913, followed by UC Irvine and No. 24 Texas Tech, who tied for third at 917. Oklahoma took fifth at 922 and Stanford nabbed sixth with 924, followed by Kansas and No. 7 Texas Christian who tied for seventh at 925. Texas Christian came into The Prestige as 2003 defending champions. No. 13 Brigham Young finished ninth at 931.
Oregon saved its best round for last and carded a 308, but still fell two spots into a tie for 10th with Notre Dame at 934.
The individual title of The Prestige went to Erik Hill of UC Davis, who carded a tournament-best 69 on Tuesday. Hill finished with a 1-over 217 to edge out Cole Isban of Notre Dame by two strokes.
The Ducks’ Kyle Johnson, who was competing in his first event of the season, tied for 33rd at 231. Chris Dukeminier tied for 53rd at 240.
Second round action of The Prestige saw the Ducks take their newly remodeled starting rotation into an eighth place finish. Johnson led Oregon after shooting a 9-over 153 Monday to tie for 13th with Michael Putnam of Pepperdine. Johnson started the round strong but struggled a bit toward the end of the front nine, carding a pair of double bogeys. Johnson did get one stroke back, however, with a birdie on the par-5 12th hole.
Benedetti had first and second rounds of 79 and 75, respectively, to tie for 15th at 10-over going into the third round. During the second round, Benedetti carded four birdies, five bogeys and a double bogey, making for a roller coaster of an afternoon for the freshman. Sophomore Matt Ma, making his varsity season debut at the PGA West, shot 79-80-159 and was tied for 38th. Ma’s name reverberated throughout the course after he fired a head-turning eagle on the par-4 11th hole in the second round.
UC Davis took the lead at the end of the second round after shooting a 303 to edge UCLA by one stroke. The Aggies finished the day at 609, followed by the Bruins at 610. UC Irvine completed the University of California sweep of the top three spots by taking third with 612, followed by Kansas at 618 and Texas Christian at 621. The Red Raiders of Texas Tech finished sixth with 622, followed by fellow Big XII Conference foe Oklahoma at 623.
Pepperdine trailed Oregon by one stroke to finish ninth with 627, followed by Stanford at 628, Brigham Young at 629 and Notre Dame at 633.
Scott J. Adams is a freelance sports reporter for the Daily Emerald