The No. 22 Oregon men’s golf team teetered in the top five of the leaderboard for the duration of the 2023 Pac-12 Championships this past weekend. Oregon’s Nate Stember strided the Ducks through his individual fifth-place performance of 7-under, 273, while the team’s total was 3-under, 1397.
Over the three day event, the Ducks were in the thick of the competition as they led at the conclusion of the first round before ultimately finishing tied for fifth place. Down one from the Western Intercollegiate, Oregon saw three players finish in the top 20 of competition. Aside from Stember, senior Owen Avrit and sophomore Greyson Leach shot 1-under, 279, to tie for No. 15 in the event.
Stember struggled on day one of play as he shot 2-over par before he rebounded with birdies on holes five and nine to get to even par as he made his turn. The senior bogeyed twice on holes 10 and 15, although he rallied with back-to-back birdies in between on holes 13 and 14. He shot three pars to close the opening round with an even-par, 70. Stember exhibited quality play for the rest of the conference tournament. He shot at least par in all four rounds, which brings him to at least par for his last 11 of 14 rounds.
A golfer who’s received accolades for his success on the links is Avrit. However, he and Leach faced highs and lows en route to their top-20 finish. Avrit sank two birdies and a team-low three bogeys, while Leach made a team-high five birdies over the weekend.
After his best finish of the season at Pasatiempo Golf Course from April 10-12, junior Greg Solhaug struggled in the conference championship. He shot 3-over, 283, to tie for 30th place.
Oregon’s two remaining athletes, Aiden Krafft and Eric Doyle, tied for 39th and placed 70th, respectively. Krafft is only a freshman, so his performance on the big stage should be taken as a learning experience. Krafft shot 5-over, 285 over the three-day event. After coming in with a 3-over, 70, Doyle failed to find his groove as he concluded the weekend with a 26-over, 306. Doyle is another underclassman, so he too will look to redeem himself in their next tournament, the NCAA Regionals.
Not to beat a dead horse, but what’s been a commonality this season is the treacherous weather conditions presented by mother nature. Oregon head coach Casey Martin attributed the poor weather as a factor in course play.
“Lots of wind, and we just struggled to make enough putts to really contend,” Martin said. “After a while it sort of beat us down, so it was a tough day. But we will regroup and be ready for NCAAs.”
The Ducks failed to outpace the hosting No. 9 Stanford Cardinal, but they finished ahead of No. 18 Arizona and No. 50 California, which should provide optimism moving forward.
Tune into the Golf Channel on Wednesday at 10 a.m. as the Ducks await their NCAA Regional fate.
