The Oregon men’s golf team dropped two spots in Tuesday’s final round to finish ninth at the Alister Mackenzie Invitational in
Fairfax, Calif.
Sophomore Eric Hastings finished the three-round tournament in a tie for 14th after shooting his third consecutive round of 72 at the par-71, 6,583-yard Meadow Club.
The tie for 14th was Oregon’s highest finisher and also was a personal best for Hastings, surpassing his tie for 24th at the Northwest Collegiate Classic last month.
Oregon State won the tournament by seven strokes after a final round of 283, four strokes under par. In second place was No. 20 Purdue with 855 and California was third with a 856. Two other Pacific-10 Conference teams finished in the top ten with No. 22 Washington at ninth and Stanford at tenth.
In individual play, Northwestern’s Dillon Dougherty and Purdue’s Bobby Bennett tied for first with 6-under-par 207s.
Oregon freshman Joey Benedetti fell after a promising first two rounds. He finished in a tie for 33rd after an 8-over-par 79.
Springfield native Justin St. Clair shot a 3-over-par 74 in the final round to finish the tournament in 39th place. Junior Gregg LaVoie finished tied with St. Clair after also shooting a 74 in the final round.
LaVoie and Benedetti were the only Ducks to shoot an under-par round. LaVoie shot a 70 in the second round while Benedetti also shot a 70 in the first round.
Oregon finished the second round clinging to a one-stroke lead over Illinois. The Ducks carded a team score of 580, placing them seventh after the second round.
The Ducks were aided with youthful support from Benedetti, who led the team with an even-par 142. Benedetti ended the second round tied for eleventh in the tournament. Benedetti’s career-best two-round scores of 70 and 72 left him six strokes behind tournament leader Travis Bertoni of Cal Poly. Bertoni finished the second round at 136 after a first-round 69 and an improved second-round 67.
Hastings matched his first-round score with an encore 72, bringing his score to two strokes over par at 144. Like Benedetti, Hastings finished in a tie, but for 17th place after two rounds.
St. Clair continued his consistent ways with a decent second-round performance which found him six strokes over par at 148 after the second round.
St. Clair sat tied at 42nd place with teammate LaVoie, who shaved an impressive eight strokes off his first-round score to end the second round with a birdie 1-under-par after the second. LaVoie was the only Oregon player to finish the second round with a score better than his first round.
Oregon State continued to dominate team play and finished atop the field tied for first with Northwestern at 565 after the second round of play.
Pac-10 Conference foe California found themselves alone in fourth place at 569, followed by Kansas State and Cal Poly tied at 572 after two rounds.
Stanford, the hosting school, sat one stroke behind Pacific with a 593, good enough for 12th place after the second round.

Scott J. Adams is a freelance reporter
for the Daily Emerald