The goal is always improvement, but the Ducks have seemed to regress as they got further into competitions this spring. 

Not this time. 

To close out the regular season, No. 25 Oregon men’s golf produced its finest golf of the week to jump No. 9 Arizona on the final day of the Western Intercollegiate at Pasatiempo Golf Club in Santa Cruz, California. 

The stellar round from the Ducks was enough to push them into fourth place out of the 14  schools competing in the closing tournament of the spring season. 

Oregon finished just two strokes from No. 8 Washington in second and seven strokes from the overall leader: Stanford. 

Greyson Leach produced another outstanding performance in the final round at Pasatiempo. He entered Wednesday tied for 10th place after he went two-under (68) and two-over (72) in the first two rounds. 

Leach found rhythm early, as he shot his second eagle of the competition on hole 4. He cooled off gradually as the day went on, which resulted in three bogeys and two birdies to round out his day three. 

Leach jumped two spots on the final day to eighth out of the 96 golfer field – securing a top 10 position that he desperately needed to build confidence going into the postseason. He was just three strokes behind individual winner Filip Jakubcik from No. 9 Arizona. 

Despite failing to reach these marks this season, Leach found his groove in the regular season finale and will look to carry that momentum into the Pac-12 Championship next weekend. 

Oregon’s best round of the final day came from Nate Stember, who had been off his game all tournament. He shot two straught two-over (72)’s to open the competition, but on Wednesday, Stember showed his talent. 

Stember had his best nine-hole stretch of the season on the front nine, as he shot a five-under (30) to open play. That stretch included three birdies and one eagle, which is the best golf he has played all season. 

The back nine was a slightly different story, but not enough to completely mar his outing. He shot three bogeys and one birdie, so he finished with a three-under (67) in his last regular season round. 

Stember tied for 14th, rocketing 19 places on Wednesday. 

Going into the conference championship, Stember secured crucial momentum to carry him into positive golf in Scottsdale for his last conference tournament. 

Aiden Krafft played some of his best golf of the season this week at Pasatiempo, and secured a top-25 spot with his consistency over the three days. He started with an even (70) on Monday, followed up with a three-over (73) and rounded that all out with a one-over (71) in the final round. 

On a day where he shot four birdies, a lot more could have been expected from Krafft. 

Krafft shot a bogey on each hole from 12-15, which dropped his score from two-under to two-over. A birdie on 18 would save him from dropping out of the top 25, which is the kind of outing he needed to close out the regular season. 

Despite entering Wednesday with a total of nine-over, Gregory Solhaug dazzled in the final round and jumped 23 spots for a tie at 39th. The highlight of the day were his two eagles, which were needed to supplement his four bogeys and two birdies. 

His eagles helped him finish the round with a two-under (68), which is his best single-round score of the season. Solhaug doesn’t have major expectations going into the conference championship, but this round will boost him slightly. 

Owen Avrit was tied with Leach at 10th going into the final round, but an extremely rocky final round dropped him 29 spots by the finish. 

Avrit shot three double-bogeys, five bogeys and four birdies for a seven-over (77) final regular season round. He led the Ducks this week with 11 birdies in total, he just failed to cut out the mistakes and stay consistent. 

As he prepares for his final Pac-12 championship, he will need to forget Wednesday in order to secure success. 

Hugh Adams remained consistent throughout this competition, but not in the way that he hoped. He concluded his time at Pasatiempo with six bogeys and one birdie – finishing with a five-over (75) and tied for 70th. 

As the worst performer in the lineup this week, Adams risked his spot as a starter in the conference championship, especially considering how individual Eric Doyle played. 

Doyle shot a near perfect day, with four birdies and his only blemish came from a double-bogey. That was good for a two-under (68) to close out the competition tied for 21st, which was higher than four out of the six golfers in the team lineup. 

At the close of the regular season, Oregon took a major leap by placing in the top 5 of a stacked field, especially with a slate of teams it will see in Scottsdale. 

The Ducks were fourth best out of the five competing Pac-12 schools, who all rounded out the top five. 

The ability to take a top five position early and hold onto it throughout the competition is something Oregon has been seeking to do all season. To finally accomplish that at the end of the regular season is a tremendously positive way to enter the postseason. 

The Ducks are slated to carry this momentum into Scottsdale and beyond as the postseason gets underway. 

There will be no room for error next weekend as Oregon heads down to Desert Forest Golf Club in Scottsdale, Arizona for the Pac-12 Championship. 

Scorecard: Final round score (Par), Total score (Par), Place in Leaderboard

Leach: 69 (-1), 210 (E), 8th

Stember: 67 (-3), 211 (+1), T-14th

Doyle (i): 68 (-2), 213 (+3), T-21st

Krafft: 71 (+1), 214 (+4), T-25th

Solhaug: 68 (-2), 217 (+7), T-39th

Avrit: 77 (+7), 217 (+7), T-39th

Adams: 75 (+5), 224 (+14), T-70th

Oregon: 350 (E), 1065 (+15), 4th out of 14 schools