No. 22 Oregon finished its second tournament of the spring season in 14th place out of 24 teams after shooting one-under overall after three rounds at the Prestige PGA West Greg Norman Course in La Quinta, CA.
Out of the six Pac-12 teams that competed, Oregon finished fifth best, three strokes ahead of Oregon State. Stanford placed third, Washington fourth, Washington State tied for ninth and UCLA 11th.
Texas Tech took the crown, winning by 11 strokes over its conference-rival, Kansas. The Jayhawks’ Cecil Belisle won the individual competition, two strokes ahead of Pac-12 duo Petr Hruby from Washington and Karl Vilips from Stanford.
The Ducks had a rough first round, shooting a 293 (+9) as a team, which tied for the worst first round out of the field with Iowa State.
In the second round, five birdie performances from both Owen Avrit and Aiden Krafft and four from Hugh Adams led the Ducks to an eight-spot climb to 15th in the tournament. Oregon shot 277 (-7) on Tuesday, which was its best of the tournament.
The Ducks’ last round was also very positive, four strokes worse than the second round, but still 12 strokes better than the first. Oregon shot 281(-3) on Wednesday, which helped it rise one spot on the final day to 14th.
The team was led by Adams, a freshman who was making his first start of the spring season. He replaced Greyson Leach, while Eric Doyle was subbed out to make way for Krafft, who spent all of the Amer Ari Invitational as an individual participant.
Adams was the only Duck who shot under par overall, and he tied for the team lead in birdies with Avrit and Krafft with nine in the tournament.
His scores were counted in each of the three rounds, a feat only matched by Avrit. Adams’ first round of the spring was not one to remember for the freshman. He shot a three-over (74) on Monday, but showed flashes of his potential with two birdies.
Adams followed that up with a three-under (68) in the second round, which included four birdies. His final round would be his most consistent yet, with three birdies and one bogey.
That bogey came on hole four, and he followed that up by going par-or-better on every hole to end his round. This run included three of his nine birdies in the tournament, and helped him shoot a two-under (69) on the last day.
Adams placed tied for 30th, ending two-under for the three rounds, which was Oregon’s best score.
Krafft started off the Prestige by shooting his worst score of the spring season, a six-over (77), in which he shot two double-bogeys. He rebounded in the second round, shooting his best of the tournament, a three-under (68) with five birdies.
On Wednesday, Krafft would have his most consistent performance yet, going par-or-better on every hole with two birdies. He finished the final round with a two-under (69), improving drastically over the course of the tournament and making sure his last two scores counted.
Krafft placed tied for 45th at one-over, which was the same overall score as his teammate Avrit.
Avrit started with a disappointing first round, knocking in one birdie while going for three bogeys and a double-bogey en route to a four-over (75). This score counted only because of Krafft’s (77), but Avrit responded with a five birdie performance and a three-under (68).
His second round would have been unblemished if not for the double-bogey on hole 13, his fourth hole of the day. Avrit’s final round would not compare to his second, even though it was still valuable.
The fifth-year shot three birdies and three bogeys for an even score (71) on Wednesday, which was a positive ending to a tournament that didn’t start off hot for Avrit.
Nate Stember started out The Prestige by shooting a one-under (70), which was the Ducks’ best performance on Monday. Stember entered the second round of play tied for 24th.
It appeared that Stember could’ve built off his excellence at the Amer Ari Invitational, but it was not meant to be. A two-over (73), which didn’t count for the Ducks’ team score, followed on Tuesday.
In the final round, Stember started out with an immediate birdie, but his momentum was stumped with a double-bogey on hole five and a bogey on hole six. He finished the round with two birdies and a bogey on the back nine, but didn’t do enough to get his overall score under par.
Stember placed tied for 53rd at two-over, one stroke behind Avrit and Krafft overall. After a tremendous performance in Oregon’s first competition of the season, Stember hopes to bounce back and chase records again.
Senior Gregory Solhaug had a subpar tournament after shooting a 74 in the first round, 73 in the second and 73 in the third.
His time in La Quinta was characterized by bogeys. Solhaug shot two double-bogeys on the weekend and didn’t have a round where he had more birdies than bogeys. His scores only didn’t count on the third day, but he was the worst Duck by a considerable margin, placing tied for 85th at seven-over.
While it wasn’t the same caliber that Oregon displayed in Hawaii a week and a half ago, it is building strong foundations for the rest of the season.
The Ducks got some help from a few younger golfers in Krafft and Adams, while the veterans still added on positive play.
The No. 22 Ducks have a chance to stay in the top-25, but the likeliest outcome is that Oregon will drop out of the next rankings.
With two of their more competitive tournaments out of the way, the Ducks look forward to proving they are a top-25 squad in their next competition, The Bandon Dunes Championship in Bandon, OR, on March 11-13.
Final Scorecard: Overall score (R1, R2, R3), Par, Individual Ranking
Adams: 211 (74, 68, 69), -2, T-30th
Krafft: 214 (77, 68, 69), +1, T-45th
Avrit: 214 (75, 68, 71), +1, T-45th
Stember: 215 (70, 73, 72), +2, T-53rd
Solhaug: 220 (74, 73, 73), +7, T-85th
Oregon: 851 (293, 277, 281), -1, 14th
