In its second consecutive tournament, Oregon men’s golf secured the victory with a team 2-under-par 850. Oregon’s Nate Stember guided the Ducks to success as he shared his championship with Oregon State’s Mateo Fuenmayor with their 6-under 207 scores, over the two day tournament.
This performance was enough to hold off conference rival Oregon State by seven strokes as the Ducks’ went on to win the Oregon Duck Invitational for the first time in five years.
What has become a common theme during this winter season, the Ducks had another round of golf altered due to poor weather conditions.
Round 2 of the Duck Invitational at Eugene Country Club was suspended until this morning for darkness/weather concerns.
After a strong first day showing from the Ducks, they maintained their nine stroke lead on day two. Stember continued his first day success, as he birdied three of his last four holes to catapult him up the player standings. However, he wasn’t the only individual in green and black to finish well. Teammates Greyson Leach and Owen Avrit finished their crafty play with scores of 1-over-par 214 each, tied for fifth place. Greg Solhaug shot 5-over-par 218, while Aiden Krafft shot 7-over-par 220.
Stember, Avrit, Leach, Solhaug and Krafft placed in the top 20 in individual scoring, making Oregon one of two programs [Oregon State] to have its five starters finish in similar fashion.
Oregon head coach Casey Martin discussed Stember’s practice availability last week.
“We weren’t sure if Nate was going to be able to go – he didn’t pick up a club… all week,” Martin said. “…he decided to tough it out and then he wins the tournament.”
Martin was ecstatic about his pupil’s perseverance that led to his victory.
The rest of Oregon’s players competing individually showed promise. Freshman Jay Gould-Healy led his peers in the final round with an even-par 71. Gould-Healy finished No. 50 with teammate Thomas Jenkins Jr, who shot 15-over-par 228, respectively. Eric Doyle and Gabriel Hari were the two highest individual competitors for the Ducks as they placed tied for No. 18 and 33 each. Doyle shot 7-over-par 220, while Hari maintained his day one tournament play with 11-over-par 224 performance.
The Ducks will be back in action on March 30, when they travel to San Francisco, California, for the Goodwin Golf Course’s tournament.
