Members of the Oregon men’s golf team ended last season with a bad taste in their mouths. Instead of a fourth-straight trip to the NCAA Championships — where, in 2010, the Ducks took third place overall — Oregon’s tie for tenth place in the 2011 Southeast Regional brought the year to a sudden end.@@http://www.golfstat.com/2009-2010/men/mncaahth.htm@@ @@http://dailyemerald.com/2011/05/22/oregon-mens-golf-falls-short-at-southeast-ncaa-regional/@@
Now, the No. 6 Ducks return to regionals — this time in Ann Arbor, Mich. — with a firm intent to put last year’s disappointment in the rearview mirror and make a triumphant return to the NCAA Championships. @@http://www.goducks.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=500&ATCLID=205424797@@
With first-round play beginning Thursday, the path ahead won’t be easy. Oregon is not the highest-ranked team in the field — that honor goes to No. 5 USC — and is just one of four top-20 teams competing. Along with the Trojans, No. 18 Kent State and No. 19 Virginia stand as opposition, as well as a slew of other talented squads like No. 29 Oklahoma State, No. 30 Baylor, No. 41 Kennesaw State and No. 45 TCU. @@http://www.goducks.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=500&ATCLID=205424797@@
Of all the schools in the 13-team field, only the top five will advance to the NCAA Championships at the Riviera Country Club in Los Angeles, Calif., and past experience has shown Oregon just how easy it is to fall short of that mark.
Complicating matters a bit will be the time difference — Michigan operates on Eastern Standard time, and so when play tees off at 8 a.m. Thursday, Oregon players’ biological clocks will say it’s just 5 a.m. Especially on the first day of play, this could be a bit jarring.
Yet none of this is new for Oregon head coach Casey Martin, who will look to advance to the NCAA Championships for the fourth time since he arrived in Eugene in 2006. The Ducks were ranked No. 1 at one point during the fall of 2011, and maintained their No. 6 ranking with three team victories this spring. Most recently, the Ducks narrowly lost out on a team title at the inaugural Pac-12 Championship and finished second behind then-No. 6 California. @@http://www.goducks.com/ViewArticle.dbml?SPSID=4383&SPID=246&DB_LANG=C&DB_OEM_ID=500&ATCLID=623444&Q_SEASON=2011@@ @@http://www.goducks.com/ViewArticle.dbml?SPID=246&DB_OEM_ID=500&ATCLID=205420363@@ @@http://www.goducks.com/SportSelect.dbml?&DB_OEM_ID=500&SPID=246&SPSID=4384@@