The No. 10 Oregon men’s golf team rebounded from an opening round loss to Cal by topping UC Davis and No. 6 USC to win the Del Walker Match Play in Long Beach, Calif. Tuesday afternoon.
The Ducks got a big lift from senior Eugene Wong, the only player who posted wins in both the semifinal and the final, hosted by Long Beach State at the Virginia Country Club.
The team opened the day against the Aggies in the semifinals, posting a 3.5-1.5 victory. Shooting at the number one spot, Wong outdueled Matt Hansen by winning four-straight holes down the stretch to put his match on ice. Elsewhere, redshirt junior Robbie Ziegler won his number three spot by default as his opponent from UC Davis forfeited due to illness. Senior Andrew Vijarro cruised in his number four match against Luke Vivolo, leading the entire front nine on his way to a 5 and 4 win.
The number two, senior Daniel Miernicki, lost his two-hole lead and ended all-square, and freshman Rak Cho was outplayed on the 16th and 17th holes to lose his match to the Aggies’ Mike Brockington, but at that point the outcome was already decided.
With the win over UC Davis, Oregon advanced to the final to play USC after the Trojans fought their way through the consolation bracket. Once again it was Wong, the All-American, who set the pace for the Ducks, this time by beating the Trojans’ Jeffrey Kang. At the number two, Miernicki held off Steve Lim down the stretch to take his match, and Cho squared his number five match with Sam Smith to notch Oregon’s score at 2.5.
But at the number four spot, Vijarro ran into trouble with USC’s Anthony Paolucci. The Bend, Ore., native lost by four holes with two to play, and after Ziegler lost his match to Ramsey Sahyoun by the same score, the match ended in a tie.
Based on handicap scores, Oregon took the tiebreaker and consequently, the tourney.
Looking ahead, the Ducks next play in two weeks at the Bandon Dunes Championship on March 16-18. Oregon has had success in Bandon in the past, taking second to Washington in last year’s tournament.