After Joey Benedetti’s position in the varsity rotation was up in the air, the sophomore led the Ducks with his best match of his career and was the only Oregon golfer to finish in the top 50 at last weekend’s Thunderbird Invitational in Tempe, Ariz. He finished tied for eighth.
Benedetti’s success comes after Oregon coach Steve Nosler said he thought he had his top three golfers nailed down. Derek Sipe, Gregg LaVoie and Dustin Pewarchuk have maintained consistent scores throughout the spring golf season and the three finished in the top 20 at the Duck Invitational March 27-28.
Oregon senior Justin St. Clair and Benedetti took part in a playoff to see who would be the fifth golfer for the team. Each team is allotted five golfers and the team’s best four scores go toward the final score. Nosler decided both players would head to Tempe and the winner of the playoff would compete with the team. The other golfer would compete individually.
Benedetti made the most of his opportunity to play for the Ducks and finished tied for eighth with a 4-under 209 in the three-round event. The sophomore shot 1-over par in the first round. The second round matched Benedetti’s career low with a 3-under-par 68.
The playoff winner followed his 68 with a 2-under-par 69. He was the only Duck to finish under par. Benedetti’s previous best finish in a tournament was 10th.
LaVoie, Oregon’s All-American, finished second for the Ducks and in a tie for 56th overall. The senior’s best round was his second, when he matched par for the course. LaVoie closed the tournament at 8-over par.
St. Clair, who competed individually, did not score any points for the Ducks, but the Springfield native’s score would have finished third among golfers from Oregon. The senior finished in a tie for 61st overall.
Sipe and Chris Dukeminier finished 65th and 72nd, respectively. The two golfed a similar tournament, but Sipe shot a 2-over-par 73 in the second round. Dukeminier finished the second round with a 5-over-par 76.
One of Oregon’s top three, Pewarchuk, started the tournament better than the other Ducks by shooting par for the first round. A 12-over-par 83 in the second round led to his drop on the leader board.
The Ducks finished 14th after being in 13th place at the end of day one.
The unranked Arizona Wildcats edged out No. 7 UNLV by one stroke for the team title by outshooting the Rebels by 10 shots in the final round. San Diego State and Kansas State tied to round out the top four teams for the tournament.
Arizona rode the success of Henry Liaw and Brian Prouty, who finished second and third, respectively, for the tournament. Kansas State’s Ben Kern shot a 14-under par for the tournament to claim a three-shot victory over Liaw.
The Ducks head to Palo Alto, Calif., for the U.S. Intercollegiate this weekend. The Intercollegiate is the last tournament for Oregon until the Pacific-10 Championships April 24-26 in Palm Desert, Calif.
Oregon finishes 14th at ASU’s Thunderbird Invite in Tempe
Daily Emerald
April 10, 2006
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