The first tournament of the season brought back the nerves and thrills of competition at the collegiate level, and not just for the players.
“I’m excited and will probably be more nervous than my guys,” new Oregon head coach Casey Martin said in a University press release. “It’s the first tournament and it’s a long, long season.” During the summer, in an effort to change the mentality of the program, Martin called all of his golfers and said, “I hope you’re ready to play because we’re going to win every tournament this fall.”
That message Martin sent was evident in the first round Monday when the Ducks finished in fifth-place with a competitive 2-over-par 288 in the Opus NW Husky Invitational. A 20 over par second round, however, dropped Oregon back to 22-over-par for the tournament.
“It’s sort of a high goal,” said junior Derek Sipe regarding Martin’s message this summer. “But it’s something we are capable of and the type of mentality we should have going into the season.” Sipe shot 11 over par after two rounds Monday.
Oregon’s Jay Snyder and Joey Benedetti were in contention for top-20 finishes after day one and many other Ducks posted solid first rounds as well.
Benedetti’s first round 2-under-par highlighted an efficient round for Martin’s new-look squad. The junior finished the second round at 3-over-par for the day.
Snyder finished his second round posting a 1-over-par 73. He matched his first round score, as he helped balance a difficult second round for the Ducks overall.
Martin’s first recruit, Marcus Sostak, posted an 8-over-par for the day, while sophomore Landon Banks shot a second-round 8-over-par 72, finishing 9- over-par for the first two rounds.
Zeke Reyna, a junior transfer from Southern Methodist, competed individually and was tied for 18th at the end of his second round.
UCLA led at 9-under-par after Monday’s initial two rounds, with one more round today. The Bruins had four players in the top five, with only two of them in the
top five eligible to score for the team because they were competing individually.
UCLA’s Lucas Lee led after the first day with an 8-under-par. He looks to hold off Washington’s John Wise, who was leading the tournament until he faltered with three holes to play in the second round.