The Oregon men’s golf team climbed out of last place on the final day of the Pacific-10 Conference Golf Championships held at the Eugene Country Club. The Ducks passed California and Washington State in the last 18 holes to finish in eighth place. USC continued to dominate the tournament, extending its gargantuan lead to 36 strokes over second-place UCLA. The Trojans also took home the individual honors from Eugene, as freshman Jamie Lovemark finished atop the field at seven under par.
In a normal tournament, the Ducks would have finished in last place. College golf events usually conclude after three rounds, but championship play tacked on another 18 holes. At the press conference after the third round of the tournament on Tuesday, Oregon coach Casey Martin said he was “glad there’s one day left.” Junior Joey Benedetti made the most of today’s fourth round, matching the best Oregon round of the tournament with a three-under 69. Benedetti’s first nine holes didn’t contain much excitement as he was playing even golf at the turn. On the back nine, however, the junior’s scorecard got a workout. Starting on 15th hole of the day, Benedetti reeled off a birdie, birdie, eagle sequence before finishing with a par. At one over for the tournament, Benedetti tied with Derek Sipe as Oregon’s best finishers in 19th place.
“I think this has just been a reality check, especially after yesterday,” Benedetti said. “All the teams we are competing against are very good, but we just need to work hard if we get to regionals and make the most of it.”
Sipe, tied for the tournament lead after Monday’s first round, had an up and down day on the course. He bogeyed two of his first three holes only to record birdies on two of the next three. Sipe then carded bogeys on 17 and 18 and a birdie on 6 to finish the round at one over par.
“For the last day I feel that we brought it back a little bit. We didn’t play to our ability but I think we still saved a little bit of pride,” Sipe said.
Zeke Reyna had four bogeys canceled out by an eagle and two birdies to finish tied for the day with Eric Hastings, who also had a par round. A day after shooting a two-under 70, freshman Marcus Sostak was undone by four bogeys on his back nine and had to settle for a four-over round. Matt Ma continued to have a rough tournament, ending the event with a 79.
Oregon’s team score of 1464 represents an improvement of 36 strokes over last year’s performance in the tournament.
At the top of the team leaderboard, USC ended its golf clinic in style. The Trojans gained at least 11 strokes over everyone in the field on Wednesday, giving them a score of 51 under par for the tournament. UCLA finished a distant second at 15 under. In addition to Lovemark’s win, the Trojans placed two other members in the top four overall.
“USC was really remarkable today, especially playing on a tough golf course like this,” Martin said. “They’re just loaded with great kids and I’m really happy for them.”
Women’s golf
The Oregon women’s golf team suffered through its worst round of its Pac-10 Championships, but managed to hang on to its ninth-place position. There were high scores all over the Broadmoor Golf Course in Seattle, Wash. Arizona State won the 54-hole tournament with a score of 33 over par, 18 strokes clear of UCLA. The Bruins’ Tiffany Joh and ASU’s Anna Nordqvist tied for the individual title at two over par. Senior Kim McCready turned in the best Oregon score on Wednesday, a six-over-par 78. McCready was also the Ducks’ best finisher in the tournament as a whole. Her score of 21 over par was good enough for a tie for 24th place.
The other Oregon final round scores were all in double-digits above par. Felicia Eastick shot 10 over par, Cathryn Bristow carded an 85, which caused her to fall to 27th overall. Kate Hildahl and Victoria Wenslow shot 15 and 16 over par, respectively. Although the Ducks avoided finishing last in this tournament for the second straight year, their score of 972 was 27 shots higher than last year’s total.