The Oregon men’s golf team began its spring season at the PING-Arizona Intercollegiate Tournament, which continues today at the par-71 Arizona National Golf Course in Tucson, Ariz. Thanks in large part to the efforts of juniors Derek Sipe and Ted Whitney, the Ducks find themselves in 10th place in the 16-team field entering the second day of play. The teams were scheduled to complete 36 of the 54 holes in the tournament yesterday, but the latter part of the second round was suspended due to darkness. The remaining holes will be completed Tuesday morning immediately before the final round.
Oregon finished Monday’s play at four over par, 21 strokes behind tournament leader UNLV. The team’s position at this stage of the tournament is an improvement from its performance at this same event last year, when the squad was tied for last place heading into the final day.
Sipe was the star for the Ducks, earning a five-under 66 in his first round. He had to overcome a shaky start, suffering bogies on two of his first three holes, but then got on a roll. The next three holes resulted in birdies, and Sipe made the turn in style, making an eagle on the par-5 18th. Two more birdies on the back nine catapulted Sipe into third place on the individual leaderboard after the first round. That high standing was short-lived, however, because Sipe stumbled out of the gate in his second round, scoring consecutive double bogies followed by another bogey in his first four holes. Sipe played one-under-par for the rest of the round, which turned out to be his score for the day. Sipe enters the final round 11 strokes off the pace set by the individual leader, Arizona’s Brian Prouty.
The Ducks fielded two players from the previous trip to Tucson, Whitney and senior Jay Snyder. Both improved their scores over last year; Whitney, who posted a disappointing 18-over-par after two rounds last year, finished 34 of his scheduled 36 holes yesterday at even par. In his second round, the Sheldon High School product was shooting a two-under 60 with two holes remaining when play was halted for the day.
Snyder enjoyed a stretch in his second round where he tallied three birdies in four holes, helping to bring his score to four over par through 31 holes.
The other two members of Oregon’s top five experienced up and down days out on the course. Senior Matt Ma had a forgettable first 18 holes, making only one birdie on the way to a +12 round. Ma’s second round was much improved, featuring an eagle on the 5th hole to draw even in the round before officials stopped play. Junior Joey Benedetti reversed Ma’s performance, shooting one over par in his first round before posting an afternoon round with two double bogies and a +7 score.
After the tournament finishes today, the Ducks will fly south to Hawaii for the University of Hawaii-Hilo Intercollegiate, Feb. 7-9.
Golfers make strides in Arizona tournament
Daily Emerald
January 29, 2007
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