The Oregon men’s golf team bolstered its campaign for a spot at this year’s NCAA Regionals on Saturday after shooting an 11-over 295 in the final round of the ASU Thunderbird Invitational, which placed them in a tie for seventh place. The Oregon women also enjoyed a seventh-place finish last weekend after shaving nine strokes off their first round score to finish at 303 at the Peg Barnard California Collegiate in Stanford, Calif.
Both teams competed in fields of 15, and both tournaments featured a number of clubs ranked among the top 25 in the nation.
Despite windy conditions in the third round at the par-71, 7,025 yard Karsten Golf Course, the Oregon men managed to card their best round of the tournament highlighted by a third-place finish for junior Gregg LaVoie. The Pasco, Wash., native marked the best outing of his collegiate career with an even par 213. Oregon head coach Steve Nosler was more than pleased with LaVoie’s performance.
“Gregg had an outstanding tournament,” Nosler said. “Just about every shot was
really on.”
LaVoie has been the backbone of Oregon’s turnaround spring season, delivering solid performances in tournaments as of late. At last week’s Western Intercollegiate, LaVoie led the Ducks to a team title as he finished tied for 12th.
Matt Ma and Justin St. Clair have also helped Oregon finish the regular season strong. At the ASU Thunderbird Invitational, Ma tied for 11th at 215, and St. Clair carded a final round 77 to tie for 37th at 223.
As a team, Oregon’s final score of 876 edged other teams vying for a berth at the NCAA Regionals, including fellow Pacific-10 Conference foes Stanford (892) and California (902). The Ducks finished just two strokes behind No. 8 Brigham Young (874) and three behind No. 11 UCLA (873). Finishing first was No. 2 UNLV, followed by Pepperdine (861), host school No. 15 Arizona State (869), No. 17 Arizona (871) and the Bruins, who finished second, third, fourth and fifth, respectively.
UNLV grabbed the team title with a impressive 859 team score. The Running Rebels came into this tournament as the highest ranked team in the field but were without senior Ryan Moore, who was busy finishing as the low amateur at the Masters over the weekend.
The individual title went to Arizona’s Kipp Riehle. The Wildcat recorded a final round of 68, bringing his total score to seven-under 206 — six strokes better than teammate Nathan Lashley, who finished second at 212. Henry Liaw completed a sweep of the podium for Arizona as he tied with LaVoie for third.
The Ducks compete next in their final tournament of the regular season at the U.S. Intercollegiate played April 16-17 at Stanford.
Like the men, the Oregon women are vying for a bid at the NCAA Regionals and have one shot left to make a statement for themselves at the Pac-10 Championships in Pleasanton, Calif., which begins Monday, April 18.
The Ducks made the most of their weekend in Stanford as they shared seventh place with Denver with a combined score of 615. Oregon senior Johnna Nealy led the Ducks by shooting a 72 in the final round, placing her in a tie for fourth place in the field. Oregon head coach Shannon Rouillard has come to expect clutch performances from Nealy.
“(Johnna) is all heart,” Rouillard said. “She delivers in every tournament, and I’m always impressed
by her.”
Nealy was joined in the top 20 by teammate Kim McCready. The sophomore standout from Placerville, Calif., took 17th after carding a final round of 76. Juniors Michelle Timpani (159) and Erin Andrews (163) finished 41st and 55th, respectively.
The Pac-10 schools from the
Evergreen State enjoyed their views from atop the leaderboard.
No. 6 Washington (587) nabbed first place with a score of 587, and No. 22 Washington State (590) took second, finishing just three
strokes behind. The Cougars’ Kim Welch took home the individual
title. No. 12 Stanford (593) settled for third.
With the regular season completed, the women are now focused on making a deep run in the post-season, which, according to Rouillard, was her squad’s ultimate goal this season.
“Tournaments like last weekend at Stanford are midterms for us,” Rouillard said. “We’ve aimed to peak in time for NCAA Regionals, and we’re on track.”