As a fitting tribute to their turnaround in spring, the Oregon men’s golf team has been invited to continue its season later this month at the NCAA West Regional. The Ducks narrowly earned an at-large bid Tuesday to compete in the
tournament in Palo Alto, Calif., as the No. 21 seed in the field of 27.
It was one of two final at-large
bids announced.
The Ducks barely got into the tournament, but Oregon head coach Steve Nosler was more than happy to receive an invite to the elite regional that eluded his squad last season.
“We’re just thrilled to be in the field at all,” Nosler said. “We were dead in the water in February but played quite remarkably the last two months to even have a chance to get in.”
Oregon will be competing in its eighth NCAA Regional in the past nine years and its 12th since 1989. The Ducks are joined by Pacific-10 Conference teams Arizona, Arizona State, USC, UCLA, Stanford and Pac-10 Champion Washington. The top seeds in the regional were both given to Mountain West Conference teams, with UNLV atop the field
followed by conference champ
New Mexico.
Oregon is seeded behind a
number of teams it defeated in
regular season tournaments.
“I’m certain our guys would like to show the selection committee that we’re a bit better than what they gave us credit for,” Nosler said. “This isn’t a group of guys who will be content simply because they were invited to the regional.”
On the line for all teams participating is a bid to the NCAA Championships awarded to those finishing in the top 10. Oregon has advanced to the Championships four times, the latest in 2003.
— Scott J. Adams