The final round of the NCAA West Regional on Saturday found the Oregon men’s golf team trying to improve upon its dismal score Friday and to find a way into the NCAA Championships. Despite spectacular play by Gregg LaVoie and Jay Snyder, the Ducks fell short of qualifying by six strokes and finished tied for 14th.
An even par 280 — the lowest score of the third round — wasn’t enough to vault the Ducks into the top ten, where all bids to the NCAA Championships were awarded. The tournament, played at the par-70, 6,742-yard Stanford Golf Course, was a microcosm of the Ducks’ season: a frustrating start followed by a stellar finish, leaving the team just shy of reaching its goal.
Although Oregon will miss out on the Championships, head coach Steve Nosler was still pleased at the way his squad played Saturday.
“We had a heck of a round today,” Nosler said. “It’s too bad that we didn’t have a better second round, but I’m really proud that these guys finished strong and represented Oregon the way they did.”
Although the tournament marked the end of Oregon’s season as a team, LaVoie will continue play June 1 at Caves Valley, Md., for the NCAA finals. The Pasco, Wash., native earned one of two possible individual seeds awarded to the top players at the Regional competing for a team not invited to the NCAAs. LaVoie delivered consistent scores of 70, 70 and 71 to finish tied for 10th at 1-over 211 with Washington’s Erik Olson. LaVoie’s trip to the Championships will be the second of his career and the first individual berth for an Oregon golfer since Ben Crane in 1997.
“Gregg has got tremendous potential as a golfer, and we’ve finally begun to see that on a consistent basis this spring,” Nosler said. “I hope this trip to the NCAA Championships, where he will be competing against the best golfers in the country, brings out the competitor in him and helps Gregg realize there’s another level he can reach with his abilities.”
Snyder recorded Oregon’s lowest score in the final round by shaving two strokes off his previous career-low with a 67. The sophomore walk-on carded four birdies and finished tied for 61st at 220. Chris
Dukeminier also saved his best round for last, improving his score Friday by four strokes and tying for 66th. Teammate Justin St. Clair ended the tournament tied for
49th at 218.
Matt Ma came into this tournament as Oregon’s hottest golfer in spring but could not find his rhythm over the weekend, finishing with a pair of 77s in the first and third rounds and carding an 82 on Friday. He finished tied for 128th at 237.
Top-seeded UNLV and No. 2 New Mexico of the Mountain West Conference defended their top seedings at the tournament by finishing first and second place, respectively. The Running Rebels shot a final round 288, giving them the team title by three strokes at 846. With the Lobos, they were joined in the top ten by six Pacific-10 Conference teams, including conference champ Washington (854), who vindicated its low No. 10 seeding by taking third.
Rob Grube of host Stanford shot a career-low 65 to win the individual Regional title at 6-under 204.
Johnna Nealy ends run
at NCAA Championships
Senior Johnna Nealy of the women’s golf team was busy this weekend as well, wrapping up her best score in the final round of the NCAA Golf Championships. Nealy scorched a 73 on Friday at the
par-71 Meadows Course in Sunriver, catapulting her 11 spots up the leaderboard and into a tie for 85th at 307.
The final round of the tournament was also the final round of Nealy’s career as a Duck, and she made the most of it by recording birdies on three of her first four holes. She recorded two more in the round en route to carding a
73 — a new career-low score for Nealy at the 6,312-yard course.
Duke took home both the team and individual titles at the tournament as Anna Grzebien shot a
2-over 73 on Friday, giving her first place by one stroke over Virginia’s Leah Wigger. The Blue Devils won the NCAA Championship by five strokes with a four-round total of 1170. Defending champ UCLA (1175) took second, followed by Auburn (1176).