The Oregon men’s and women’s golf teams found themselves going in opposite directions in their final events of the fall season.
The women, ranked No. 25 in this week’s Golfweek/Sagarin rankings for the first time in three years, finished in sixth place at the Kent Youel Invitational on Wednesday, held at the par-72, 5,900-yard Kapolei Golf Course in Kapolei, Hawaii. In their four fall tournaments, the Ducks posted four top-ten finishes, already making this season one of the best in recent memory.
The Ducks received strong performances from Johanna Nealy, who shot a 77-78-72 and ended at 227 and Theresa Winslow, who carded a 73-79-75 for a final score of 227. The duo tied for 13th. Erin Andrews nearly equaled her teammates’ performances with a 79-76-73 for a final of 228, finishing in a tie for 21st. Kimberly McCready ended the tournament tied for 40th and Michelle Timpani finished tied for 69th.
“Playing 36 holes in the same day is not an easy task,” Oregon coach Shannon Rouillard said. “To see us come back in the second round was huge. We’re going to stick to our game, play aggressive, play well, and we’ll see what happens.”
The Ducks slipped a spot from Tuesday’s fifth-place 614, even after firing their best round of the tournament — a final round 300. San Jose State carded a final round 294 to jump into fourth and knock Texas A&M and Oregon down to fifth and sixth, respectively. Oklahoma took home the team title, finishing two strokes ahead of Washington, which finished with a score of 891.
The Oregon men’s golf team ended its season on a much different note. The Ducks struggled to a 14th-place finish at The Prestige at PGA West on Tuesday, played at the par-72, 6,841-yard LaQuinta Mountain Course at LaQuinta, Calif.
The Ducks opened with a respectable first-round 297, but followed it up with second and third-round scores of 302 and 309, respectively, to only finish ahead of Yale.
Mike Sica, Gregg LaVoie and Dustin Pewarchuk all finished the tournament tied for 49th at 11-over 227. Matt Ma tied for 59th with a three-round 75-75-80 and ended at 230, and Jimmy White finished tied for 64th with a 76-79-78 (233).
No. 4 UCLA won the tournament at 859, followed by No. 7 TCU at 860. The Horned Frog’s Colby Beckstrom earned medalist honors with a 10-under 206.
Both teams return to tournament play in February.