After a three day stretch facing tough competition and weather, the Oregon men’s golf team finished second overall at The Prestige tournament in La Quinta, California. 

The Ducks ended day three at 1-over and 26-over for the tournament, edging out five of the six top-25 teams including No. 14 Kansas (+29), No. 7 Texas Tech (+33), No. 9 Stanford (+39), No. 25 LSU (+45) and No. 5 Pepperdine (+47).

“The guys played great and showed a lot of grit,” head coach Casey Martin said. “Those were some of the toughest conditions for competitive golf I have ever seen. Such intense winds. We handled it beautifully.”

No. 18 Vanderbilt ran away with first place, going 14-under, 270 on Wednesday. The program posted the best team score of the weekend by 15 strokes. Vanderbilt’s Reid Davenport shot a 5-under, 66 and Cole Sherwood went for a 3-under, 68 round as both players finished within the top five of individual scoring. 
Oregon began the third round tied with Texas Tech for the lead. The Ducks had a good showing with a lot of tough competition in the tournament, but couldn’t keep up with Vanderbilt’s dominant final round.

Eric Doyle was the highlight for the Ducks on Wednesday.

After shooting a pair of 75’s on Monday and Tuesday, Doyle went for a 3-under, 68 round, matching his career best. His round included three birdies and no bogeys, as he finished tied for seventh in individual scoring, his first top-ten performance. 

With five birdies on the back nine, Owen Avrit also had an impressive 1-under, 70 in the third round. Jose Islas for the Ducks went for a 73 on the final round while Nate Stember and Greg Solhaug shot a pair of 74’s.

Since they won The Prestige in 2011, this was the Ducks’ best finish in the tournament. Their next tournament will be at Bandon, Oregon for the Bandon Dunes Championships starting on March 6.