In their second tournament of the season, the Oregon men’s golf team completed its third and final round at the Ping-Golfweek Preview at Karsten Creek Golf Club in Stillwater, Okla., in ninth place overall Tuesday afternoon.
Oklahoma State, the tournament host, won the team title with a combined score of 14-over-par 878, followed by UCLA (882) and Georgia (883). Oregon’s third-round combined score of 305 was their worst day of the tournament; Oregon compiled a three-day total of 904 (40 over par).
Individually for the Ducks, junior Daniel Miernicki continued his strong play from last spring as he finished tied for 10th after carding a three-day total of 221 (+5). Miernicki’s performance was complemented by three finishes within the top 40 from fellow juniors Robbie Ziegler (28th, 9-over-par 225), Eugene Wong (33rd, 12-over-par 228) and Andrew Vijarro (38th, 14-over-par 230). Senior Isaiah Telles (19-over-par 235) rounded out Oregon’s scorers.
A final-round 2-under-par 69 pushed UCLA’s Pontus Widegren into the medalist’s position; he finished with a two-under 214 through three days of action. Georgia’s Hudson Swafford and Oklahoma State’s Peter Uihlein tied for second place at even par (216).
The Ducks jumped out to a fourth-place finish after the opening day, with Wong and Ziegler leading the way with a 74 (2 over par) and tying for eighth overall. Miernicki finished one stroke behind and tied for 20th overall, while Vijarro shot a 77 (5 over par) to tie for 34th.
The following day Oregon dropped three spots into seventh place with a team score of 23-over par. Playing the par-72, 7,403-yard course, Miernicki had another strong day en route to a tie for sixth at 1-under 71 to bring his two-day score to 146. Ziegler on the other hand, sat in a tie for 13th after the second day, while Wong was tied for 36th.
Ultimately the Ducks were second among the four Pacific-10 Conference teams participating at the event, finishing ahead of 11th-place Arizona State and 15th-place USC.
Oregon will gear up for its next tournament at PGA West Stadium in La Quinta, Calif., hosted by UC Davis and Stanford, Oct. 10-12.
The Ducks have three tournaments remaining in their fall campaign before taking three months off to prepare for the spring season beginning in February.
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