NCAA Men's Golf: Oregon State Finishes Second at Duck Invitational

OSU shot a 295 during Tuesday’s final round to finish with a 10-over 874 (287-292-295).

James Allenby tied for 12th to help lead the Beavers to a second-place finish. Photo: OSU Athletics

EUGENE - The Oregon State men’s golf team settled for second place at the Duck Invitational on Tuesday, but considering the competition, the result may go down as one of the best in school history.

All of the Pacific-10 Conference teams were competing as part of a 12-team field at the Eugene Country Club (par-72, 7,033 yards).

OSU finished six shots back of fifth-ranked USC, but the Beavers placed better than seven teams ranked ahead of them in the Golfstat statistics, including #1 Stanford and #10 UCLA.

OSU shot a 295 during Tuesday’s final round to finish with a 10-over 874 (287-292-295). The Beavers were also in second place after Monday’s two rounds.

“This was such a great tournament for the program,” OSU Coach Brian Watts said. “I told our guys today that they had an opportunity to do something that no other OSU golf team has done, and that’s to beat the top-ranked team, as well as a whole lot of other highly ranked teams. To have finished the way we did was awesome. The players followed the game plan and stayed patient. They never got rattled and fought hard all day long.”

With an important point in the Northwest Dodge Civil War Series on the line, the Beavers began Tuesday with a one-stroke lead over rival Oregon.

The Ducks also shot a 295, allowing the Beavers to maintain their one-stroke advantage and earn the point.

OSU also picked up a point with a better finish than Oregon in the women’s Duck Invitational on Tuesday.

The Beavers, who are looking for their third straight victory in the overall series, now have an 8-7 lead with just two points yet to be decided in the best-of-three softball series.

Impressively, the Beavers earned their second-place team finish despite having no individuals break the top 10.

Vincent Johnson shot an even-par 72 today to lift himself into a tie for 12th place along with teammate James Allenby.

They both finished with a 4-over 220, six strokes back of what turned out to be a three-way tie for individual medalist honors.

Alex Williams also shot a 72 today, which moved him into a tie for 24th place with a 7-over 223. Diego Velasquez and Paul Peterson both tied for 31st and Mitch Gillis tied for 59th.

“Every round, at least four guys played well,” Watts said. “All six of our players contributed to our team score. The weather conditions were tough, but our guys knew they could use that to their advantage. I’m extremely proud of them. We got off to a great start today, then struggled a little mid-round. But we kept fighting and never got our chins down. Our attitudes were awesome and that was the difference today.”

The Beavers will hope to duplicate their outstanding effort in late April, as the Eugene Country Club will be the site of the Pac-10 Championships.

Next week (April 2nd-3rd), the Beavers will take part in the Pacific Coast Intercollegiate, hosted by UC Santa Barbara.

Team Scores

1 Southern California 282-295-291=868 +4

2 Oregon State 287-292-295=874 +10

T3 Arizona 290-300-285=875 +11

T3 Oregon 287-293-295=875 +11

5 Stanford 300-297-283=880 +16

T6 Washington 292-299-296=887 +23

T6 UCLA 291-296-300=887 +23

8 Arizona State 294-296-299=889 +25

9 San Diego State 298-297-298=893 +29

10 California 291-301-310=902 +38

11 Washington State 303-295-309=907 +43

12 Pacific 322-307-294=923 +59

Top Individuals

T1 Alex Prugh, Washington 68-76-70=214 -2

T1 Kevin Chappell, UCLA 72-70-72=214 -2

T1 Jamie Lovemark, USC 67-75-72=214 -2

4 Niklas Lemke, Arizona State 70-75-72=217 +1

5 Joshua Wooding, USC 72-76-70=218 +2

Oregon State Scores

T12 James Allenby 71-74-75=220 +4

T12 Vincent Johnson 68-80-72=220 +4

T24 Alex Williams 72-79-72=223 +7

T31 Diego Velasquez 76-73-76=225 +9

T31 Paul Peterson 77-71-77=225 +9

T59 Mitch Gillis 77-74-84=235 +19

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