Benedetti Leads Oregon at Thunderbird Invitational

TEMPE, Ariz. ? Joey Benedetti matched his career low with a 68 in the second round to lead Oregon to 13th place following two rounds of the Thunderbird Invitational, played at the par-72, 7,037-yard Karsten Golf Course.

Benedetti, a sophomore from Huntington Beach, Calif., shot an-even par 72 in Saturday's morning round and then went 4-under in the afternoon to finish the day tied for 15th at 140. The 68 matched the low round Benedetti shot as a freshman in the 2004 Northwest Collegiate Classic.

Senior Gregg LaVoie shot a 2-over 146 and was tied for 50th for the Ducks.

No. 7 Nevada-Las Vegas and No. 22 San Diego State shared the lead for the team race with 27-under 549 totals. Arizona and Kansas State were next at 558, followed by Stanford at 559, No. 9 Arizona State at 560, Illinois at 567, California at 572, No. 21 Texas Tech at 573 and No. 25 South Carolina at 577 to round out the top 10.

Colorado State led the next group at 580, with Central Florida (581), Oregon (583) and Arkansas (587) close behind. The Ducks shot a 6-over 294 in the morning, but bounced back with a 289 in the afternoon.

Kansas State's Ben Kern led the individual race at 10-under 134 and was one stroke better than San Diego State's Aaron Goldberg, UNLV's Sevng-Su Han and Arizona's Henry Liaw.

Thunderbird Invitational
Karsten Golf Course
Tempe, Ariz.
First and Second Rounds
7,037-yards, Par 72

Team Standings - 1 (tie) Nevada-Las Vegas, 279-270-549; San Diego State, 277-272-549. 3 (tie), Arizona, 278-280-558; Kansas State, 287-271-558. 5, Stanford, 283-276-559. 6, Arizona State, 283-277-560. 7, Illinois, 285-282-567. 8, California, 287-285-572. 9, Texas Tech, 284-289-573. 10, South Carolina, 288-289-577. 11, Colorado State, 283-297-580. 12, Central Florida, 291-290-581. 13, Oregon, 294-289-583. 14, Arkansas, 294-293-587. 15, Arizona State “B”, 302-294-596. 16, Penn State, 302-300-602.

Oregon Results - 15 (tie), Joey Benedetti, 72-68-140. 50 (tie), Gregg LaVoie, 74-72-146. 66 (tie), Derek Sipe, 77-73-153; Justin St. Clair (I), 73-77-150. 75 (tie), Chris Dukeminier, 77-76-153. 77 (tie), Dustin Pewarchuk, 71-83-154.

(I) - competing as an individual

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