University of Oregon
Duck Invitational
Trojans Hold off Oregon, OSU to Win Duck Invitational
03/27/07 | Men's Golf
EUGENE, Ore. – Freshman sensation Jamie Lovemark won a college golf tournament in the state of Oregon for the second time this season to help No. 6 USC hold off Oregon, Oregon State and Arizona to win the Duck Invitational Tuesday at the par-72, 7,033-yard Eugene Country Club.
Lovemark shot an even-par 72 in the final round to share medalist honors with UCLA's Kevin Chappell and Washington's Alex Prugh at 2-under 214. Lovemark also claimed medalist honors at the Big Ten/Pac-10 Challenge at Bandon's Pacific Dunes in October. He'll have a chance for the trifecta at next month's Pac-10 Championships, which will also be at Eugene CC. Prugh closed with a 70 to share the top spot, while Chappell had a 72.
Tuesday, the Trojans carded a 3-over 291 that included Lovemark's 72, a 70 from Joshua Wooding, a 74 from Jordan Nasser and a 75 from Rory Hie.
USC's three-round total of 868 was six strokes better that Oregon State (874) and seven ahead of Oregon and Arizona (875).
Only USC and the Beavers finished ahead of Oregon as the Ducks knocked off several of the Pac-10's power teams. Top-ranked Stanford was fifth at 880, while No. 9 UCLA and Washington tied for sixth at 887. No. 21 Arizona State took eighth at 889, followed by San Diego State (893), California (902), Washington State (907) and Pacific (923).
Derek Sipe led Oregon in the final round. The junior from Yorba Linda, Calif., shot a 1-under 71 and finished tied for sixth at 3-over 219. The Ducks also counted a 73 from junior Zeke Reyna, a 75 from junior Joey Benedetti and a 76 from senior Eric Hastings.
"I'm encouraged by this week," said Oregon coach Casey Martin. "It shows we can play with some awesome teams, the best in the country.
"We tend to stub our toe one round in every tournament, and we need to get over that hurdle," he said. "But I'm pleased with our guys. They worked hard after finals week and did well."
First round leader Matt Ma of Oregon struggled with an 81 on Tuesday, but finished the tournament tied with Benedetti and Arizona's Brian Prouty for 21st at 6-over 222. Reyna tied for 24th at 223.
"My putter went cold and then my driver went cold and I lost some confidence," said Ma, a senior from Aiea, Hawaii, "I had a slow start, got it going in the middle and then I lost it toward the end.
"But the team competed pretty well," he said. "Beating Stanford is huge because it's always good to beat the best team. If we can play this well, as hard as this course played, we can compete anywhere."
Oregon Duck Invitational
Eugene Country Club
Eugene, Ore.
Final Round
7,033-yards, Par 72
Team Standings - 1, USC, 282-295-291-868. 2, Oregon State, 287-292-295-874. T3, Oregon, 287-293-295-875; Arizona, 290-300-285-875. 5, Stanford, 300-297-283-880. T6, Washington, 292-299-296-887; UCLA, 291-296-300-887. 8, Arizona State, 294-296-299-889. 9, San Diego State, 298-297-298-893. 10, California, 291-301-310-902. 11, Washington State, 303-295-309-907. 12, Pacific, 322-307-294-923.
Top Individuals - T1, Alex Prugh, Washington, 68-76-70-214; Kevin Chappell, UCLA, 72-70-72-214; Jamie Lovemark, USC, 67-75-72-214. 4, Niklas Lemke, Arizona State, 70-75-72-217. 5, Joshua Wooding, USC, 72-76-70-218. T6, Derek Sipe, Oregon, 76-72-71-219; Josh Wilks, Arizona, 73-77-69-219; Chris Kilmer, Washington, 75-73-71-219; Matthew Savage, Stanford, 75-74-70-219; Knut Borsheim, Arizona State, 70-74-75-219; Nathan Tyler, Arizona, 74-72-73-219.
Other Oregon Results - T21, Matt Ma, 69-72-81-222; Joey Benedetti, 73-74-75-222. T24, Zeke Reyna, 73-77-73-223. T41, Marcus Sostak, 72-75-81-228. T59, Eric Hastings, 77-82-76-235.
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