University of Oregon
Thunderbird Invitational
Oregon Wins Thunderbird Invitational
04/16/07 | Men's Golf
TEMPE, Ariz. ? Oregon's even-par round of 288 Sunday was good enough to hold off a charge from Arizona State as the Ducks won the Thunderbird Invitational for the first time in school history.
Oregon's three-round total was 20-under 844, while the host Sun Devils, ranked 19th nationally, finished at 17-under 847 after posting a 283 Sunday, the low final round at the par-72, 7,037-yard Karsten Golf Course.
But it wasn't enough to catch Oregon, which had a five shot lead going into Sunday. The Ducks posted impressive rounds of 11-under 277 on Friday and 9-under 279 Saturday and all they had to do in the final round was hang on.
They did that, thanks to junior Derek Sipe and freshman Marcus Sostak.
Sipe, who led the tournament the first two days, finished with a 1-over 73 after seeing his consecutive string of holes without a bogey snapped at 43 following a double bogey on No. 8. His up-and-down final round included five birdies, four bogeys and eight pars, plus the double bogey.
The junior from Yorba Linda, Calif., missed medalist honors by three strokes. That went to New Mexico's Charlie Beljan, who shot a 68 Sunday for a 15-under 201 total that was tied for the fourth-lowest score in tournament history.
Still, Sipe established a personal best with his second place finish, and his 12-under 204 total earned his fourth top 10 finish of the season. Sipe's previous best finish was a tie for third at the 2006 Duck Invitational.
USC's Rory Hie was third at 11-under 205, while San Diego State's Aaron Goldberg was fourth at 207. Oklahoma's Jesse Schutte, from Florence, Ore., and Niklas Lemke of Arizona State tied for fifth at 8-under 208. Schutte shot a 70 on Sunday.
Sostak, a freshman from Costa Mesa, Calif., bounced back from a disastrous 82 on Saturday to shoot a team-low 69 in the final round. For the tournament, Sostak tied for 55th at 6-over 222.
In between Sipe and Sostak, the other three Ducks found the top 40.
Junior Joey Benedetti recorded a 2-over 74 and finished tied for 28th at even-par 216. Senior Matt Ma carded a final round 72 and finished tied for 30th at 1-over 217. Junior Zeke Reyna struggled with a 78 Sunday, but finished tied for 37th at 2-over 218. Reyna has now finished in the top 40 in five of the six tournaments he's competed in since transferring from Southern Methodist last summer.
Other teams of note in a field that featured five of the nation's top 23 teams included fifth-ranked USC, which was third at 15-under 849 as the Trojans nipped No. 15 Texas A&M (850) by a stroke. No. 23 Arizona was fifth at 852 and No. 7 Nevada-Las Vegas finished sixth at 854. Oregon was the only unranked team to finish in the top six.
The win was not only the school's first time claiming the Thunderbird trophy but it also marked Oregon's first ever top-three finish in the 35-year history of the Thunderbird Invitational. Oregon's previous best finish at ASU was fourth in 2003. It is also the Ducks' second win of the season under new head coach Casey Martin. Oregon won the fall's Northwest Collegiate Classic at Oregon State.
Sipe's second-place finish was also an Oregon best for the Thunderbird. The previous best finish by a Duck individual was third, by Chris Carnahan in 2002 and by Gregg LaVoie (tie) in 2005. Sipe's 204 total is an ASU tournament low for an Oregon golfer, beating Carnahan's 205 by one shot.
The win sets Oregon up nicely as the next competition is the Pac-10 championships, hosted by the Ducks April 23-25 at Eugene Country Club.
Thunderbird Invitational
Karsten Golf Course
Tempe, Ariz.
Final Round
7,037 Yards, Par 72
Team Standings - 1, Oregon, 277-279-288-844. 2, Arizona State, 281-283-283-847. 3, USC, 278-285-286-849. 4, Texas A&M, 282-279-289-850. 5, Arizona, 287-277-288-852. 6, Nevada-Las Vegas, 285-284-285-854. 7, Texas Tech, 279-292-284-855. 8, New Mexico, 291-277-289-857. 9, Oklahoma, 282-287-291-860. 10, California, 287-287-299-873. 11, Central Florida, 291-292-291-874. 12, San Diego State, 298-284-296-878. 13, Fresno State, 296-296-289-881. 14, Baylor, 288-298-303-889. 15, Kansas State, 289-307-297-893.
Top Individuals - 1, Charlie Beljan, New Mexico, 66-67-68-201. 2, Derek Sipe, Oregon, 65-66-73-204. 3, Rory Hie, USC, 67-69-69-205. 4, Aaron Goldberg, San Diego State, 70-66-71-207. T5, Jesse Schutte, Oklahoma, 68-70-70-208; Niklas Lemke, Arizona State, 72-67-69-208.
Other Oregon Results - T28, Joey Benedetti, 70-72-74-216. T30, Matt Ma, 71-74-72-217. T37, Zeke Reyna, 73-67-78-218. T55, Marcus Sostak, 71-82-69-222.
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Players Mentioned
