University of Oregon
Fresno State Lexus Classic
Seniors Pace Ducks in Fourth Place Finish at Fresno
03/11/08 | Men's Golf
FRESNO, Calif. ? Seniors Derek Sipe and Joey Benedetti each shot a 69 in the final round of the Fresno State Lexus Golf Classic to lead Oregon to a fourth place finish at the 6,729-yard, par-72 Fort Washington Country Club.
"It was nice to see our seniors lead us the last two rounds," said Oregon coach Casey Martin. "And we got some solid rounds out of the freshmen. We left some stokes out there, especially in the first round, but I'm fairly pleased with how we competed the last two rounds. And we got another top four finish, so it's hard to find too much fault with that."
The Fresno State Lexus Classic marked the sixth time in eight 2007-08 tournaments that Oregon has finished fourth or better.
Sipe, from Yorba Linda, Calif., finished tied for sixth overall at 5-under 211. It was his best finish since taking second at the ASU Thunderbird Invitational last April. He had six birdies and three bogeys for his 69 on Tuesday, which matched his second round 69 from Monday.
"Derek always seems to come on in the spring, so hopefully here we go again," said Martin. "Derek has the ability to post some really low numbers for us and to see him below par in back-to-back rounds is a very positive thing for this team."
Benedetti had four birdies to just one bogey to get to 69 on Tuesday. He tied freshman Jack Dukeminier for 19th overall at 2-under 214. It was the fifth top-20 finish of the season for Benedetti, from Huntington Beach, Calif. Dukeminier, a freshman from Eugene, Ore., closed with a 2-under 70, which was his best round of the tournament.
The Ducks finished 14 shots back of San Diego State, which defended its 2007 Fresno Classic title. The Aztecs shot a 1-over 289 Tuesday, but it was enough to beat California and Texas by three strokes. SDSU's three-round total was 841 to the 844 posted by the Bears and Longhorns.
Oregon shot its second straight round of 4-under 284 to finish the tournament in fourth at 9-under 855. Pacific was fifth at 862, while Texas Christian finished sixth at 863.
Charlie Holland of Texas defeated Matt Hoffenberg of San Diego State on the third playoff hole to claim individual medalist honors. Both golfers were tied at 9-under 207 after 54 holes in regulation.
Fresno State Lexus Golf Classic
Fort Washington C.C.
Fresno, Calif.
6,729-yards, par-72
Final Round
Team Scores
1, San Diego State, 275-277-289-841. 2, California, 287-278-279-844. 3, Texas, 282-276-286-844.
4, Oregon, 286-285-284-855. 5, Pacific, 287-293-282-862. 6, Texas Christian, 288-282-293-863. 7, Cal State Bakersfield, 286-293-284-863. 8, Boise State, 295-281-288-864. 9, Loyola Marymount, 287-290-288-865. T10, Portland, 291-285-291-867; Nevada, 283-289-295-867. 12, Cal State Northridge, 286-291-293-870. T13, Kansas State, 295-283-294-872; Brigham Young, 291-289-292-872. 15, Santa Clara, 287-296-297-880. 16, Fresno State, 295-293-293-881. 17, Idaho, 302-295-285-882. 18, Long Beach State, 295-294-296-885. 19, Sacramento State, 307-292-292-891. 20, Wyoming, 306-309-299-914.
Top Individuals
1, Charlie Holland, Texas, 70-68-69-207***. 2, Matt Hoffenberg, San Diego State, 69-68-70-207; 3, Lance Lopez, Texas, 68-70-71-209. T4, Bobby Hudson, Texas, 73-65-72-210; Scott Travers, Santa Clara, 70-71-69-210.
T6, Derek Sipe, Oregon, 73-69-69-211; Brandon Beck, California, 71-72-68-211; Aaron Goldberg, San Diego State, 67-72-72-211; Evan Derian, California, 70-71-70-211; George Gandranata, California, 73-66-66-72-211; David Palm, San Diego State, 68-68-69-211.
***won on the third playoff hole
Other Oregon Individuals
T20, Jack Dukeminier, 71-73-70-214; Joey Benedetti, 73-72-69-214. T43, Isaiah Telles, 71-71-76-218. T88, Sean Maekawa, 71-79-79-229.
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Players Mentioned
