University of Oregon
NCAA Championships
Benedetti Leads Ducks in NCAA Day 1
05/28/08 | Men's Golf
* Click here to see a photo gallery of first-day action pix, and a PDF file with results is available in the LINKS box to the right.
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. ? University of Oregon senior Joey Benedetti shined in his NCAA debut Wednesday and was tied for 10th place in first day action in the 111th edition of the NCAA Championships, while the No. 44 ranked Ducks were tied for 25th in the team race.
The Huntington Beach, Calif., native Benedetti shot a two-over 74 thanks to four birdies and six par's on the par 72, 7,450-yard Kampen Course at the Birck Boilermaker Golf Complex.
Despite the cool, windy conditions early, Benedetti raced out to a three-under score the first four holes thanks to birdies on the first, third and fourth holes. However, bogeys on the eighth, ninth, 10th, 11th and 13th holes put him back at two-over with five holes to play. He ended with par scores on the 14th, 15th and 17th holes, another bogey on the 16th and a birdie on the 18th.
“Looking back, I guess I'll take a 74 for a first round,” Benedetti said. “I got out great, but then things fell apart a little in the middle ? that's a tough stretch in there. I was able to get a shot in the arm again on 12 when I made a 12-foot putt just to get a bogey, and finished OK after that. The way the wind played with the ball, it was tough at times to be up and down. If you kept the ball in the fairway there were some birdies out there to be had. But once you got off the fairway, it was very challenging. There's no margin in the rough ? it's pretty high with little first-cut between.”
Freshman Sean Maekawa followed four shots back with a six-over 78 that tied him for 70th place. The Pa'auilo, Hawai'i native shot par on the first eight holes, bogeyed the ninth and 10th holes, then alternated pars with double-bogeys on the 11th-14th holes. He had another bogey on the 15th, birdied the 16th, and ended with par scores on the last two holes.
“I was a little nervous coming in ? that's natural - but played as relaxed as possible,” Maekawa said. “My putting was good today, and I had a lot of good up and down opportunities early. The wind really played a factor on the 12th-15th holes. It's the third day we played the course, and the third different way the wind was blowing. I did my best to adjust, and ended the day on a high note with a 20-foot putt on 18.”
Oregon's other scorers Wednesday included senior Derek Sipe (100th-t, 80) and freshman Isaiah Telles (126th-t, 83). Fellow freshman Jack Dukeminier (155th-t, 90) rounded out the UO contingent.
“This is a difficult course for a championship,” Oregon head coach Casey Martin said. “Some top players will still be able to score well, but once you're off the fairway you're in trouble. Joey came out and had a great start on a cold windy early morning and that really helped to save us. We played pretty well early, hit a road block on holes 8-12, then came out of it a little from 13 on.”
UO was among the first three teams to tee off at 7 a.m. and the cloudy, windy skies offered temperatures in the upper 40s. Later in the morning, the conditions warmed and the wind started to die in the Purdue University-hosted event that featured 30 teams.
Overall on the individual leaderboard, only three players in the 156-competitor field logged under-par rounds ? Kevin Chappell of UCLA (first, 69) and David Markle of Kent State and Tim Sluter of USC (second-tied, 70).
Team-wise, No. 1 USC and No. 5 UCLA were tied for first at 297, one stroke ahead of No. 4 Oklahoma State (third, 298). Other teams in the top 10 included No. 10 Clemson and No. 27 Kent State (fourth-tie, 301), No. 36 Illinois and No. 7 Florida (sixth-tie, 302), No. 3 Georgia (eighth, 303), No. 49 Washington (ninth, 305), and No. 14 Auburn and No. 6 Charlotte (10th-tie, 306).
Hole-by-hole scores and regular updated results each day from the tourney are available at the www.GolfStat.com website. More information on various NCAA Championships is available at the www.NCAAsports.com website.
Almost two weeks ago in the West Regional, the Ducks earned their first NCAA appearance since 2003 thanks to a second-place team finish (and 3-under 295) that was 14 places higher than their pre-tourney seeding (16th). In that same event, Benedetti became the program's first ever regional champion and won by four strokes (9-under 207), and Telles and Sipe tied for 11th place (even-par 216). UO has enjoyed one of its seasons in recent memory under the second-year mentor Martin, and has 11 top-five finishes in his first 26 tournaments as head coach.
Wednesday also marked the start of UO's 22nd NCAA Championships appearances. The Ducks made their first trip in 1947 and finished 17th, and their highest placing came in 1959 (fourth). UO also staked top-10 finishes in 1977 and '76 (seventh / 10th).
Looking ahead, the Ducks return for second round action Thursday, and their first player tees off at 12:12 p.m. (ET). The third round follows on Friday, and the top 15 teams after three rounds advance to a final round Saturday.
FIRST ROUND FINAL RESULTS
NCAA Championships
Kampen Course - Par 72, 7,450 yards
Birck Boilermaker Golf Complex
Purdue University
West Lafayette, Ind.
Wednesday, May 28, 2008
* Complete results are available at www.GolfStat.com website
TEAM STANDINGS ? 1t, USC, 297. 1t, UCLA, 297. 3, Oklahoma State, 298. 4t, Clemson, 301. 4t, Kent State, 301. 6t, Illinois, 302. 6t, Florida, 302. 8, Georgia, 303. 9, Washington, 305. 10t, Auburn, 306. 10t, Charlotte, 306. 12t, Stanford, 309. 12t, Texas A&M, 309. 12t, Middle Tennessee State, 309. 12t, Alabama, 309. 16, San Diego State, 310. 17t, Arizona State, 311. 17t, Louisville, 311. 17t, Texas, 311. 21, Virginia, 312. 22t, Indiana, 313. 22t, East Tennessee State, 313. 24, Wake Forest, 314. 25t, Penn State, 315. 25t, Oregon, 315. 27, UC Irvine, 320. 28t, Mississippi State, 326. 28t, Augusta State, 326. 30, St. Mary's (Calif.), 333.
INDIVIDUAL STANDINGS ? 1, Kevin Chappell, UCLA, 69. 2t, David Markle, Kent State, 70. 2t, Tim Sluiter, USC, 70. 4t, Billy Horschel, Florida, 72. 4t, Joel Sjoholm, Georgia State, 72. 4t, Kyle Stanley, Clemson, 72. 7t, Trent Leon, Oklahoma State, 73. 7t, Webb Simpson, Wake Forest, 73. 7t, Hudson Swafford, Georgia, 73. 10t, Joey Benedetti, Oregon, 74 (20 others tied at 74).
OREGON INDIVIDUAL RESULTS ? 10t, Joey Benedetti, 74. 70t, Sean Maekawa, 78. 100t, Derek Sipe, 80. 126t, Isaiah Telles, 83. 155t, Jack Dukeminier, 90.
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Players Mentioned
