Ducks Cruise to Victory at UCSB Invite

GOLETA, Calif. – It took the bulk of the regular season, but it appears the University of Oregon men's golf program has finally rounded back into the form that led to a third-place NCAA finish last spring.

The Ducks posted their first win of the year and third straight top 3 finish, taking home both the team and individual championships at the OGIO Santa Barbara Invite held at Sandpiper Golf Club.

Oregon, which led by 19 strokes after two rounds, extended that number to 27 over the final 18 holes, outdistancing its only challenger in the 16-team field - runner-up and host UCSB – 12-under 852 to 15-over 879.

A pair of Ducks shared medalist honors with junior Daniel Miernicki (68-72-72-212) and senior Jack Dukeminier (67-72-73-212) both finishing at 4-under on the par 72, 7,068-yard layout. The title for Miernicki was his second of the season and fourth of his career, while Dukeminier became an individual medalist for the first time in his college career.

Robbie Ziegler (69-70-74-213), who shared the 36-hole lead with Dukeminier, finished one shot back in a tie for third place – his best showing as a collegian – and Jack Paton (70-76-72-218) gave Oregon four top-10 finishers with a tie for eighth.

True freshman Ben Itterman (75-73-84-232), making his second career team start, tied for 52nd in the 87-man field.

The Ducks, who began the 2010-11 season ranked No. 1 by www.Golfstat.com, play at the 65th Annual Western Intercollegiate at Pasatiempo in Santa Cruz, April 16-17. That tournament will serve as the team's final tune-up heading into the Pac-10 Championships at Stanford Golf Club, April 25 to May 1.