Ducks Continue Fall Season at Nike Golf Collegiate
10/02/15 | Men's Golf
EUGENE – The Oregon men's golf team will travel to Portland, Ore., this weekend to compete at the Nike Golf Collegiate Invitational. The three-day, 54-hole tournament will be played at Pumpkin Ridge Golf Course and is set to begin on Sunday.
Hosts: Nike, Oregon, Oregon State
Course: Pumpkin Ridge Golf Course
Ghost Creek Par/Yards: Par-71, 6,834 yards (First round)
Witch Hollow Par/Yards: Par-72, 7,015 yards (Second and third rounds)
Tee Time: 8:00 a.m. (PT)
Duck Line-Up: Zach Foushee, Brandon McIver, Aaron Wise, Thomas Lim, Sulman Raza
THE FIELD
The Nike Golf Collegiate Invitational field of 14 teams is highlighted by 11 of the Top 25 teams in the latest polls. Those include No. 7 Stanford, No. 9 Texas, No. 10 Clemson, No. 12 Georgia, No. 14 Wake Forest, No. 15 Oklahoma, No. 17 Vanderbilt, No. 18 co-host Oregon, No. 19 USC, No. 20 Washington and No. 22 Duke. Rounding out the field are Arizona, Ohio State and other co-host Oregon State.
ABOUT THE DUCKS
The Ducks are coming off a third-place finish at The Jackrabbit last weekend. Through two tournaments, the team has one win under its belt after a successful appearance at the Husky Invitational that saw Oregon take home a share of the tournament title for a second consecutive season. Oregon returns nine players from a successful 2014-15 campaign that saw the team record five tournament wins, tying them for second overall on the program single-season wins list. The Ducks wrapped up the 2015 season at the NCAA Championships in Bradenton, Fla., where they finished 23rd overall.
Active tournament wins leader Aaron Wise leads the Ducks after claiming his third career individual title at last week's Jackrabbit. Returning contributors Zach Foushee, Nigel Lett, Thomas Lim, Max Carter, Brandon McIver also aim to lead the Ducks to another successful year, with each having seen action last season. Brandon Baumgarten, Andrew Bonner and Sulman Raza also return to the Duck roster and will look to make an impact on the 2015-16 campaign after redshirting in 2014-15. Oregon adds two newcomers to this season's roster in freshmen Sam Foust and Edwin Yi. The Ducks are led by tenth-year head coach Casey Martin and third-year assistant coach Van Williams.
ABOUT THE COURSE
Pumpkin Ridge Golf Club is rich in history and tradition, playing host to six USGA championships including Tiger Woods' dramatic victory in the 1996 US Amateur, his unprecedented third consecutive US Amateur championship. Pumpkin Ridge has also hosted two US Women's Opens, and numerous Web.Com Tour and LPGA Tour events. The vision for the Nike Golf Collegiate Invitational is to expose the very best in men's college golf to a PGA Tour like experience played on a major championship golf course and showcase Nike, Inc. and Nike Golf's commitment to the athlete and to sports.
LAST TIME OUT
Sophomore Aaron Wise earned co-medalist honors at The Jackrabbit on Monday, leading the Ducks to a third-place finish at the Prairie Club's par-72, 7,522-yard Dunes Golf Course.
Wise carded a 7-under 209 at The Jackrabbit to tie South Florida's Claudio Correa for medalist honors and bring home his third collegiate tournament victory.
The Ducks finished in a tie for third with Texas A&M at 2-over 866 after posting a 1-under 287 in the final round. Oregon wrapped up the championship a stroke behind second-place Arizona State. South Florida finished at 18-under to be crowned the team champion.
After heading into the turn at 1-over, Brandon McIver got back on track by sinking an eagle on the par-5 10th hole and a birdie on the par-4 11th. The senior from Billings, Mont., finished his first tournament of the season in a tie for 14th at 2-over after a 1-under 71 on Monday. Andrew Bonner was impressive in his final 18 as well, recording four birdies on the day to notch a season-low 1-under 71. Bonner finished The Jackrabbit tied for 22nd overall at 4-over.
Zach Foushee was the Ducks' third top-20 finisher for the tournament, wrapping up Monday's round in a tie for 19th. Foushee carded a 4-over 74 on Monday to turn in a 1-under 219 for the championship.
WHAT'S ON THE LINE
The Ducks will compete amongst the strongest field they've faced so far this season at the Nike Golf Collegiate Invitational. After two solid outings in the first tournaments of the fall season, Oregon will get a chance to affirm its place in the collegiate golf ranks this weekend as the team aims for its second tournament victory of the season.
PAC-12 GOLFER OF THE MONTH
Oregon sophomore Aaron Wise was named the Pac-12 Men's Golfer of the Month for September, the Pac-12 announced Wednesday. In six rounds of play in September, Wise posted five rounds under par and one round at even par. His 69.67 stroke average is currently good for seventh in the country.
WINNING WISE
Much like head coach Casey Martin expressed after Aaron Wise's third-place finish at last week's Husky Invitational, it seems the sophomore has developed into an elite player in the collegiate ranks. With his win Monday, Wise became just the fourth player in Oregon history to reach three tournament wins in his career, and only the second to reach that milestone in two or less seasons.
DUCKS IN THE RANKINGS
The Ducks were slotted at No. 18 in the latest Bushnell Golfweek Coaches Poll released last week. Florida State holds possession of the No. 1 spot with Illinois, Auburn, Oklahoma State and LSU rounding out the top five. Oregon is one of seven Pac-12 teams to appear in the rankings. Oregon was ranked No. 16 and No. 18 in the final Golfstat and Golfweek/Sagarin rankings, respectively, released last June.
2016 NCAA GOLF CHAMPIONSHIPS HEADED FOR EUGENE
The University of Oregon was selected to host the 2016 NCAA Division I Men's and Women's Golf Championships, the NCAA announced on Jan. 14, 2015. The tournament will be played at Eugene Country Club, with the women's championships held May 20-25 and the men's from May 27-June 1. This marks the first time Oregon will host both the men's and women's NCAA golf championships in the same year.
THE SUMMER OF WISE
Oregon sophomore Aaron Wise had an outstanding summer of amateur action this offseason with stellar performances at the Pacific Coast Amateur, Western Amateur and SCGA Amateur. Wise bested a deep field that featured a Pac-12 Player of the Year (Maverick McNealy), Big 12 Player of the Year (Beau Hossler) and an NCAA National Champion (Bryson DeChambeau), among others, to win the Pacific Coast Amateur in July. Wise added to the win with a second-place finish at the SCGA Amateur Championship and an appearance in the match-play finals at the Western Amateur.
ONE FOR THE RECORD BOOKS
The Ducks' 2014-15 season was a historic one as the team racked up five tournament victories, tying it for second overall on the all-time program wins list with the 2009-10 team. The 2011-12 team remains the winningest team in Oregon men's golf history with seven tournament wins. The 2014-15 season also saw the Ducks win the most consecutive team championships as they took home four-straight victories at the Husky Invitational, Itani Homes Collegiate, Nike Golf Collegiate Invite and Ka'anapali Classic.
LOOKING FORWARD
After the Nike Golf Collegiate Invitational, the Ducks will have a few weeks off before wrapping up the fall season at The Gifford in San Diego, Calif., Nov. 2-4.
