Ducks Head to Prairie Club for The Jackrabbit
09/24/15 | Men's Golf
EUGENE, Ore. - Coming off its first tournament victory of the season, the Oregon men's golf team will compete at The Jackrabbit this weekend. The tournament is set at the par-72, 7,785-yard Dunes Golf Course located at the Prairie Club in Valentine, Neb.
ABOUT THE DUCKS
The Ducks are coming off a successful appearance at the Husky Invitational that saw them 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.
Returning contributors Zach Foushee, Nigel Lett, Thomas Lim, Max Carter, Brandon McIver and Aaron Wise 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.
LAST TIME OUT
The Ducks were named co-champions at this week's Husky Invitational to pick up their first tournament victory of the season. The Ducks carded a tournament-low 2-under 282 in the final round of the tournament to tie with Washington for the championship.
Aaron Wise led the Ducks with a 4-under 68-70-71 to finish third overall at the tournament behind Washington's Corey Pereira (-7) and USC's Sean Crocker (-6). Sulman Raza and Thomas Lim each recorded top-10 finishes as well. Raza finished the Husky Invitational in fifth overall with a 1-over 214 for the tournament. Lim finished in a tie for seventh at 3-over.
At the Husky Individual, freshman Edwin Yi finished third overall competing in his first collegiate tournament with a 3-over 219. Zach Foushee held possession of the No. 6 spot on the leaderboard after finishing 8-over for the championship. Also seeing his first collegiate action, freshman Sam Foust finished the Husky Individual tied for 27th at 20-over.
WHAT'S ON THE LINE
Oregon heads to The Jackrabbit with an opportunity to keep up their momentum from the win at the Husky Invitational and add another accomplishment to the 2015-16 resumé. The Ducks will contend with Pac-12 foe and sixth-ranked Arizona State, along with a host of other talented teams looking to claim the Jackrabbit crown. The team will look for another good performance from its five this weekend before rolling to the Nike Golf Intercollegiate in Portland, Ore., a week from Sunday.
MEET THE NEWCOMERS
The 2015-16 Oregon men's golf roster features two newcomers, freshmen Sam Foust and Edwin Yi. Both made their collegiate debuts competing as individuals at the Husky Invitational.
Foust comes to the Ducks from Edina, Minn., where he led Edina High School to one 3A state title as a junior and a second-place finish in the state championship as a senior. Foust was ranked No. 1 in the state in his class and third overall in the state according to Junior Golf Scoreboard.
Yi, a Beaumont, Calif., native entered his senior season with 11 top-15 AJGA finishes to his credit. He competed at this summer's U.S. Amateur against an impressive field of players, including Oregon sophomore Aaron Wise after tying for second at Sectional Qualifying with Thomas Lim.
DUCKS IN THE RANKINGS
The Ducks were slotted at No. 15 in the preseason Bushnell Golfweek Coaches Poll released last month. Illinois holds possession of the No. 1 spot with LSU, Texas, Florida State and USC rounding out the top five. Oregon is one of six 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 Jackrabbit, the Ducks will return to Eugene before making the short trip north to Portland, Ore., to compete at the Nike Golf Intercollegiate at Pumkin Ridge Golf Club from Oct. 4-6, before wrapping up the fall season at The Gifford in San Diego, Calif., Nov. 2-4.
Players Mentioned
