UO Men?s and Women?s Golf Teams Set to Host Duck Invitational Tournaments
EUGENE, Ore. ? The Oregon men’s and women’s golf teams will each host their annual tournament -- the Oregon Duck Invitational -- at two courses around the Eugene area next week.
The women will host 16 squads at the par-72, 6,103-yard Shadow Hills Country Club in Junction City, Ore., including No. 4 Washington, while the men will welcome 15 teams to the par-72, 6,900-yard Eugene Country Club, including second-ranked Georgia Tech. Both tournaments will be contested Monday and Tuesday, with 36 holes scheduled for play on the opening day, followed by a final 18 on the second day. Play at the two courses will begin at 8 a.m. both days and admission is free.
At Shadow Hills, Kim Welch of Washington State will try for an unprecedented fourth consecutive individual title. She won the event last year when the women played at Eugene CC and claimed victory in 2003 at Shadow Hills by shooting a 7-under 209. She garnered her first Duck Invitational title in 2002 at Mallard Creek.
In addition to the fourth-ranked Huskies, the women’s field includes No. 18 Stanford, No. 22 Washington State -- the two-time defending team champions -- California, Fresno State, Idaho, Long Beach State, Nevada, Oregon, Oregon State, Portland, Portland State, San Diego State, San Francisco, Weber State, Western Washington and Wyoming.
The Cougars defeated the Ducks by one stroke, 913 to 914, to win last season’s tournament. Oregon has never won its own event, having finished second last year as well as 1990 and 1999.
Oregon will compete senior Johnna Nealy (Grants Pass, Ore.), juniors Erin Andrews and Michelle Timpani, sophomore Kim McCready and freshman Victoria Wenslow in its varsity five. Senior Jess Carlyon will compete as an individual.
On the men’ side, Georgia Tech is the featured team making a rare appearance on the West Coast. The Yellow Jackets have three of the top 20 individuals nationally, according to the latest Golfweek/Sagarin rankings, in No. 5 Roberto Castro, No. 9 Nicholas Thompson and No. 19 Chan Song.
The men’s tournament also features defending team champion San Diego State and defending individual medalist Jeff Hansen of the Aztecs. Hansen fired a 5-under 211 last year at Shadow Hills to defeat Oregon State’s Brad Simpson by a stroke.
The remainder of the men’s field includes Alabama-Birmingham, UC Riverside, Hawaii-Hilo, Long Beach State, Nevada, Oregon, Oregon State, Pacific, Pepperdine, Saint Mary’s, San Jose State, Stanford, Washington and Washington State.
The Oregon men last won their own tournament in 2002. Last season the Ducks finished second, six strokes behind the Aztecs.
The men will play all 12 golfers on their roster with juniors Justin St. Clair (Springfield, Ore.), Chris Dukeminier (Eugene, Ore.) and Gregg LaVoie and sophomores Matt Ma and Jay Snyder counting for the varsity five. Snyder, from Vancouver, B.C., will be making his first appearance among the varsity five.
The seven remaining Ducks -- junior Kyle Johnson (North Bend, Ore.), sophomores Matt Amen, Eric Hastings and Dustin Pewarchuk, and freshmen Joey Benedetti, Derek Sipe and Ted Whitney (Eugene, Ore.) will participate as individuals.
Oregon Duck Invitational tournaments -- What to Watch For
Women
Top-25 Teams (3)
No. 4 Washington
No. 18 Stanford
No. 22 Washington State
Top-50 Individuals (6)*
No. 15 Paige MacKenzie, Washington
No. 18 Ana Kostina, Washington State
No. 19 Sofie Anderson, California
No. 35 Kim Shin, Washington
No. 36 Sung Ea Lee, Washington
No. 49 Jennifer Tangtiphaiboontana, Stanford
*Plus Kim Welch, Washington State, going for he fourth straight Duck Invitational indivdual title
Oregon Connections (13)
Tracy Broders, Washington State (Tigard/Tigard HS)
Cassie Castleman, Idaho (Portland/Lincoln HS)
Holly Cornell, Fresno State (Myrtle Creek/South Umpqua HS)
Molly Edmuds, Portland (Portland/Glencoe HS)
Lindsay Eide, Oregon State (Bend/Bend HS)
Shala Hanson, Wyoming (Lake Oswego/Lakeridge HS)
Marcie Hoover, Weber State (Klamath Falls/Sam Barlow HS)
Jeana Lee, Portland State (Oregon City/St. Mary’s Academy)
Kelly Kerkvliet, Oregon State (Corvallis/Crescent Valley HS)
Amy Mombert, Weber State (Bend/Bend HS)
Johnna Nealy, Oregon (Grants Pass/Grants Pass HS)
Emily Reed, Portland State (Reedsport/Reedsport HS)
Ashley Williams, Portland (Clackamas/Clackamas HS)
Men
Top-25 Teams (1)
No. 2 Georgia Tech
Top-25 Individuals (5)*
No. 5 Roberto Castro, Georgia Tech
No. 9 Nicholas Thompson, Georgia Tech
No. 19 Chan Song, Georgia Tech
No. 22 Michael Putnam, Pepperdine
No. 25 Brendan Steele, UC Riverside
*Plus Jeff Hansen, San Diego State, defending individual medalist
Oregon Connections (14)
Chadd Cocco, Saint Mary’s (Bend/Bend HS)
Chris Dukeminier, Oregon (Eugene/Sheldon HS)
Matt Fladwood, Washington State (Redmond/Redmond HS)
Ryan Gilmour, Oregon State (Canby/Canby HS)
Jonathan Green, Oregon State (Sisters/Sisters HS)
Adam Hagen, Nevada (Scappoose/Scappoose HS)
Kyle Johnson, Oregon (North Bend/North Bend HS)
Vincent Johnson, Oregon State (Portland/David Douglas HS)
Liam Kendregan, Saint Mary’s (Gresham/La Salle HS)
Jeremiah Oliver, Oregon State (Troutdale/Reynolds HS)
Jay Ross, Oregon State (Beaverton/Southridge HS)
Justin St. Clair, Oregon (Springfield/Thurston HS)
Tim Sundseth, Oregon State (Redmond/Redmond HS)
Ted Whitney, Oregon (Eugene, Sheldon HS)
