Oregon Heads to NCAA Championships
Oregon makes back-to-back appearances in the NCAA Men’s Golf Championships for the first since 1998-99, when the 112th national tournament opens play Tuesday, May 26 at the Inverness Golf Club in Toledo, Ohio. The Ducks received the No. 18 seed and will be paired with Texas Tech and Central Florida for the first two rounds. The Ducks will tee off at 4 a.m. PDT (7 a.m. EDT) on Tuesday, and at 9:12 a.m. (12;12 p.m.) on Wednesday. The Championships run through May 30.
THE GOLF COURSE
Inverness Golf Club will host the 2009 NCAA Championships for just the second time in its history. It will play to a length of 7,255 yards and a par of 71 for the championships. Among the 18 holes are six par-fours of 450 yards or longer: No. 4 (466), No. 5 (450), No. 7 (481), No. 14 (480), No. 15 (468) and No. 17 (470). The course has three par-3 holes and two par-5s. Named after the village of Inverness in Scotland, the course was founded in February 1903, and was designed by renowned architect, Donald Ross. Golf Digest ranks Inverness Club second in Ohio and 41st in the USA. The club has been the site of eight major championships, including the 1920 U.S. Open. The only other time Inverness has hosted the NCAA Men’s Golf Championship was 1944, when the title was won by Notre Dame.
RESULTS
Live scoring will be provided by Golfstat and available on the web (www.golfstat.com). Results, tee times, quotes, recaps and more will be posted by the host institution, the University of Toledo, at www.utrockets.com.
OREGON STARTERS
Name Yr. Stk. Avg. Low Rd Hi Fsh Hometown (High School)
Jack Dukeminier So.-2V 73.6 68 2 Eugene, Ore. (Sheldon)
Daniel Miernicki Fr.-1V 72.2 67 T3 Santee, Calif. (Central Catholic)
Isaiah Telles So.-2V 73.4 69 T9 Tualatin, Ore. (Tualatin)
Andrew Vijarro Fr.-1V 73.7 68 T4 Bend, Ore. (Bend)
Eugene Wong Fr.-1V 72.9 68 T4 North Vancouver, B.C. (Handsworth Sec.)
Robbie Ziegler Fr.-1V 72.6 69 T2 Canby, Ore. (Canby)
HEAD COACH CASEY MARTIN
In just his third year at the helm, head coach Casey Martin has the Ducks headed to the NCAA Championships for the second straight season. The Eugene, Ore., native, former PGA Tour professional and NCAA Champion at Stanford has led the Ducks to 20 top-five finishes in his first 39 tournament as head coach.
OREGON IN THE NCAA CHAMPIONSHIPS
This is Oregon’s 23rd appearance in the NCAA Championships. Oregon initially appeared in the Championships in 1947, finishing 17th. The University’s highest finish was a fourth-place showing in 1959. Oregon also had top 10 finishes in 1977 (seventh) and 1976 (10th). Isaiah Telles and Jack Dukeminier played for Oregon at the 2008 championships. The two tied for 134th at 241.
REFORMATTED
The NCAA Championships have a new format this season. Teams will play three 18-hole rounds Tuesday through Thursday, and then the top eight teams will advance on to match play Friday and Saturday. Tee times will be set according to seed Tuesday and Wednesday, with Thursday’s tee times set according to score. The individual champion will be crowned Thursday following the first 54 holes. In match play, quarterfinals will take place Friday morning. The top seed will play No. 8, No. 2 plays No. 7, No. 3 plays No. 6 and No. 4 meets No. 5. Friday afternoon, the winners play in the semifinals and the championship match is on Saturday.
THE FIELD
Seven Pac-10 teams, including defending NCAA champion UCLA and 2009 Pac-10 champ Washington, are in the 30-team field. There are also 18 of the nation’s top-20 teams, according to the latest Golfweek/Sagarin rankings.
KEYS TO SUCCESS
According to Golf Stat, there are a number of statistical reasons that Oregon has advanced to the NCAA Championships for the second straight year. Among them, Oregon is ranked:
* 4th nationally in fairways hit (.728)
* 2nd nationally in most pars per round (11.25)
* 1st nationally in fewest bogeys per round (0.34)
* 4th nationally in first round scoring average (72.70)
* 14th nationally in final round scoring average (73.10)
* 15th nationally in par three scoring (3.20)
* 18th nationally in par five scoring (4.80)
FRESHMEN POWER, PART 2
For the second straight year, Oregon advanced to the NCAA Championships playing three freshmen. Daniel Miernicki leads the team with a 72.2 stroke average, while fellow freshman Robbie Ziegler is second at 72.6 and yet another freshman, Eugene Wong, is third at 72.9. Last year, Oregon’s freshman trio was Jack Dukeminier, Sean Maekawa and Isaiah Telles. Telles (73.4) and Dukeminier (73.6) are fourth and fifth on the team in scoring, respectively, in 2008-09 while another freshman, Andrew Vijarro, holds down the No. 6 spot (73.7).
SHARING THE WEALTH
Six different Oregon golfers have led the Ducks at least once this season. Robbie Ziegler paced Oregon at the OSU Giustina Memorial (T4th), the Hilo Invitational (T15th) and the Braveheart Classic (T2nd). Daniel Miernicki was the Ducks’ top golfer at the Pac-10 Championships (T3rd) and the Thunderbird Invitational (T3rd). Eugene Wong was tops at the NCAA West Regional (T5th) and the OSU Giustina Memorial (T4th). Jack Dukeminier took the team’s top honors at the Duck Invitational (2nd), the Husky Invitational (13th) and the Brickyard Classic (T46th). Andrew Vijarro led Oregon at the Western Intercollegiate (T4th) and the U.S. Intercollegiate (T21st). Isaiah Telles was No. 1 at the Pacific Invitational (T9th).
PAC-10 PRIDE
With seven teams advancing to the NCAA Championships (Arizona, Arizona State, Oregon, Stanford, UCLA, USC, Washington), the Pac-10 leads all conferences at the 2009 nationals. The 12-team SEC is next with six teams (Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, Tennessee). The Big Ten had five (Illinois, Iowa, Michigan, Northwestern, Ohio State), the ACC four (Duke, Georgia Tech, Virginia, Wake Forest) and the Big 12 four (Oklahoma State, Texas, Texas A&M, Texas Tech). Four conferences have a lone representative: Conference USA (Central Florida), the MWC (Texas Christian), Southern (Chattanooga) and the WCC (San Diego).
SPRING SURGE
Oregon started the 2008-09 season in a bit of a funk, placing no better than fifth in any of its fall tournaments. That left Oregon No. 85 heading into the new year. But since then it’s been a different story. According to Golfweek assistant editor Lance Ringler, the Ducks have had the 11th-best spring in the country. Here’s the Golfweek/Sagarin Spring Top 20 (fall ranking in parenthesis):
1. Georgia (1) ? Southeast
2. Oklahoma State (3) ? South Central
3. Washington (11) ? Central
4. Southern California (2) ? West
5. Stanford (5) ? Southwest
6. Florida (26) ? Southwest
7. Clemson (6) ? Northeast
8. Georgia Tech (10) ? Central
9. Texas A&M (36) ? West
10. Arkansas (13) ? South Central
11. Oregon (85) ? West
12. LSU (33) ? South Central
13. South Carolina (9) ? Southeast
14. San Diego State (38) ? West
15. UCLA (22) ? Central
16. Arizona State (8) ? West
17. UCF (25) ? Southeast
18. TCU (20) ? South Central
19. Texas Tech (16) ? Southwest
20. Arizona (67) ? Southeast
Note the seven Pac-10 teams that populate this list are all headed to Inverness.
