Home Event Struggles Motivate Men's Golf For Stretch Run
by Rob Moseley
Editor, GoDucks.com
The next time Casey Martin's Oregon men's golf team competes at Eugene Country Club, following the recently completed Duck Invitational, will be the 2016 NCAA Championships — hopefully.
There's no automatic spot for the host team. The Ducks will have to play their way in, lest they face the ignominy of hosting the national championship without being in the field. As they come down the stretch next spring, the pressure will be on.
That makes the stretch run to the current season a good preview for the UO men. Ranked No. 9 in the nation, winners of five events in 2014-15, the Ducks are a top-flight team made up of top-flight players — which comes with pressures of its own.
Take the Duck Invitational for example: As the host team, against an elite field including No. 4 Arizona State and No. 13 Washington, Oregon struggled to a fourth-place finish, and had to rally late Tuesday to do so. There were reasons for optimism, as the Ducks shot a collective 5 under for their final nine holes. But ultimately the two-day, 54-hole event was a series of eye-opening lessons.
"We have a group of guys that really like to play well," said UO junior Brandon McIver, who shot 1-under 71 on Tuesday and finished in a tie for 11th individually. "And when we don't, it's frustrating. We get bummed out. I think that's another thing we need to improve. (You have to) keep your head up. Eighteen holes is a long time. Anyone on our team is capable of birdieing any hole, so we just have to keep moving forward. I think we'll be OK."
McIver opened his tournament with a 77 in Monday's first round, improved to 71 for his second round that day and fired another 71 on Tuesday. Standout freshman Aaron Wise, who has two tournament wins this year, improved in each round, from 75 to 73 to 71, while Zach Foushee recovered from a second-round 83 with a 71 on Tuesday.
If Monday wasn't the start Oregon wanted, the Ducks showed some resiliency. Frustrated by his tee shot on No. 2 at Tuesday, sophomore Thomas Lim sat greenside with his head in his hands for a minute or more, then rose to his feet at the last moment, stepped up and drilled a scary 7-foot putt that featured a sharp drop just past the hole.
"Looking forward, I think we're going to take some positives from this, learn some lessons," Lim said. "I don't think we prepared the right way, so we're going to do that next time."
Oregon's preparations took place during final exams last week, and the Ducks had no chance to practice in Monday's rainy conditions, due to the unseasonably dry Eugene winter. Still, every team in the field had to contend with the weather, and final exams are a fact of life in college golf.
It's clear the UO team is comprised of prideful players demanding of themselves. Lim said the Ducks have a tendency to overwork themselves in their quest for greatness.
"We have guys that want to do well," McIver said, agreeing with his teammate. "That's a great thing — but we have to bottle that up and channel it the right way. … I think we're kind of getting in our own way a little bit. And it's hard to play your best golf when you're kind of standing in your own way."
Martin said there's only one solution for the Ducks — "keep playing golf."
"There's no shortcut to that," the UO coach said shortly before traveling later Tuesday to Stanford for The Goodwin this weekend. "I tell them, you're going to deal with pressure, and it only gets to be more if you get better at golf. Learn it now, deal with it, and get better."
That's the goal for the Ducks as they enter the stretch run of their season. Following The Goodwin, they'll be at Pasatiempo Golf Course in Santa Cruz for the Western Intercollegiate held April 11-12. Then it's on to the postseason, with Pac-12 Championships hosted by WSU on April 27-29, NCAA Regionals and, if they play well, the NCAA Championships.
"We're looking forward to it," Lim said. "Obviously (fourth place this week was) not the way we want to finish, but we're going to put our heads down and keep grinding."
For a team dealing with the weight of expectations stemming from its own success, that's the only way to operate. The pressure of trying to make a second straight NCAA Championship appearance this year will be trumped by the effort to do so again next year, and play at home for a national title.
Best to learn to thrive in those conditions now, which the Ducks showed signs of doing with the strong finish Tuesday afternoon.
