Western Intercollegiate Serves as Primer to Championships Season
EUGENE – Oregon and seven other Pac-12 teams will be playing in the 69th Annual Western Intercollegiate this weekend as a primer to the championship season. The two-day tournament will see 14 teams battle it out on the 6,615 yards, par-70 Pasatiempo Golf Club. Teams will tee off at 8:15 a.m. (PT) on both days with a shotgun start and play in the 6-count-5 format. Saturday, April 11, will see the teams play 36-holes followed by an 18-hole round on Sunday, April 12, to conclude the tournament.
EVENT: 69th Annual Western Intercollegiate
LOCATION: Santa Cruz, Calif.
DATES: Saturday, April 11 – Sunday, April 12
COURSE: Pasatiempo Golf Club
PAR/YARDS: Par-70 / 6,615 yards
FORMAT: Shotgun Start | 6-count-5
TEE TIME: 8:15 a.m. (PT)
LIVE SCORING: http://www.golfstat.com
OREGON LINE-UP: Thomas Lim, Jonathan Woo, Aaron Wise, Zach Foushee, Brandon McIver and Nigel Lett.
FIELD (14): San Jose State (Host), Arizona State, Texas, Washington, Stanford, Oregon, USC, California, San Diego State, UTEP, Arizona, UC Irvine, Hawaii.
NATIONS BEST COMPETE AT PASATIEMPO
The Ducks return to Pasatiempo Golf Club this weekend to play against some of the nation’s best golfers and teams. Eight of the 14 teams are ranked in the top-25 according to Golfstat while three of those ranked teams are in the top 10.
The Pac-12 will have eight teams in Santa Cruz with: Arizona State (#2), Washington (#8), UCLA (#11), Stanford (#13), Oregon (#14), California (#22) and Arizona (#111). The Big West – UC Irvine (#104), Hawaii (#184) – and the Mountain West conference – San José State (#99), San Diego State (#34) – have the second-most representatives with two each. Texas (#3) comes from the Big 12 and UTEP (#84) hails from Conference USA to round out the field.
Of the 84 golfers playing in the tournament, 25 are ranked in the top-100 according to Golfstat. The Longhorns have a staggering five players ranked in the top-100 while the Ducks, Huskies and Sun Devils each have three. The Trojans, Bruins, Cardinal, Golden Bears and Aztecs all have two on the list. UO’s Aaron Wise checks in at No. 75 while Thomas Lim and Brandon McIver are ranked No. 87 and No. 95 respectively.
Oregon has the sixth-most team victories at the Western Intercollegiate with five (1993, 2001, 05, 09, 10) and fourth-most when it comes to individual champions with five. The Ducks have swept twice at the tournament with the latest coming in 2010 with Eugene Wong. The only other time was back in 1993 when Cam Martin – head coach Casey Martin’s brother – claimed medalist honors.
The 2010 Oregon team also holds the tournament record for lowest 54-hole team record (6-count-5) with a 1,038 card that year.
Last time at Pasatiempo Golf Course, Oregon took fifth behind Woo’s 208 (E) performance. Stanford took top honors that year with a 10-under 1,040 card and swept the tournament behind Cameron Wilson’s 7-under 203 score. SDSU spoiled the Pac-12 teams from finishing 1-6 with a fourth-place finish.
CHANGE UP
This weekend’s tournament will see a different type of format with teams playing the 6-count-5 format instead of the traditional 5-count-4 format. Eight of the 14 teams in the tournament hail from the Pac-12 because the upcoming Pac-12 Tournament will also play the 6-count-5 format like the Western Intercollegiate.
PAC-12 TOURNAMENT IN SIGHTS
This year’s Pac-12 Men’s Golf Tournament is slated to be held in Pullman, Wash., from April 27-29 at Palouse Ridge Golf Club. The Ducks will return to familiar territory for the tournament having played there back in September at the Itani Homes Collegiate where Oregon defeated USC in a playoff on hole No. 18 to take home the championship on the 7,247 yards, par-70 course.
BACK THE PAC
Heading into this week’s competition, six Pac-12 teams have multiple wins under their belt. Oregon and Arizona State are one of five teams to have five tournament victories. California and UCLA each boast four tournament wins while USC both has three wins and Washington checking in with two. Colorado, Stanford and Washington State all have one tournament victory under their belt.
DUCKS MOVE UP IN RANKINGS
After a pair of top-5 finishes at the Duck Invitational and The Goodwin, Oregon enters this week’s tournament at No. 14. The Ducks are one of seven Pac-12 schools to be ranked in the most recent Golfstat/NCAA rankings.
WISE SHINES
Oregon’s Aaron Wise continues to shine in his freshman campaign. The Lake Elsinore, Calif., product won his second tournament when he claimed medalist honors at The Desert Mountain Intercollegiate with a 9-under 207 performance. With the win, Wise became just the sixth Duck to win two tournaments in a single season. The last Duck to win two tournaments in a single season was Daniel Miernicki (2010-11). He is also the first freshman to claim a pair of tournament victories under head coach Casey Martin.
