Ducks Open Postseason Play at Pac-12 Championship
04/27/16 | Men's Golf
EUGENE – The Oregon men's golf team is set to open the 2016 postseason this weekend when it travels to Salt Lake City, Utah for the Pac-12 Championship. This year's championship will be held at the Country Club of Salt Lake, which will play at par 71 for 7,209 yards. The three-day, 54-hole tournament is set to begin on Friday, with the Ducks teeing off at 6:30 a.m. PT.
THE FIELD
The Pac-12 Championship field features six teams appearing in the latest Golfstat rankings: No. 2 USC, No. 4 Stanford, No. 10 Arizona State, No. 13 California, No. 23 Oregon and No. 24 Washington. The event also includes 14 of the top 100 players in the nation, including No. 2 Jon Rahm of Arizona State, No. 4 Maverick McNealy of Stanford and No. 10 Aaron Wise of Oregon.
ABOUT THE DUCKS
The Ducks are coming off their sixth top-five finish of the season the Western Intercollegiate, where Aaron Wise paced the Ducks to third place behind his second consecutive runner-up finish. Oregon has tallied three consecutive top-five-or-better finishes heading into this weekend's Pac-12 Championship, incluing a second-place performance at the Northwest Classic in Canby, Ore., led by junior Sulman Raza, who earned his first collegiate win.
Oregon posted a 10th-place finish at the Southern Highlands Collegiate in Las Vegas, Nev., earlier this month to follow a fourth-place finish at the Southwestern Jones Invitational. Oregon turned in a third-place finish at the Amer Ari Invitational in February, where Wise, Oregon's active program tournament wins leader, picked up his second win of the season and fourth win of his career. Oregon has one win under its belt from a successful appearance at the Husky Invitational last fall where the Ducks took home a share of the tournament title for a second consecutive season. Oregon finished third at The Jackrabbit behind a strong performance from Wise that saw the sophomore earn co-medalist honors. The Ducks wrapped up the fall season with 10th and sixth place finishes at the Nike Golf Collegiate Invitational and The Gifford, respectively.
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. The Ducks are led by 10th-year head coach Casey Martin and third-year assistant coach Van Williams.
OREGON AT THE PAC-12 CHAMPIONSHIP
Under 10th-year head coach Casey Martin, the Ducks have been impressive at the Pac-12 Championships, finishing second four times, including last season, but will enter this weekend looking for the first conference title of the Martin era. Overall, the Ducks are aiming for the third conference championship in school history, with the last coming in 1977. Individually, six Ducks in program history have walked away with the conference crown, the last being Brent Murray in 1978.
LAST TIME OUT
Sophomore Aaron Wise finished second while the Oregon men's golf team finished third at the Western Intercollegiate earlier this month.
The Ducks carded a final-round 364 to finish third at the Western Intercollegiate , played at the par-70, 6,615-yard Pasatiempo Golf Club. No. 9 Stanford took home the team title at 9-under overall, followed by second-place and top-ranked USC at 1-over.
Paired together, Aaron Wise and Stanford standout Maverick McNealy battled atop the leaderboard for much of the day. Heading into the final round with a one-shot lead, Wise was able to increase his cushion, if just for a moment, with an eagle on the par-5 sixth hole, but McNealy responded with an eagle of his own on the par-5 ninth to take a one-stroke lead over Wise headed into the turn.
After Wise bogeyed the 10th, McNealy was able to extend his lead to three strokes with birdies on the 10th and 12th; however, Wise would cut that advantage down to just a stroke with consecutive birdies on the 13th and 14th to get to 14-under.
McNealy added a birdie on the par-4 16th, but Wise was unable to answer, finishing up with a final-round 67 to wrap up what was an impressive week for the sophomore. Wise finished at 14-under, 11 strokes ahead of third-place Corey Pereira.
Senior Zach Foushee turned in a solid final-round card with a 68 to finish in a tie for 12th. Sitting at 1-over for the round through 10 holes, the senior ran off four straight birdies to get himself back under par and vault his name up the leaderboard. Foushee followed up a first-round 69 and a second-round 73 to finish with an even-par 210.
Competing as an individual, senior Brandon McIver recorded his second top-25 finish this season, finishing tied for 25th at 4-over after a 5-over 75 on Wednesday after recording a season-low 66 in Tuesday's second round. After turning in a pair of 70's in his first two rounds and getting to the turn at even par on Wednesday, Edwin Yi struggled on the back nine with two doubles on the 10th and 11th, and a triple on the par-3 18th to finish tied for 28th at 6-over for the week.
Nigel Lett turned in a 78 for his final round Wednesday to finish with a 9-over 69-72-78 card. Junior Sulman Raza matched Lett's 78 to wrap up his week at 11-over with a 70-73-78 card. Lett and Raza finished tied for 42nd and 49th, respectively. Junior Thomas Lim finished tied for 56th with a 12-over 222 after a final-round 75.
WINNING WISE
Much like head coach Casey Martin expressed after Aaron Wise's third-place finish at the season-opening Husky Invitational, it seems the sophomore has developed into an elite player in the collegiate ranks. Wise has won two individual titles this season, and has been amazingly consistent, finishing in the top three or higher in six of his 10 appearances this season. With his wins at the Jackrabbit last fall and the Amer Ari Invitational, Wise became the second player in Oregon history to win two individual titles in the same season (Daniel Miernicki – 2009-10, 2011-12) and the second player to win four total in his career. With his next win, Wise will tie Miernicki's record of five.
PAC-12 GOLFER OF THE MONTH
Oregon sophomore Aaron Wise was named Pac-12 Men's Golfer of the Month for February, the conference announced in March.
Wise posted an average score of 69.67 over the month of February to lead the Ducks to a tie for a third-place finish at the Amer Ari Invitational and a fourth-place finish at the Southwestern Jones Invitational. He won his second tournament of the season and fourth of his career at the Amer Ari Invitational with a 16-under 200 (69-67-64). After only 19 career tournaments, Wise is the second Duck in program history to medal four times in his collegiate career.
The honor marks his second Pac-12 Golfer of the Month reecognition for Wise this season, as he gained the accolade for the month of September as well. In six rounds of play in September, Wise posted five rounds under par and one round at even par.
“WISE BY NAME AND NATURE”
Oregon golf sophomore Aaron Wise won the Australian Master of the Amateurs at the Royal Melbourne Golf Club in January. Wise posted a four-round tally of 283 at the event to finish at 5-under for the week, two strokes better than runner-up Jonathan Thomson from the United Kingdom.
The win is the latest in a string of strong performances on the amateur circuit from the Lake Elsinore, Calif., native in last several months. Wise, the eighth-ranked amateur in the world, took home the title at the Pacific Coast Amateur last July and tallied second-place finishes at the Western Amateur and SCGA Amateur Championship.
WISE NAMED HOGAN AWARD SEMIFINALIST
Oregon golf sophomore Aaron Wise was named one of 10 semifinalists for the 2016 Ben Hogan Award, the Colonial Country Club, Friends of Golf and the Golf Coaches Association of America announced earlier this month. Wise is Oregon's first Hogan semifinalist since the award revised its criteria to its current standard of honoring the most outstanding amateur collegiate golfer for the 2001-02 season.
The most prestigious award in men's college golf, the Ben Hogan Award is issued annually to the top men's collegiate golfer taking into account all collegiate and amateur competitions during the past 12 months. The Ben Hogan Award Selection Committee is comprised of leaders in professional, amateur and collegiate golf.
Aside from Wise, other 2016 semifinalists for the award include Charlie Danielson (Illinois), Sam Horsfield (Florida), Beau Hossler (Texas), Michael Johnson (Auburn), Lee McCoy (Georgia ), Maverick McNealy (Stanford), Matt NeSmith (South Carolina), Jon Rahm (Arizona State) and Robby Shelton (Alabama).
On Tuesday, May 3, that list of 10 semifinalists will be narrowed to three finalists. The finalists will attend a banquet at Colonial Country Club in Fort Worth on Monday, May 23, prior to the start of the PGA TOUR's Colonial National Invitation Tournament, where the winner will be named.
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. Tickets are on sale now on GoDucks.com.
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
The Ducks will return to Eugene next week to await their NCAA Regional selection, which is set for Thursday at 6:30 a.m. PT on Golf Channel.
Players Mentioned
