The Oregon men’s golf team probably wishes they scheduled fewer tournaments with the California Golden Bears in the field.
On Monday in Sonoma, Calif., the Ducks finished the first two rounds of the Alister MacKenzie Invitational tied for second place with Arizona State at 14-under par (562 total strokes). However, they’re not remotely close to Cal, who lead the tournament at 35-under.
To put that score in perspective, the Ducks are closer to 11th place in the 16-team field than they are to first.
This is nothing new for Oregon, who finished in second place behind Cal in their most recent tournament, the Saint Mary’s Invitational from Sept. 23-24. Oregon’s score at that tournament: 20-over. Cal’s score: 10-under.
“That was kind of ridiculous,” freshman Oregon golfer Thomas Lim told the Emerald regarding the 30-stroke defeat.
While the deficit in Sonoma looks impossible to overcome, the Ducks had several positive things to take away from Monday’s two rounds.
For one, Oregon was one of the most consistent teams in the tournament, from both the team and individual player’s perspective. In multiple cases, they improved from the first to second rounds.
As a team, Oregon shot 282 (-6) in round one and 280 (-8) in round two. Oregon’s combined individual rounds were also strikingly efficient; the worst score was a 74 (+2) from Lim in the second round. Every other team had at least one player who shot a 75 or worse.
Leading the Ducks is sophomore Sulman Raza, who shot a 70 (-2) in the first round and a 68 (-4) in the second. His total score of 6-under has him tied for sixth overall in the 80-player field. Raza is also five strokes behind the leader, Cal’s Joel Stalter. The top three players, unsurprisingly, are all Golden Bears.
Two strokes behind Raza is another Duck who shot a 68 is round two. Sophomore Zach Foushee preceded that 4-under round with an even-par 72 in round one, leaving him tied for 12th overall.
Lim was the third Oregon player to shoot a 68, only his was in the first round. That score left him tied for fourth place after the first round, but his second-round 74 dropped him to T20 and two strokes behind Foushee.
One stroke behind Lim is sophomore Ryann Ree, who shot an even-par 72 to start the day and ended with a 1-under 71. He currently sits tied for 23rd.
The fifth and final Oregon competitor on Monday was the most consistent, although he was also the worst. Sophomore Brandon McIver shot a pair of 1-over 73s, tying him for 41st going into Tuesday’s third and final round.
The Ducks tee off the third round on Tuesday morning at 8:45. The five Oregon players will be paired with players from Cal, Arizona State and 4th-place BYU.