The Oregon men’s golf team finished in last place at the 10-team Gifford Collegiate, and they literally have to wait four months before returning to tournament action.
The Ducks actually shot their best round of the tournament on Tuesday at Pelican Hill Resort with a 7-over par 287. Unfortunately for Oregon, that score was second-worst among the 10 teams in the third and final round, so the Ducks weren’t able to improve on their tied for ninth position after the first two rounds on Monday.
Leading the Ducks was sophomore Sulman Raza, who followed up a dreadful opening round 79 (+9) with a 69 (-1) in the second round and a 68 (-2) in the third. He finished tied for 25th among the 56 golfers competing in the Newport Beach, Calif. tournament.
“I thought Sulman played wonderfully after a horrible start,” head coach Casey Martin told GoDucks.com after the final round. “He really battled back which was great to see.”
Behind Raza was freshman Thomas Lim, who bounced back from an inconsistent Monday with an even-par 70 on Tuesday. Lim shot 72 (+2) and 78 (+8) in rounds one and two, respectively. He finished tied for 36th overall.
Sophomore Brandon McIver had a similar tournament to Lim’s, albeit a couple strokes worse. McIver shot a 72 on Tuesday, which, like Raza and Lim, was his best round of the tournament. He shot a 73 (+3) in round one and a 77 (+7) in round two, finishing alone in 40th place.
Freshman Brandon Baumgarten sandwiched one good round between two bad ones. After shooting a 78 in round one, Baumgarten rebounded with a 70 in round two. He regressed in the final round, though, shooting a 77 that left him tied for 47th overall.
The fifth and final Oregon competitor, sophomore Zach Foushee, led the Ducks in scoring going into Monday, but shot the worst Oregon round of the tournament on Tuesday with a 14-over 84. The score dropped him twice as many overall spots from round two to round three. He started the day tied for 25th but finished tied for 50th.
The Ducks’ next tournament doesn’t come until Feb. 5, 2014 when they travel to Waikoloa, Hawaii to play in the Amer Ari Invitational.
Here are the final standings of from the Gifford Collegiate, which was hosted by UCLA:
1. Alabama — 275-276-285 — 836 (-4)
2. Southern California — 283-277-279 — 839 (-1)
3. SMU — 277-283-282 — 842 (+2)
4. Washington — 277-284-284 — 845 (+5)
5. Northwestern — 279, 275-294 — 848 (+8)
6. UCLA — 285-279-288 — 852 (+12)
7. Lamar — 286-285-286 — 257 (+17)
8. Coastal Carolina — 295-285-286 — 866 (+26)
9. Tennessee — 298-284-285 — 867 (+27)
10. Oregon — 294-288-287 — 869 (+29)