Ducks finish in 12th, Beavers in 17th to open 2012 Season

RESULTS

WAIKOLOA, HI -- The No. 2 nationally ranked University of Oregon men's golf team recovered slightly from a woeful second round at the Amer Ari Invitational, moving up three spots with a 3-under-par 285 while the Oregon State Beavers finished in 17th in their first tournament of the spring season in Waikola, Hawaii.

The Ducks ended up with a 54-hole total of 5-over 869 at the 22nd annual tournament, played on the Waikoloa Kings' Course. No. 1 Texas was the wire-to-wire winner, holding off No. 12 USC over the final holes to post a score of 30-under 834. The Trojans were five shots back, followed by No. 8 Stanford, which finished 10 strokes off the pace.

UO's Eugene Wong had a top 10 finish in his sights before a triple-bogey on his final hole - the par-4 ninth - cost him. Wong sat at 5-under through 17 holes and had played a bogey-free round before settling for a 2-under 70 and a share of 23rd place at 3-under 213. The senior, who entered the week as the national scoring leader, was the lone UO golfer without a round over par.  USC’s Jeffrey Kang and UT’s Jordan Spieth shared medalist honors at 11-under-par.

Oregon State Junior transfer, Nick Chianello fired a bogey-free 3-under 69 and senior Alex Moore shot his second sub-par round on Friday to help the Beavers finishe with at 15-over 291-294-294--879 to finish 17th in the 20-team tournament that was ranked as the second toughest in the spring season by Golf Digest.

“We were so good for nine holes today and then we turned into the wind and didn’t handle the adversity very well,” Oregon State head coach Jon Reehoorn said. “This is on me. I need to make sure we prepare better and hold them to a higher standard at home. The good news is that we have a lot of golf left to play this spring. We need to put the last few days behind us and move forward with a purpose to get better each day.”

Moore shot a 1-under 71 on Friday to equal his opening round and finished in a tie for 43rd place with a 1-over 71-75-71--217. He started his round on the 14th hole and was 4-under through his first 10 holes with birdies on the par-5 18th, par-4 first, par-5 fourth and par-4 fifth holes and before finishing his round with three bogeys.

Chianello fired his second career 3-under round as a Beaver with birdies on the 232-yard par-3 third, 327-yard, par-4 fifth and 501-yard, par-5 18th holes to climb up the leader board and finish the event tied for 49th with a 2-over 74-75-69--218.

Junior Nick Sherwood finished tied for 65th with a 5-over 71-73-77--221, sophomore David Fink wrapped up the tournament with a 7-over 75-71-77--223 for a tie for 76th and freshman Scott Kim ended in 108th place with an 18-over 80-77-77--234. Junior Matt Rawitzer competed as an individual and shot a 13-over 78-77-74--229 for a tie for 101st place.

For the Ducks, Jack Paton was the only other Duck among the top 50, tying for 49th at 2-over 218 after carding an even-par 72 in Round 3. Daniel Miernicki (72) and Andrew Vijarro (71) had respectable final rounds, but finished tied for 76th at 7-over.  Freshman Rak Cho took his lumps after an opening round 67, ending with a 77 on Friday to also tie for 76th.  Robbie Ziegler, playing as an individual, had a solid showing by tying for 33rd at 2-under 214. Ziegler followed rounds of 71 and 72 with a final-round 71.

Oregon will have an extended break before its next official competition, when the Ducks travel to Long Beach, Calif., Feb. 27-28, for the Del Walker Championship at Virginia Country Club.

The Beavers return to the course in three weeks when they travel to Long Beach, Calif., to compete in the Del Walker Collegiate Feb. 27-28 that will be played at the Virginia Country Club.

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