EUGENE, Ore. – Despite battling spells of rain and wind throughout the day, the No. 24 Oregon men’s golf team shot 4 over across the opening two rounds of the 34th-annual Duck Invitational to finish the day in a tie for the overall lead on Monday at the Eugene Country Club.
The Ducks found strong performances from seniors Nate Stember and Greg Solhaug in addition to junior Greyson Leach as the trio each finished the second round inside the top 15. Stember and Solhaug each fired a 1-over 143 to tie for ninth, while Leach sits just one stroke behind in a tie for 14th. After a difficult first round, Owen Avrit bounced back to shoot even par in the second and finished the day at 4 over, tied with Aiden Krafft for 32nd in the field.
Oregon played seven players as individuals in addition to its five starters, a group that was led by Thomas Jenkins Jr. and Hugh Adams who each shot a 3-over 145 to end the day tied for 23rd.
Round One
Rain had yet to make an appearance as the 8:30 a.m. shotgun start kicked off the tournament, but as play reached the third hole the weather began to show its face. Stember got off to a fast start, finding the green with a beautiful tee shot which set up a birdie on hole two. Stember made two additional birdies before the end of the round, but two bogies held him at 1-under as he sat tied for sixth in the field.
After a double-bogey on hole three, Krafft bounced back to shoot five birdies across his remaining holes and finish the round at even par. Greyson Leach played steady golf with 14 pars in the opening round, while two birdies and two bogies led to him finishing even as well. Also finishing the first round at even par was Solhaug, who birdied three of his first seven holes on his way joining Krafft and Leach in a tie for ninth.
Oregon fired a 1-under 284 as a unit in the opening round and sat in a tie atop the leaderboard with Oklahoma State entering the afternoon.
Round Two
Spells of rain continued throughout the day and as round two began it was joined by gusts of wind to make the afternoon round even trickier. After a difficult first round put him at 4 over par, Owen Avrit responded by shooting the Ducks’ best score of the second with an even 71 thanks to four birdies. Avrit jumped up the leaderboard to finish the day tied for 32nd overall along with Krafft.
Stember fired two birdies in his last six holes to log a second-round 73, finishing the day tied for ninth at 1 over overall. Also finishing the day tied for ninth was Solhaug who used two back-nine birdies to boost his second-round score of 72. Leach joined the pair inside the top 15 after a second-round 73 gave him a score of 2 over for the tournament.
Despite a fair amount of movement up and down the leaderboard by several teams, Oregon showed consistency with its second round score of 289. With an overall score of 4 over (572) the Ducks maintained their position as co-leaders of the tournament, but at the end of round two were joined by a different opponent, No. 21 Illinois, at the top.
Duck Scorecard
The Duck Invitational
Eugene Country Club – Par 71
T1. Oregon 283-289—572 (+4)
T9. Nate Stember 70-73—143 (+1)
T9. Greg Solhaug 71-72—143 (+1)
T14. Greyson Leach 71-73—144 (+2)
T32. Owen Avrit 75-71—146 (+4)
T32. Aiden Krafft 71-75—146 (+4)
Individuals
T23. Thomas Jenkins Jr. 73-72—145 (+3)
T23. Hugh Adams 74-71—145 (+3)
T53. Kyreece Romero 78-71—149 (+7)
T58. Eric Doyle 76-74—150 (+8)
T77. Will Stribling 77-78—155 (+13)
T77. Jay Gould-Healy 78-77—155 (+13)
85. Gabriel Hari 77-81—158 (+16)
Next Up
The final round of the Duck Invitational takes place tomorrow, with a shotgun start scheduled for 8:30 a.m. PT.
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