BATON ROUGE, La. – Nate Stember carded the best round of the tournament for the Oregon men’s golf team with a 2-under 70 as he tied for 23rd individually on the final day of the NCAA Baton Rouge Regional at The University Club on Wednesday.
The Ducks matched their first-round score with a 292 on the final 18 holes and finished the tournament in ninth place, outside of the top-five qualifying spots for the NCAA Championships.
“It was a tough way to finish,” head coach Casey Martin said. “Coming to the south with different grasses is a big challenge and it proved to be a lot for us to handle. We missed having Greg Solhaug a lot, he was our best player over the last month and it’s too bad he couldn’t play.”
Eric Doyle was a solid contributor for the second straight day as he shot even par in the final round and was the second-best finisher for the Ducks, tying for 35th. Aiden Krafft bounced back from a 6-over performance in the second round to card a 73 on Wednesday, while Owen Avrit and Greyson Leach each logged 77 on the final day of play.
How It Happened
Stember was sensational on the front nine, going bogey free with three birdies to make the turn at 3 under par. Two bogeys across his next four holes threatened to slow his progress, but the fifth-year senior rebounded with another birdie on the ensuing par-4 hole to lift him to a 2-under finish. Stember ended the tournament 3 over overall, securing a top 25 finish.
Doyle turned in the Ducks’ second-best round once again as the junior shot even par on the final round, improving his score each day of the tournament. Consecutive birdies on holes five and six brought Doyle to even par after the front nine, and two birdies across a four-hole stretch on the back nine had him looking at a below-par finish before a bogey on the final hole. Doyle was the second-highest finisher for the Ducks with a tournament score of 6 over.
After a frustrating day on Tuesday, Krafft responded well by shooting 12 straight par-or-better holes en route to carding a 1-over 73. The sophomore was even at the turn and parred each of the first eight holes on the back nine to record a counting score. Krafft finished the tournament tied for 43rd at 8 over par.
Leach and Avrit each shot below-par rounds earlier in the tournament, but the duo could not recapture the magic as they each recorded a 77 on the final day of play. Avrit finished the tournament at 7 over to tie for 38th, while Leach’s score of 12-over tied for 54th.
Duck Scorecard
NCAA Regionals
University Club – Par 72
9. Oregon 292-299-292—883 (+19)
T23. Nate Stember 73-76-70—219 (+3)
T35. Eric Doyle 76-74-72—222 (+6)
T38. Owen Avrit 75-71-77—223 (+7)
T43. Aiden Krafft 73-78-73—224 (+8)
T54. Greyson Leach 71-80-77—228 (+12)
Notables
Stember finished his Oregon career with 499 birdies, the third most in program history … Avrit finished his Duck career with a scoring average of 71.75, fifth-lowest in program history … Stember’s career scoring average of 72.03 ranks seventh in UO history.
– www.GoDucks.com –
