Men's Golf at Pacific-10 Championships in Seattle
April 22, 1999
Corvallis, Ore. - SCHEDULE: The Oregon State University men's golf team returns to action at the 1999 Pacific-10 Conference Championships, April 26-28. The 72-hole tournament is being held at the Broadmoor Country Club in Seattle. Broadmoor is a par 70 course, playing to 6,186 yards for the championship.
FORMAT: Monday the teams will play 36 holes, followed by rounds of 18 Tuesday and Wednesday. Six competitors will make up the team, with the five best scores from any one round counting toward the team total.
THE TEAM: Oregon State Head Coach Mike Ketcham has announced five of his six-player team. The final spot will not be finalized until qualifying is completed Friday.
John Lepak, Fr., La Habra Heights, CA -- Lepak is the team leader for scoring at 72.6 per round...has finished in the top 10 in six of 10 events this season...won the Pacific Coast Intercollegiate with a 54-hole total of 209, which included rounds of 68, 70 and 71...tied for third at the last tournament, the Western Intercollegiate...averaging 71.5 over the last three tournaments...12 rounds under par this season...has shot at least one round of 72 or under in each event...other top-10 finishes include tied for fourth at the Duck Invitational, tied for eighth at the Husky and Wolf Pack Classics, and tied for 10th at the Northwest Invitational...ranked No. 68 in the nation.
Anthony Arvidson, So., Beaverton, OR -- Anthony is averaging 74.2 per round...has finished in the top 13 in three of the last four events he has competed...11th place at the Wolf Pack Classic has been his best showing for the season...averaging 74.3 for his career...tied for 10th at last year's Pac-10 Championships with a 2-over-290 -- which included two rounds of 69...six career top-20 placings, and won the Duck Invitational last year...has fired 16 rounds under par for his career...1998 Pacific-10 Conference Honorable Mention.
Dustin Wayne, Jr., Alameda, CA -- Dustin is second for the team at 74.0 per round...has fired nine rounds under par this season...has four top-10 finishes for the year, including fourth at the Northwest Invitational and tied for fourth at the Pacific Coast Intercollegiate...has shot 67 twice this season...ranked No. 69 in the nation...came to OSU from Chabot Junior College.
Justin Johnson, Sr., Castro Valley, CA -- Johnson is averaging 76.1 per round for the season, after a 74.4 average last season...for his career, he is firing a 74.9 average...tied for 46th at last year's Pacific-10 Championships...has a season best tied for fifth finish at the Wolf Pack Classic...tied for fourth at last year's Duck Invitational, his best showing for his career at OSU...has three top-10 finishes for his career...came to OSU from Chabot Junior College.
Eric Dahm, Jr., Tualatin, OR -- Dahm is averaging 74.6 per round...has never played in the Pacific-10 Championships...has a pair of top-20 finishes this year, including a career best tied for 11th at the Pacific Invitational...two rounds under par this season and three for his career...career scoring average of 75.9.
THE FIELD: Every school in the Pacific-10 Conference has a men's golf program. Oregon State will enter the event No. 35 in the nation. Arizona State is the highest ranked team at No. 7. The Sun Devils are followed by No. 12 and Pac-10 Championships host Washington, No. 21 Oregon, No. 24 California, No. 26 UCLA, No. 27 Stanford and No. 38 UCLA. Arizona and Washington State are not ranked. Sixteen of the nation's top-100 players will also be competing in the Championships.
SUBPAR: Oregon State players have a combined 30 rounds under par. John Lepak lead the team with 12 subpar rounds, followed by Dustin Wayne with nine, Anthony Arvidson with five, and Eric Dahm and Justin Johnson with two. Last year's team shot 25 rounds under par for the entire season.
KETCHAM ON THE COURSE: "The Broadmoor Country Club is a small golf course, its length is not demanding. This is a shot-maker's golf course, distance is not the key here. This is not target golf, but it is position golf. Most of the Oregon State players will be hitting long irons or three woods off the tee. This course will undoubtedly be set up tough for the Pac-10 Championships, I would imagine we'll see the rough up and the greens will be firm. The greens are undulated and small, and with the recent nice weather, they'll be fast. This course is going to make for an interesting tournament -- a good old fashioned Western shoot-out. As for an Oregon State take on things, I personally prefer a big course because we are strong and we can hit the ball a long way. The thing that does work in our favor is our ability to hit the ball straight, and because of that, we should be able to compete well on this course."
KETCHAM ON THE TEAM: "This is only one tournament, but I'm using it as a measuring stick of how far we have come this season. We are going up there to win the tournament and make a good showing, I'm not making any predictions, but we can play on a par with any team in this conference. Overall we got off to a slow start this spring, but in the last three events we have played much better. We haven't been able to put all the pieces together this season, but we have been in contention to win tournaments, especially lately. I'm hoping things will start clicking now and we gel at the right time."
LAST YEAR: Oregon State finished eighth at last year's conference championships, held at the Orinda Country Club in Orinda, Cal. The Beavers fired rounds of 362, 377, 369 and 375 for a 1483 total. Nine shots separated fifth place Washington and 10th-place Washington State. Five players finished under par, with Arizona State's Paul Casey captured medalist honors at 5-under 283. Anthony Arvidson was Oregon State's top player, tying for 10th at 2-over 290. Arvidson was among the leaders after rounds of 69, 74, 69, but shot 78 the final day to take him out of the title contention.
PAC-10 HISTORY: Oregon State has finished eighth in the last two Pac-10 Championships. The Beavers best finish in the tournament is fourth, accomplished in 1994 in Tucson. OSU also captured fifth in the 1996 Championships in Newport Beach, Cal. The Beavers did have a pair of third-place finishes at the Pac-8 Championships, 1967 in Corvallis and 1973 in Clarkston, Wash. The Beavers lone individual champion is Scott Masingill in 1971.
