Men's Golf Gets Final Tune-Up At U.S. Intercollegiate Before NCAA West Regional
May 3, 2000
UP NEXT: The Oregon State men's golf team plays in the U.S. Intercollegiate May 6-7 at the Stanford University Golf Course.
TOURNAMENT: The U.S. Intercollegiate, which recently became a part of the Rolex Collegiate Tour, will be played on the par 71, 6,746-yard Stanford Golf Course. Last year's champion BYU will not compete this year, but runner-up Oregon is slated to play.
LAST YEAR: Oregon State finished sixth the U.S. Intercollegiate with a score of 871 (294-290-287). Eric Dahm shot 226 to finish tied for 52nd.
STARTING FIVE FOR U.S. INTERCOLLEGIATE: Tim Mickelson (Sr., San Diego, Calif.) Mickelson set an Oregon State record of 275 for four rounds as he finished 13-under to take second at the Pac-10 Championship Apr. 24-26 ... he also tied the low three-round total (shared by Dave Molitor in 1972-73) of 206, and tied the OSU record for low round (shared by Charles Kingsbaker) with a 64 in the third round ... shot 1-under 215 at Sun Devil Intercollegiate on Apr. 15-16 to finish tied for 20th ... finished Western Intercollegiate on Apr. 3-4 at 3-over 213 to tie for 11th ... shot 218 at Duck, tied for 15th playing unattached ... shot 69 four times this year ... finished fourth at Taylor Made Intercollegiate in February with 1-under 213 ... seven sub-par rounds so far ... after 28 rounds is averaging 72.8 strokes, good for second on the team behind John Lepak.
John Lepak (So., La Habra Heights, Calif.) Tied for third at Pac-10s with 10-under par 278, which included a career-low 67 in the second round ... also shot third-lowest four-round total in OSU history with his 278 at Pac-10s ... also tied for third-best three-round total with 209, which he has now done twice (also in 1998-99 Pacific Coast Intercollegiate) ... shot 8-over 224 at Sun Devil on Apr. 15-16 ... tied for 23rd at Western Intercollegiate on Apr. 3-4, shooting 7-over 217 with a low round of 71 ... tied for eighth at Duck Inv. Mar. 21 ... finished second at Southwestern Invitational Feb. 28-29 ... fired three rounds of 68 so far ... leads team with 34 rounds and 72.5 average for the year ... eight sub-par rounds this season ... has finished five of eleven tournaments at even-par or better ... averages just 2.8 shots over par per tournament ... average finish of 20th.
Anthony Arvidson (Jr., Beaverton, Ore.) Tied for 36th at Pac-10s, shooting 5-over 293 ... tied for 38th at Sun Devil tournament Apr. 15-16 with 4-over 220 ... has 12 rounds of even-par or better this season ... shot 9-over 219 to tie for 34th at Western Intercollegiate on Apr. 3-4 ... won the Duck Inv. Mar. 21 for the second time in his career ... has three career wins, two this year along with a second place ... averaging 73.4 strokes over 31 rounds ... low of 68 ... has broken par six times this season ... finished 38th or better in eight of ten tournaments ... shot even-par or better in five of ten second rounds, including three sub-par second rounds ... owns fourth-lowest three- round total in school history with a 210 at 1997-98 Duck Invitational, which he won ... owns a tie for the second and third-lowest scores in school history with a 66 and 67.
Dustin Wayne (Sr., Alameda, Calif.) Finished 10th at Pac-10s with a seven-under 281 ... 281 is fourth-lowest four-round total in Oregon State history, and his 211 after three rounds is the fifth-best all-time ... finished at 10-over 226 at the Sun Devil ... tied for 34th at Western Intercollegiate on Apr. 3-4 shooting 9-over 219 ... shot 220 at the Duck in his first tournament since the fall, tying for 22nd ... eight rounds under par so far ... shooting 73.5 after 22 rounds ... has three rounds of 67 in his career, tying him for third-lowest rounds in OSU history.
Bryan Geiberger: (Sr., Palm Desert, Calif.) Shot a six-over 294 at Pac-10s to finish 42nd ... had two rounds under par at Pac-10s (70 and 71) ... finished tied for 31st at Duck Invitational after shooting 6-over 222 ... had a season-low 69 in Southwestern Intercollegiate Feb. 28-29 ... Has six rounds under par this year ... best finish is 11th at Pepperdine Intercollegiate in the Fall ... averages 74.1 strokes over 22 rounds ... averages 73.0 strokes in the third round.
HEAD COACH MIKE KETCHAM ON THE TOURNAMENT: "The golf course is one of the best courses we'll play all year. I believe the Stanford University Golf Course is ranked the No. 2 University Golf Course west of the Mississippi. If I could think of a golf course that fits our team's strengths, Stanford would certainly come to mind. It's a long course that requires many different shots, and it's a course where par is a very good number. I think it's important for us to continue improving like we have leading up to the NCAA West Regional May 16th.
"We'll use it as a tune-up. We have set the lineup for the rest of the year, so it's an important week for us in that we continue to improve. It's a field and a tournament which I feel we can have some success at."
THE FIELD: The U.S. Intercollegiate field is made up of 18 teams from Oregon, California, and Washington, five of which are ranked in the Apr. 26 MasterCard Collegiate Golf Poll Top 50. Joining Stanford (18), Oregon (26), Oregon State (39), Pepperdine (47), and California (50) are UC Irvine, Long Beach State, New Mexico State, CS Northridge, Pacific, Portland, Sacramento State, UC San Diego, Santa Clara, San Jose State, UC Santa Barbara, USF, and Washington State.
Six individuals are ranked in the top 100, including the 1999 defending champion Michael Baerd of Pepperdine, who is ranked 66th. Also ranked are OSU's John Lepak (66) and Tim Mickelson (98), California's Han Lee (78), and Stanford's Dusty Brett (97).
MICKELSON SETS SCHOOL RECORDS: Tim Mickelson, a senior, tied Charles Kingsbaker's OSU record of 64 in the third round of the Pac-10 Championships. Mickelson's 8-under score the par 72 Karsten Golf Course on is the most shots under par by any Oregon State golfer, since Kingsbaker's 64 came on a par 71 course.
Mickelson tied the school record held by Dave Molitor (1972-73) for low three-round total of 206, and set a new standard for four rounds with his 275 (13-under) total.
BEST EVER FOR OSU: The Beavers played perhaps their best golf of the season at the Pac-10 Championship at the par 72 Karsten Golf Course in Tempe, Ariz., Apr. 24-26. OSU finished second at 19-under par 1,421 thanks to 11 sub-par rounds from Beaver golfers. Eric Dahm shot 317 to finish 58th.
OREGON STATE IN THE RANKINGS: OSU leaped up the standings this week from 39th to 24th in the May 3 MasterCard Poll. Lepak is ranked 42nd, Mickelson 60th, and Arvidson is 93rd. Mickelson jumped from 98th the previous week, and Lepak from 68th. Lepak's and Mickelson's current rankings are their highest this season. The Beavers moved up to 27th in the May 3 Golfweek/Sagarin College Rankings. Lepak is 70th, and Mickelson is 105th.
AT A GLANCE: A look at individual scoring averages, with rounds played in parentheses, best finish, and low round for the year:
Anthony Arvidson, 73.4 (31), 1st (Northwest Classic, Duck Invitational), 68 David Crowell (No longer on team), 75.5 (6), T21st (Pacific Invitational), 72 Eric Dahm, 75.3 (24.5), T7th (Pilot Spring Invitational), 70 Todd Deacon, 75.7 (11.5), T7th (Pilot Spring Invitational), 72 Sean Deacon, has not played. Chance Holmes, 76.0 (11.5), 20th (Pilot Spring Invitational), 71 (twice) Kyle Hudson, 74.4 (20.5), 1st (Pilot Spring Invitational), 66 Bryan Geiberger, 74.1 (22), T11th (Pepperdine Inv.), 69 Daren Grieg, has not played. Brodie Jordan (no longer on team), 74.6 (3), T25th (NW Classic), 72 John Lepak, 72.5 (34), 2nd (Southwestern), 67 Tim Mickelson, 72.8 (28), 2nd (Pac-10s), 64 David Stypula, has not played. Dustin Wayne, 73.5 (22), 10th (Pac-10s), 67
COACHING STAFF: Mike Ketcham is in his fourth year as the director of the men's golf program, and he continues to build Oregon State into a national power.
Ketcham has put together one of the deepest teams in Oregon State history this year. His teams continue to experience success, as a result of expert teaching of the game's fundamentals, national recruiting, and effective communication.
Ketcham arrived in Corvallis after spending five years at San Jose State University. While heading up the Spartan program, the team made three appearances in the NCAA West Regionals and qualified for one NCAA Tournament. The program was ranked consistently in the top 25 during his tenure, and he was selected the Big West Conference Coach of the Year once.
The Ottumwa, Iowa native started his coaching career as the mentor of the Scottsdale Community college program in Arizona. He led the team to the National Junior College Athletic Association national championship both years (1993, '94) he was associated with the school. He was named the NJCAA Coach of the Year both seasons, and coachedeight NJCAA All-Americans. His teams compiled an 84-1 conference record over the two years.
Ketcham was a NJCAA All-american in 1985 at Odessa Junior College in Texas before beginning a two-year career at Arkansas. Ketcham played professionally on the U.S. Golf Tour, Asian Tour, and the Canadian Tour, in addition to going through the PGA Tour Qualifying school twice.
Brian Watts returned to Oregon State this year after five years in private business. Watts coached at OSU as an assistant during the 1996-97 and 1997-98 seasons. After playing on the Golden State Tour, Florida State Tour and the Canadian PGA Tour for four years, he brings back tremendous experience to the OSU program. He also worked as an assistant professional at the DeBell Golf Course in Burbank, Calif., and at Golf Classics of America in Beverly Hills and San Dimas.
Watts graduated from Western Oregon University in 1989 with a bachelor of science in physical education. He also attended Oregon State.
