Men's Golf Aims To Clinch Regional Berth At U.S. Intercollegiate
April 19, 2001
CORVALLIS, Ore. - -
SCHEDULE: The Oregon State men's golf squad travels to Stanford, Calif., for the U.S. Intercollegiate Saturday and Sunday, April 21-22. The teams play 36 holes Saturday and 18 Sunday, with a shotgun start each morning at eight. The Stanford Golf Course, which carries a par of 71 and plays to 6,786 yards, hosts the tournament.
THE COMPETITION: Along with Oregon State, the 18-team field includes host Stanford, No. 4 Arizona State, No. 6 USC, No. 18 Arizona, No. 23 Oregon, Washington, Portland, San Diego, California, UCLA, UC-Irvine, San Francisco, Pacific, Washington State, Long Beach State, Santa Clara, and San Jose State.
OSU'S LINEUP: Anthony Arvidson (Sr., Beaverton, Ore.) Leads the team with 72.6 average in 29 rounds played... won three career tournaments... ranked 49th nationally by Golfweek/Sagarin poll... has a streak of 12 straight top-25 finishes, dating back to last year's U.S. Intercollegiate and spanning all 10 varsity events this year... has 23 career top-20s, including 11 top-10s... one of two OSU golfers (David Yarnes) to play in all 10 tournaments this year... best finish this year is tied for third at Husky Invitational in the fall with a 2-over 218... most recently, finished 15th at the ASU Thunderbird Invitational, shooting a 5-under 211... posted his fourth top-10 of the year when he took fifth at the Western Intercollegiate with a 212... shot a season-low of 69 at the Western... tied for 16th at Oregon Duck Invitational... tied for sixth at Cleveland Golf Classic with a 4-over 146 March 5-6... finished 24th at Taylor Made at 14-over 228... also tied for ninth at Tucker Invitational with an even par 216... final-round average of 71.6... in ten tournaments, is 37-over par for an average of plus-3.7 per tournament... six rounds under par... average finish is 15th.
Dave Yarnes (Jr.-Tr, Tucson, Ariz.) Dave won his first Division I tournament March 6 when he turned in a clutch performance at the Cleveland Golf Classic, where he shot an even-par 142 (70-72)... most recently, tied for 35th at ASU Thunderbird with a 1-under 215... tied for 35th at Western Intercollegiate... tied for 37th at Husky Invitational, where he posted a plus-13, 229... low score this year is a 68, which came at the ASU tournament... averaging 75.2 strokes over 29 rounds... one of two OSU golfers (Anthony Arvidson) to play in all 10 tournaments this year... three rounds under par... before coming to OSU, Dave won the Tucson City Amateur and Pima County Amateur championships in 1999 and defended those titles in 2000.
Michael Jurgensen (So., Tr., Horsholm, Denmark)... Averaging 75.3 strokes over 23 rounds... most recently, placed 94th at ASU Thunderbird Invitational with a 225... tied for 40th at Western Intercollegiate with a 223...best finish of the season was at the Cleveland Golf Classic, where he tied for 27th with a 150 (75-75)... placed 36th at Duck Invitational with a 225... has consistently been a top-three player for OSU... low of 69 came at Northwest Collegiate.
Todd Deacon (Jr., Scottsdale, Ore.) Todd is averaging 77.3 strokes over 10 rounds this year... most recently, tied for 107th at ASU Thunderbird Invitational, where he shot 234... tied for 23rd (7-over 223) at Duck Invitational, where he shot a season-low 72 in the second-round.
Cameron MacKenzie (Fr., Vancouver, B.C.) Cameron has played 18 rounds over six tournaments, averaging 76.7 strokes... best finish was 23rd at Louisiana-Monroe, where he shot a season-low of 72... also finished 25th at Pepperdine in the fall.
David Williams (Fr., Corvallis, Ore.) Played in seven tournaments, with his best finish being t19th at OSU's NW Intercollegiate... low round of 68 also at NW... low tournament was 211 at NW... 68 came in first collegiate round, which was at the NW... averaging 76.7 strokes in 20 rounds... most recently tied for 82nd at Duck Invitational.
OSU COACH MIKE KETCHAM ON THE U.S. INTERCOLLEGIATE: "This is a very important tournament for Oregon State. As we get down to the last regular season tournament, I figure we're right there on the bubble and could go either way as to whether or not we get into the regional championships, which we host May 17-19.
"The kids know where we stand. It's no secret, based on where we stand in head-to-head competition, that there are three or four teams in this field that wouldn't hurt us at all to beat at Stanford. If we can do that, we're going to look pretty good in terms of getting into the regional. So it's pretty cut and dry as to what we need to do this week.
"We don't want to go in with the attitude that we just need to beat these four teams. We haven't prepared any differently, our focus isn't just on those four teams - there are 17 schools in the field that we need to be concerned with as well.
"This is why you play the game. Obviously, we wish we would have solidified our spot during the course of the year, and this is why they play the game. I know they're looking forward to the opportunity and the challenge ahead of them, and we're going to give it all we have and see what happens. We're excited."
KETCHAM ON JURGENSEN, YARNES AND DEACON'S PLAY: "I like what's happened over the last week. Jurgensen and Yarnes get more comfortable in every tournament they play. Todd Deacon is the same way - the more he plays, the more comfortable he'll be. He plays outstanding back here at home in the qualifying. It's just a matter of a comfort zone, and it's a feeling of being comfortable. If he can do it back here, it's just a matter of him being able to put it into a golf tournament. It's just a matter of time before it happens."
"It's no secret we're looking for a five-man, and we what we've seen from Cameron MacKenzie this past week has been nothing but positive. I think he's going to have a good golf tournament."
KETCHAM ON THE STANFORD GOLF COURSE: "We're excited to play, Stanford is a big golf course, it's a great golf course. It's probably the best university golf course - Golfweek rated it the number-one university golf course west of the Mississippi last year."
LAST YEAR: Oregon State finished fifth after shooting 879 while Anthony Arvidson tied for sixth with a 215. He shot a 68 in the first round.
LAST ACTION: The Beavers shot 881 to tie for 19th at the ASU Thunderbird Invitational, while Anthony Arvidson tied for 15th with a season-low of 211, which was 5-under par at ASU's par-72 Karsten Golf Course.
OSU IN THE RANKINGS: OSU is 54th in the Golfweek rankings, down from 51st in last week's poll.
ARVIDSON CRACKS TOP 50: Anthony Arvidson moved up in the Golfweek/Sagarin ratings to 49th from 59th the week before. 49th is the highest he has been ranked over the last two years.
HOME OF THE NCAA REGIONALS: Trysting Tree Golf Club is home to the NCAA West Regionals for both the men and women in 2001. This will be the first major collegiate tournament held at Trysting Tree in the 12-year history of the course. The women's regional is scheduled for May 10-12, and the men's from May 17-19.
HEAD OF THE CLASS: The men's golf team handled business on the course and in the classroom during the fall term, as the Beavers posted a team GPA of 3.0, which was the highest mark of any OSU team for the fall term.
THE COACHES: Head coach Mike Ketcham is in his fifth year at Oregon State, and he has taken the Beavers to three NCAA Regionals in his first four years. The Beavers' highest finish at a regional came last year, when they tied for 13th and were two shots from qualifying for the NCAA Championships. OSU finished a school-best second at last year's Pac-10 Championships under Ketcham's guidance.
The Ottumwa, Iowa native arrived in Corvallis after spending two years at San Jose State, where he was named Big West Conference Coach of the Year in 1996. The Spartans were a consistent top-25 team during his tenure.
Ketcham played two years at Odessa Junior College in Texas and two years at the University of Arkansas. He also played two years on the U.S. Golf Tour, the Asian Tour and the Canadian Tour.
Brian Watts is in his second year at OSU, and serves as assistant coach to both the men's and women's programs. The Western Oregon State University graduate brings vast experience to the Beavers, as he played professionally on the Golden State Tour, the Florida State Tour, and on the Candian PGA Tour for four years. 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.
INDIVIDUAL SEASON BESTS (Career best in parentheses): NAME LOW RD. LOW TRN. BEST FINISH Anthony Arvidson 68 (66, '99) 211 (210, 98) t3 (Husky Invitational) (1, three times) Sean Deacon 67 208 t11 (NW Intercollegiate) Todd Deacon 72 223(221, '00) (t7, '00 Pilot Spring Invitational) Daren Grieg 68 219 t18 (Louisiana-Monroe) Chance Holmes 69 222 t18 (Louisiana-Monroe) Michael Jurgensen 69 217 t27 (Cleveland Golf Classic) Cameron MacKenzie 72 223 t23 (Louisiana-Monroe) James Salt 74 225 t80 (NW Intercollegiate) David Stypula 77 244 89 (Duck Invitational) David Williams 68 211 t19 (NW Intercollegiate) David Yarnes 68 215 1 (Cleveland Golf Classic)
