Men's Golf finishes 7th at Pac-10's, Looks on to Regionals

EUGENE, Ore. – The Oregon State men’s golf team climbed two spots on the final day of play to finish 7^th at the Pac-10 Men’s Championship on Wednesday, at the Eugene Country Club. With their tournament finish and recent outstanding seasonal play, the Beavers are in a position to make their first NCAA Regional appearance since 2003.

OSU improved each round, scoring a 357 final round, an 8-storke improvement from their third round 365. Their tournament total of 1458 was one stroke shy of 6^th place finisher, Arizona who finished with a 1457. USC won their first Pac-10 title since 2002 with a 51-under-par 1389, 36 strokes ahead of second place UCLA.

Shooting a 3-under-par 69 on the final round, James Allenby was the Beavers top finisher, placing 14^th. Allenby has finished under par in five of his last six spring tournaments and his 1-under-par 287 was the best score at the Pac-10 Championships by any Beaver since the 2000 tournament. Vincent Johnson was also under par on the day, shooting a final round 71. Johnson’s tournament total of 292 placed him in a tied for 28^th. Diego Velasquez came in one stroke back of Johnson, with a 293 and placed 31^st. Paul Peterson tied for 34^th after recording 294 for the tournament. Mitch Gillis improved his score each round, eventually shooting a 2-under-par 70 on Wednesday in the final round of play. Gillis’s tournament total of 298 tied him for 46^th. Alex Williams came in 54^th with a 302.

“The team played a great round of golf today.” Head Coach Brian Watts said on Wednesday. “Considering that we had no chance of winning the tournament, the guys showed a lot of character and heart out there. We’re disappointed in a 7^th place finish, but we really took ourselves out of the tournament on the first day. For the guys to come back and finish the tournament the way they did, I’m extremely proud of them. They hung in there and fought really hard all week. Mitch and James played really well today – good solid golf. Because Mitch is our only senior, I walked with him today. He had an up and down round early, but his last 13 holes were real solid golf. James probably could’ve shot much lower than his score indicated, but he had several putts lip out. He really played a phenomenal round today.”

“We’ve got a couple weeks to get some really good work in,” Coach Watts commented about the upcoming regionals. “Having the opportunity to go regionals and nationals, that’s what we play and work for all year long. I’m really proud of them. With the way the guys are playing, I think we’re in a good position. We’re looking forward to the opportunity.”

Individually, USC’s Jamie Lovemark led each round of the tournament to take home medalist honors with a 19-under-par 269. USC had 3 individuals place in the top-5.

OSU is looking forward to May 7, when regional berths and locations will be announced. Tournaments will be held May 17-19.

Team Scores:

1 Southern California (358-342-345-344) 1389

2 UCLA (355-353-360-357) 1425

3 Arizona State (356-366-354-357) 1433

4 Stanford (356-364-361-355) 1436

5 Washington (364-361-358-370) 1453

6 Arizona (369-363-360-365) 1457

7 Oregon State (369-367-365-357) 1458

8 Oregon (358-374-370-362) 1464

9 California (371-370-359-368) 1468

10 Washington State (367-366-367-384) 1484

Individual Leaders:

1 Jamie Lovemark, USC (69-66-67-67) 269

2 Niklas Lemke, Arizona State (69-70-68-68) 275

3 Joshua Wooding, USC (74-69-66-69) 278

4 Rory Hie, USC (72-67-74-66) 279

5 Daniel Im, UCLA (71-69-67-73) 280

6 Benjamin Alvarado, Arizona State (71-75-68-67) 281

7 Rob Grube, Stanford (71-70-71-70) 282

8 Kevin Chappell, UCLA (71-69-73-70) 283

OSU Scores:

T14 James Allenby (70-73-75-69) 287

T28 Vincent Johnson (75-72-74-71) 292

T31 Diego Velasquez (71-73-74-75) 293

T34 Paul Peterson (76-77-68-73) 294

T46 Mitch Gillis (78-76-74-70) 298

54 Alex Williams (77-73-78-74) 302