Oregon daily emerald., May 06, 1997, Page 13, Image 13

cc There are
some teams here
that are
phenomenal.
Derek Croskrey
Oregon golfer
Oregon State’s Marty James (left) punches
one out of the sand trap. James shot a two
round total of 147 for the Beavers. Joel
Kribel (above) putts his way into contention
for the lead. Kribel finished the day at 142,
seven stokes off the lead.
Arizona, ASU and USC all on Ducks’ heels
■ PAC-10: USC’s Chad Wright is tearing up the
course for the individual lead at the Pac-10 tourney
By Ryan Halvorsen
Sports Reporter
Arizona State, Arizona and USC are probably pretty sur
prised that they are trailing by three strokes, but they proba
bly expected to be in about the same position after two
rounds of play at the Pacific-10 Men’s Golf Championship
at the Eugene Country Club Monday.
The Sun Devils, Wildcats and Trojans are all tied for sec
ond place with two-round totals of 725.
Arizona State lost the most ground after shooting an
opening-round 356 only to be followed up with a second
round 369. Arizona and USC, on the other hand, both im
proved on first-round scores, Arizona shooting a 365 and
following up with 360 and USC shooting rounds of 363 and
362.
Both Stanford and Oregon State aren’t far behind in the
team standings either, finishing fifth and sixth respective
ly. Stanford got strong individual rounds from Conrad Rav,
Joel Kribel and Dusty Brett to stay within
six shots of the leader, Oregon. Oregon
State, led by Jeff Richardson and Charles
Kingsbaker is sixth with 733 ahead of
UCLA with a 736, California with 737,
Washington with 745 and Washington
State with 771.
USC’s Chad Wright had an extraordi
nary day, finishing at nine-under par. Wright, who has al
ready won one tournament, the Oregon Duck Invitational, at
the Eugene Country Club this year shot an opening round
68 followed up in the afternoon with a 67.
Wright’s playing partner for the day, B.J. Schlagerhauf,
best described the kind of round that Wright was playing
when a fan on the 18th green congratulated him on his
birdie.
“That’s his sixth one this round,” Schlagerhauf said after
the pair had just completed nine holes.
Wright just waved to the crowd.
Ray of Stanford tried to keep Wright from running away
with the lead as he shot rounds of 71 and 70 to stay within
six shots in second. Four players are tied for third, one shot
behind Ray. Oregon’s Ben Crane, Stanford’s Joel Kribel,
who shot rounds of 73 and 69, Oregon State’s Jeff Richard
son, who had rounds of 74 and 68, and Brandon DiTullio of
UCLA with a 75 and a 67, the only player that equaled
Wright’s tournament-low round.
“There are some teams here that are just phenomenal,”
Oregon’s Derek Croskrey said about the level of competition
that was out on Monday.
Chris Hanell, the No. 2 player in the nation, found him
self back in the pack after two rounds, finishing in a tie for
Turn to PAC-10, Page 16
Oregon: Ducks using home course to their advantage
■ Continued from Page 11
by Oregon and Arizona State
took a big fall in the second
round. The Ducks shot a 364 for
a two-round total of 722, while
Arizona State dropped off with
a second-round score of 369 for
a total of 725.
In the second round it was
Crane that led the charge, shoot
ing a 70 for a two-round total of
142. Croskrey slowed up a little,
shooting one-over par to make
his total 143. After all of the
scores were tallied Crane was
sitting in a tie for third place and
Croskrey was tied for seventh.
“I’ve been playing pretty con
sistently lately,” Crane said.
“Just in the last week or so, I’ve
started to hit the ball really well.
It could have been a lot better
though. I knocked the ball in
side ten feet a number of times,
especially in the second round,
but I didn’t capitalize. I feel like
I’m hitting the ball as good as I
ever have, so that’s exciting.”
Crane said that he played live
under on the par-five holes and
those were what gave him the
boost to make a run at the lead
ers. 9
“I stayed patient and waited
for the par fives to come and
made my move at that time,”
Crane said.
Barney played two solid
rounds of golf for Oregon, fin
ishing the day at one-over par
with a second round 73 for a to
tal of 145. Lavoie started out the
day well, but had a disappoint
ing second round, shooting a 77
to give him a two-round total of
149 after shooting par in the
morning session.
“I struggled in the second
round,” Lavoie said. “ Toward
the end of the first round I start
ed losing my swing and it took a
while to get it back. It’s frustrat
ing when you play solid for 14
holes and it’s just four that kill
you.”
Astorquia struggled in the
second round as well, shooting
six-over par to finish the day at
150. Cone also finished with a
150, but he turned it around in
the second round, shooting a 71
to finish on a good note.
So is it home-course advan
tage that brought Oregon to the
top of the crop at the Pac-10
Championship? Maybe, accord
ing to Nosier.
“I think in athletics any time
you play at home there’s going
to be a home-court advantage,”
Nosier said. “I don’t think it’s
quite the same as the Trailblaz
ers playing at the Rose Garden.
This is a golf course and it’s
pretty straight forward, there’s
nothing hidden.”
Jeff Barney (above) lines up one of his putts on his
way to a two-round total of 145, ten strokes off the
pace. Chris Cone (left) takes his shot on one of the
speedy greens at the Eugene Country Club. Cone
was the Ducks’ high scorer with a first-day total of
150.
Photos by
Mark McTyre