Arizona Wildcats men’s golf finished in second place at the Oregon Duck Invitational in Eugene, Ore. Tuesday. The Wildcats finished the third round 8-over-par and solidified the No. 2 spot behind the host Oregon as the Ducks were the only team to finish even in the final round.
Tuesday was the best score for the Wildcats since the Arizona Intercollegiate in 2014, however it wasn’t enough as the Ducks had five players in the top-10.
For a team that usually is led by juniors Jordan Gumberg and George Cunningham, freshman Brad Reeves was the leading scorer for UA. Reeves was slotted in as the fourth position out of five spots for the ‘Cats and shot 70, 69 and 71 strokes to finish off the tournament 3-under-par as well as sole possession of fourth place in the individual leaderboard.
“Today was a good day for me,” Reeves told Arizona Athletics. “Early in the round, especially the front nine, I couldn’t get much going. When I made the turn, I made a few more good swings and got some putts to fall in. I thought it was a good finish and I was pleased with the result.”
Cunningham and Reeves were first and second on Par-4 holes combining for 3-under-par. Cunningham averaged 3.94 while Reeves averaged 3.97 strokes for each Par-4. Overall, the Wildcats as a team managed to stay within No. 3 for scoring on each hole with their best performance coming from the Par-3 averaging 3.18 strokes on each hole.
Junior Ethan Marcus stumbled in the final round shooting 73 strokes (+2) and moved down one spot, but still posted his first career top-10 finish and a career low score in his first two rounds shooting a combined 2-under-par. Marcus tied for seventh place (E) and only competed in the individual rounds.
“I played another solid round of golf,” Marcus said. “The course played very challenging today, I just stayed patient and tried to make as many pars as I could.”
Accumulating all of the individual scores, three Wildcats finished in the top-20. Cunningham fell one spot and ended the tournament with 2-over-par. Gumberg shot 226 strokes over three rounds and tied for 56th place.
The Wildcats took a step in the right direction considering it’s usually been Cunningham and Gumberg carrying the load, but the newcomers in Marcus and Reeves are starting to form a complete unit.
“We see ourselves improving each week and it’s great to realize a strong finish is on the team board,” Head coach Jim Anderson said. “While we know there are still opportunities to sharpen our skills collectively and improve overall scoring, we also know we are getting very good at an important part of our season.”
Arizona will take a week off and return to action April 8 in Santa Cruz, Calif. for the Western Intercollegiate before the Wildcats prepare for the Pac-12 Championships.
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