EVENT: Kikkor Golf Husky InvitationalLOCATION: Bremerton, Wash.DATES: Monday Sept. 16 – Tuesday Sept. 17COURSE: Gold Mountain Olympic CoursePAR/YARDS: 72/7,124TEE TIME: 8 a.m. PTLIVE SCORING: www.golfstat.comFIELD (15): Arizona State, Brigham Young, UC Davis, Gonzaga, Oregon, Oregon State, Pacific, Pepperdine, St. Mary’s, San Diego, San Diego State, USC, Utah, Washington and Washington StateUO LINE-UP: Brandon Baumgarten, Max Carter, Rak Cho, Zach Foushee, Thomas Lim, Brandon McIver, Sulman Raza, Ryann Ree, Noah Sheikh and Jonathan Woo.
EUGENE, Ore. – The Oregon men’s golf team begins its quest to return to the NCAA Championships starts Monday at the Kikkor Golf Husky Invitational, Sept. 16-17, in Bremerton, Wash. at Gold Mountain Golf Club. The Ducks will be playing on the Olympic Course, a par-72 course that ranges 7,124 yards. The invitational consists of 15 teams, including six from the Pac-12, with UO teeing off at 8 a.m. in 10 minute intervals.
Oregon looks to improve upon its sixth-place finish last fall at the Husky Invitational behind the leadership of juniors Rak Cho and Jonathan Woo. The Ducks’ best finish at the Husky Invitational was fourth during head coach Casey Martin’s second year at the helm.
UO returns seven players from last year’s squad that nearly missed the NCAA Championships by two strokes. Along with Cho and Woo, Oregon also returns a trio of experienced sophomores who were members of last year’s NCAA Regional team that missed the cut by two strokes to compete for the championship.
Brandon McIver’s 209 at regionals tied Woo for 10th-place to pace the team. Fellow teammate Zach Foushee was one of the three freshmen that participated at regionals for the Ducks. The West Linn, Ore. native shot a 228 at regionals and finished the year with a 73.68 average. Sulman Raza rounds out the list of returnees for UO. The freshman played the most rounds on the team last year and was second on the team with an average score of 72.90.
Martin also added a pair of highly-touted freshman for this season. Thomas Lim is no stranger to winning as he enters his first season at Oregon. The Moorpark, Calif. native's resume includes a couple victories on the Toyota Tour Cup series as well a runner-up finish at the American Junior Golf Association's Winn Grips Heather Farr Classic. Lim was also selected to represent the Southern California team at the 43rd Hogan Cup in 2011.
Like Lim, Brandon Baumgarten also boasts an impressive resume with several Top-5 and top-10 finishes on the Future Collegiate World Tour including a first-place finish at the Coyote Creek Golf Club. The Granite Bay, Calif. native was also a qualifier for the US Amateur national championships.