Men’s Golf Finishes Sixth At Redhawk Invite

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UNIVERSITY PLACE, Wash. – The Oregon State men’s golf team concluded its penultimate before the Pac-12 Championship with a sixth-place finish at the Redhawk Invitational on Tuesday.

The Beavers shot a 13-over 281-282-294--857 at the par-70, 7,047-yard Chambers Bay to finish sixth in the 18-team field. Pac-12 schools took the top three spots as UCLA finished first (9-under 835), Washington was second (6-under 838) and Arizona State took third (3-over 847) at the two day, 54-hole tournament.

The course played to a par 70 on Monday and was moved back 301 yards and changed to a par 71 for Tuesday’s final round.

“We got off to a very poor start today and it cost us one or two positions in the finish,” Oregon State head coach Jon Reehoorn said. “It was good to see them hang in there and not let the round get out of hand. We were 10 over after five or six holes and finished there, which as a coach is good to know we have guys who are going to fight until the end.”

Junior Alex Franklin had two birdies and two bogeys on Tuesday to shoot a team-best 70, which moved him up five spots into a tie for 16^th place with a 2-over 70-72-71--212. It’s the seventh top-20 finish, out of 10 events, in his first season with the Beavers.

Freshman Kevin Murphy shot two rounds in the 60’s on Monday but had five bogeys and two birdies in the final round to lead Oregon State with a tie for 12^th place with an even-par 68-69-74--211. Murphy has now recorded top-20 finishes in four consecutive events.

Sophomore Brian Jung also had a successful tournament, posting a 4-over 71-69-75--215 to finish in a tie for 22^nd place. Junior Scott Kim shot a 10-over 75-72-74--221 to finish in a tie for 42^nd place and senior David Fink finished in a tie for 51^st with a 12-over 72-76-75--223.

Grant Forrest of San Diego claimed medalist honors with an 11-under 63-65-72--200 to hold off Arizona State’s Jon Rahm, who shot an 8-under 68-67-68--203, and Preston Valder of UCLA, who carded a 5-under 68-70-68--206.

The Beavers will compete in their final tournament before the Pac-12 Championship this Saturday and Sunday at the Robert Kepler Intercollegiate in Columbus, Ohio.

“We’ve got a great opportunity ahead of us this coming weekend in Ohio,” Reehoorn said. “The guys are playing really well. The Scarlet Course is very difficult, which I think suits our game very well.”