Three Dawgs in Top 10 After 36 at Duck Invitational

EUGENE, Ore. – University of Washington seniors Noah Woolsey, Henry Lee and Jan Schneider find themselves in the top 10 after the first 36 holes of the annual Duck Invitational, hosted by the University of Oregon at the par-71 Eugene Country Club. Washington as a team sits tied for third place with a 15-over 583 (289-294).
 
"Overall today was a really gritty performance from our guys, we didn't necessarily have our best stuff but they really dug deep in both round and played the back nine well to keep us within an outside chance tomorrow," said head coach Alan Murray. "We have to do it all tomorrow if we want to take the tournament championship and we need help from the teams ahead of us. All we can do is make sure we do everything to play well and we are looking forward to the challenge, chasing down the Oregon teams."
 
Woolsey led the Huskies the majority of the day as he finished with a team-best tying nine birdies as he opened the day with a 2-under 69. The senior started by getting to 1-under over his first three holes and despite one error on the par-4 eighth, made the turn at even par. He followed with three birdies on the back nine to close the first round at 2-under 69, UW's best round of the day.
 
During the second 18, Woolsey had a few more errors but still turned in five birdies to finish at even-par 71 for an overall day one score of 2-under 140 (69-71) and currently sits in fourth place, just three strokes off the lead.
 
"Noah once again had a really solid day with his rounds of 69 and 71," said Murray. "He was honestly struggling a little bit in our practice round but he showed his class and ability to compete with a battling display today. His competitive energy is really something to witness and he leads the team so well."
 
Senior Jan Schneider sits a few strokes behind him, tied for 10th, and was one of two Huskies to record an eagle on the day. Schneider is at 2-over 144 (73-71) and moved up seven spots on the leaderboard between round one and two.
 
After a rough start on his second 18 which saw him get to 6-over, Schneider rattled off four birdies and an eagle on the par five 16th to pair with no blemishes, closing his round on a high note at even-par. Schneider posted eight birdies on the day to go with his eagle. He has now recorded a team-best five eagles on the young season.
 
"Jan was 6-over for his round after seven holes and ended up shooting even par which was pretty special and really was a big round for our team, we're so proud of him," added Murray.
 
Also posting a 2-over 144 to tie for 10th was fellow senior Henry Lee, the owner of UW's other eagle on the day. Lee opened with a stellar even par round which also featured an eagle on the par five 16th. He added an additional birdie during his first round before posting a 2-over 73 during the second 18.
 
"Henry was pretty steady as always today," added Murray. He had some big holes out there for us when we needed some birdies to boost our spirits and is always there for us in that way."
 
Freshman Taehoon Song, competing as an individual, sits tied for 29th after making a huge improvement between round one and two. The newcomer posted a 7-over 78 but followed strongly with an even-par 71 for a day-one scorecard of 7-over 149 (78-71).
 
Rounding out the UW counting lineup was sophomore Petr Hruby who is tied for 66th with a 15-over 157 and freshman Teddy Lin who carded a 16-over 158.
 
"Petr battled hard and didn't have his best stuff on the first day but we have one more round to go and he is certainly capable of putting up a good number for us tomorrow," said Murray. "Teddy had a really uncharacteristic day in the second round after bailing us out in the first round. He had a round to forget in the afternoon while Taehoon played really well in the second 18 as an individual and his even par was impressive.
 
The final round of the Duck Invitational tees off Tuesday morning at Eugene Country Club.