Avrit Tied For Lead After 18 Holes In Bandon

BANDON, Ore. – The Oregon men's golf team is in fourth place at the Bandon Dunes Invitational after posting a 4-over 288 in the opening round on Sunday at Bandon Dunes Sheep Ranch Course, with junior Owen Avrit tied for the individual lead following a terrific 3-under 68.
 
The Ducks are five strokes behind No. 9 Kansas, the 18-hole leader at 1-under par. Fresno State is in second at 1 over, with San Jose State in third at 2 over.
 
"We had an up and down day," head coach Casey Martin said. "Not our best stuff. The wind kicked up mid-round and we struggled with it. We have two more rounds and I am excited to see us compete."
 
How it Happened: Avrit posted a near-flawless round, making five birdies and 12 pars to card his 13th par-or-better round of the season and fourth in the 60s. Avrit's only blemish was a double bogey on his sixth hole, but he bounced back to shoot 4 under the rest of the round.
 
Avrit sits in a four-way tie for the individual lead through the first round, with teammates Greyson Leach and Gregory Solhaug each one stroke back in a tie for fifth at 2-under par. Leach and Solhaug are both competing as individuals this week and won't count towards the team score, but they each made four birdies and played solid golf from start to finish to come in with a 69.
 
Nate Stember posted the team's second-best counting score with an even-par 71, offsetting three bogeys with a trio of birdies.
 
Freshman Jose Islas – competing as an individual – matched Stember with a 71 and led the field with an incredible seven total birdies. Islas shot 7 under across 17 holes, with an unfortunate 12 on the par-5 11th hole bringing is score back to even par.
 
Yuki Moriyama rode an up-and-down day to a 1-over 72, and Eric Doyle rounded out the counting scores with a 6-over 77.

Ducks on the Leaderboard:
4. Oregon –288 (-4)
T1. Owen Avrit – 68 (-3)
T5. Greyson Leach* – 69 (-2)
T5. Gregory Solhaug* – 69 (-2)
T11. Nate Stember – 71 (E)
T11. Jose Islas* - 71 (E)
T17. Yuki Moriyama – 72 (+1)
T61. Eric Doyle -77 (+6)
T69. Craig Ronne – 78 (+7)
T69. Tom Gueant* – 78 (+7)
* Competing as an individual

Notable: Oregon was 8 over on par-4 holes, tied for the best score in the field … Islas shot 5-under par on par-4 holes, three strokes better than any other player in the field … Avrit, Leach and Solhaug are all tied for the best score on par-3 holes at 1 under … Avrit is tied for the second-most birdies in the field with five, two behind Islas' seven.
 
Up Next: Round two of the Bandon Dunes Invitational will begin with a shotgun start at 8:30 a.m. PT on Monday.