Spring Break
Men's golf travels to Seattle for Pac-10 Championships
Beavers look for strong finish to season at Pac-10s led by white-hot freshman Morten Madsen, consistent veteran Paul Peterson
John Daly
Issue date: 4/27/09 Section: Sports
Cruising into the final tournament of the regular season, the Oregon State University men's golf team will shoot for one more solid finish against familiar foes in the Pac-10 Men's Golf Championship today through Wednesday in Seattle.
The venue for the final event is set to be the Seattle Golf Club, a narrow, tree-lined course that tends to give fits to golfers who capitalize on their short game rather than their tee performance.
This particular club is one which no current OSU player has seen. In situations like this, head coach Brian Watts takes it upon himself to research the course as much as possible in order to best prepare his team for the tournament. The information is then related to the players in practice, where they work on possible in-tournament scenarios.
"From all my research and talks with other players who have played it, it is a shot-maker's golf course," Watts said. "The team that wins the tournament is going to be the team that is the most disciplined. It is a very tight golf course, so you have to work the ball a lot off the tee. If we are disciplined off the tee, and hit a few extra clubs going into the greens to keep it short of the hole, I like our chances."
The Beavers expect to meet some of the most intense competition in NCAA golf today, as the entire Pac-10 conference is represented in the field. Last week, the team met with the same opponents at the U.S. Intercollegiate Tournament at the Stanford Golf Course. Finishing in 10th place as a team, but only a few shots away from a solid top-five finish, disappointment lingered around the players and coaches.
"We figured Stanford's tournament was a preview for the Pac-10 tournament," Watts said. "We went down there knowing that we needed to play well. I thought we did a good job. Our performance wasn't our best, and we still had an opportunity to finish in the top-10. I was really pleased at how we finished the final round. Overall, I feel like we could have played the tournament better. Maybe we are saving it up for the Pac-10s."
The venue for the final event is set to be the Seattle Golf Club, a narrow, tree-lined course that tends to give fits to golfers who capitalize on their short game rather than their tee performance.
This particular club is one which no current OSU player has seen. In situations like this, head coach Brian Watts takes it upon himself to research the course as much as possible in order to best prepare his team for the tournament. The information is then related to the players in practice, where they work on possible in-tournament scenarios.
"From all my research and talks with other players who have played it, it is a shot-maker's golf course," Watts said. "The team that wins the tournament is going to be the team that is the most disciplined. It is a very tight golf course, so you have to work the ball a lot off the tee. If we are disciplined off the tee, and hit a few extra clubs going into the greens to keep it short of the hole, I like our chances."
The Beavers expect to meet some of the most intense competition in NCAA golf today, as the entire Pac-10 conference is represented in the field. Last week, the team met with the same opponents at the U.S. Intercollegiate Tournament at the Stanford Golf Course. Finishing in 10th place as a team, but only a few shots away from a solid top-five finish, disappointment lingered around the players and coaches.
"We figured Stanford's tournament was a preview for the Pac-10 tournament," Watts said. "We went down there knowing that we needed to play well. I thought we did a good job. Our performance wasn't our best, and we still had an opportunity to finish in the top-10. I was really pleased at how we finished the final round. Overall, I feel like we could have played the tournament better. Maybe we are saving it up for the Pac-10s."
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