Miernicki Leads Ducks to Sixth in Fall Finale

goducks.com

(SAN MARTIN, Calif) - The University of Oregon’s men’s golf team placed sixth, led by Daniel Miernicki's runner-up performance at the sixth annual Gifford Collegiate Championship at CordeValle, wrapping up the fall season.

Oregon carded a 13-over 368 in the final round in the 54-hole event, finishing one stroke out of a tie for fourth with a score of 40-over 1105. Tournament host and No. 3 UCLA won going away with an 8-under 347 Wednesday, finishing at 9-over 1074.

No. 16 Stanford (1087) placed second, followed by Northwestern (1099), USC (1104) and No. 25 Washington (1104). Miernicki (72-70-69-211) had his best finish of the fall, which typically serves as a tuneup for the true competitive season that begins in February. The Junior from Santee, Calif., rallied from a rough start by firing five birdies against one bogey over his final 10 holes to card UO's low round of the tournament with a 69 on the 7,169-yard, par 71 course.

Miernicki, who started the day tied for sixth in the 76-main field, was one of only five players under par for the event, tying Augusta State's Henrik Norlander for second place behind medalist Patrick Cantlay of UCLA.

Eugene Wong (78-71-75-224) and Andrew Vijarro (75-73-76-224) tied for 30th, while Jack Dukeminier (79-74-72-225) made Oregon's biggest jump of the day, climbing from 56th to a tie for 38th thanks to a final-round 72.

Sean Maekawa (74-77-76-227) finished tied for 48th, while Robbie Ziegler (76-74-86-236) hit a rough patch over his final 18 holes to fall into a tie for 67th.

The Ducks start their 2011 slate Feb. 3 at the Amer Ari Invitational in Kohala Coast, Hawaii.

Complete tournament statistics can be found at www.Golfstat.com.

Source: University of Oregon