Oregon State Draws Final Blood Of 2011-2012 Civil War Series
The Civil War is one of the most historic rivalries in college athletics. It pits the Oregon State Beavers against the Oregon Ducks in multiple sports including basketball, football, baseball, volleyball, softball, and golf, to name a few.
This year, like most years, the Beavers and Ducks had many classic match-ups against one another, none more perhaps than the battle that took place yesterday morning at Emerald Valley Golf Course in Creswell, Oregon.
Two days ago Emerald Valley held the Northwest Sectional U.S. Open Qualifier in which two golfer would earn a spot in next week’s U.S. Open at The Olympic Club in San Francisco. The qualifier included many amateur and professional golfers from all over the west United States and Canada. Two round were to be played, 36 holes, over the course of the day. The Oregon weather did everything in it’s power to make this impossible though, as the final group finished up their final round in darkness around 9 p.m. that night.
When all the scores were tallied and posted Casey Martin, former controversial PGA Tour player and University of Oregon head golf coach, had won the event by one stroke with a total score of 138 (-4). The problem was the two players had tied for the second spot in the U.S. Open and a playoff was going to be needed to determine who would get the final available spot. Those two players were Dan Miernicki, who just recently finished a decorated golfing career at the U of O, and Nick Sherwood, an Oregon State University Junior.
With the conditions too dark to have a playoff, the two competitors were asked to come back the next morning for a Sudden Death Playoff at 8 a.m.
The next morning the Civil War began with both players parring the 10th hole and moving to the par-3 11th at Emerald Valley. Miernicki missed the green with his tee shot while Sherwood hit his to around 60 feet. Miernicki chipped to a foot for a tap-in par. Sherwood left his putt 12 feet short and was faced with a do-or-die putt.
He made it!
On to the par-4 12th where Miernicki pushed his drive right and was blocked out by trees. Sherwood put his drive in the right center of the fairway and was the first to play from about 190 yards away from the pin. He hit his approach inside of 30 feet and Miernicki was forced to chip into the fairway. Miernicki then missed the green with his third and then chipped to a couple feet. Nick then hit his putt four feet by the hole. Miernicki made his 4-footer for bogey and Sherwood then had a 4-footer for the win.
He made it again!
Just like that the little known golfer from Albany, Oregon, who decided to stay close to home and play golf for Oregon State took down, not only a top-10 ranked amateur in the world, but an Oregon Duck. He is now on his way to the U.S. Open where he will play with the best players in the world, and he did it all by drawing the final blood in this year’s series of Civil Wars.
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