Ducks Open Spring Against Loaded Field in L.A.

EUGENE, Ore. - The Oregon women's golf team will kick off its 2020 spring season on Sunday against a loaded field at the Northrop Grumman Challenge at the Palos Verdes Golf Club in Los Angeles. The three-day tournament will be made up of 18 holes of stroke play each on Sunday, Monday and Tuesday, with tee times beginning at 9 a.m. PT.

Tournament Details
Sunday, Feb. 9 - Tuesday, Feb. 11 | Los Angeles, Calif.
Palos Verdes Golf Club | 36 Holes | Par 71, 6,017 Yards
The Field: Auburn, Arizona, Arizona State, Duke, Florida, Kent State, Ohio State (Host), Oregon, Pepperdine, Stanford, Texas, UCLA, USC, Vanderbilt, Wake Forest, Washington

Teeing Off For the Ducks

Pos.	Name	Yr.	Scoring Avg.	Best Finish
1.	Amy Matsuoka	Sr.	73.67	12th
2.	Sofie Kibsgaard Nielsen	Fr.	72.50	T-13th
3.	Tze-Han (Heather) Lin	So.	72.92	T-5th
4.	Ching-Tzu Chen	Fr.	74.75	T-20th
5.	Briana Chacon	Fr.	73.11	T-5th

Loaded Field
One of the premiere tournaments in the nation, the Ducks will be one of 13 ranked teams in the 16-team field at the Northrop Grumman Challenge, going off both the GolfStat and WGCA top-25 polls. Oregon is No. 17 in the GolfStat rankings, and each of the top seven ranked teams in the nation will be in action in Los Angeles, including consensus No. 1 Texas and No. 2 Arizona State. The Ducks have been invited to the Northrop Grumman Challenge only once before, tying for ninth overall in 2013.

"We're fired up to start the spring against one of the strongest fields in women's college golf," said head coach Derek Radley. "Our climb in the rankings these past two seasons has awarded us with a spot to compete against the best, and we are hungry to make a statement."

Young Ducks Impress in Fall
The Ducks boast a young squad in the second season under head coach Derek Radley and assistant Monica Vaugh, with a roster made up of three freshmen, two sophomores, one junior and one senior. But Oregon's talent came to the forefront during the fall season as the Ducks finished in the top five in all four tournaments, including runner-up showings at both the WSU Cougar Invitational and the Molly Collegiate Invite. Freshman Sofie Kibsgaard Nielsen - one of three true freshmen in the lineup for the Ducks in L.A. - led the way during the fall with a 72.50 scoring average and four top-five finishes, getting her career off to a solid start after coming to Oregon as the 174th ranked amateur in the world out of Denmark.

"Sofie has proven herself to be a strong and reliable leader," said assistant Monica Vaughn. "Her work ethic in practice, her grit and determination in tournaments, and her positive but competitive nature will be especially huge for our team come postseason play."

Championship Experience
Oregon's roster doesn't have a ton of NCAA experience, but the Ducks' young talent is being groomed by a pair of proven champions. Head coach Derek Radley helped lead Arizona to the 2018 NCAA Championship as an assistant, and assistant coach Monica Vaughn won both the individual and team national titles as a senior with Arizona State in 2017.

"Coach Monica and I are thankful to have had success at the National Championship both as a player and a coach," said Radley. "This team has learned what it takes to be successful and pay attention to detail, and I am extremely proud of our constant effort to be the best."

Radley Lands Top Recruit
Derek Radley made a huge splash over the offseason, signing elite 2020 recruit Hsin-Yu (Cynthia) Lu to bolster next year's squad. Lu signed as the 154th ranked amateur in the world and the No. 1 rated recruit coming out of Asia in the 2020 collegiate signing class.

"We are beyond excited to add Cynthia to our Duck family," said Radley at the time of the signing. "She is one of the most talented recruits we have ever seen and will bring an extreme amount of experience to our already very talented roster."

Up Next
Oregon will be back in action in California on Feb. 24-25 at the Bruin Wave Invitational in San Luis Obispo.