Ducks Take National Spotlight At East Lake Cup

ATLANTA - The No. 6 ranked Oregon women's golf team will reap one of the many benefits of its historic 2021-22 season this week, with its NCAA national runner-up finish earning the Ducks a spot at the prestigious East Lake Cup in Atlanta, Ga. The annual event features the top four finishing teams from the previous NCAA Championships on both the men's and the women's side, and mimics the format of the NCAA Championships. This is Oregon's first-ever appearance in the East Lake Cup.

2022 East Lake Cup
Dates: Monday, Oct. 24 - Wednesday, Oct. 26
Location: Atlanta, Ga.
Course: East Lake Golf Club
Par/Yards: 72/6,312

How To Follow
Live scoring for the East Lake Cup will be available at Golfstat.com, and Golf Channel will broadcast the action live each day from Noon to 3 PM PT. Live updates will be provided throughout the tournament on Twitter at @OregonWGolf.

Live Scoring: https://results.golfstat.com/public/leaderboards/gsnav.cfm?pg=team&tid=27199

The Field
Oregon will be joined in Atlanta by No. 3 Texas A&M and No. 24 Auburn, both national semifinalsts last spring. The Ducks defeated Texas A&M to reach the national title match. With defending national champion Stanford opting out of the East Lake Cup, the field is completed by No. 18 UCLA.

Format
Play will begin on Monday with a round of stroke play, which will determine seeding for the match play portion of the tournament. Teams will face off in the semifinals on Tuesday in match play, with the winners going head-to-head on Wednesday for the East Lake Cup title. The teams that lose on Tuesday will face off in a consolation match on Wednesday.

Teeing Off For The Ducks (Scoring Avg.)
1. Hsin-Yu (Cynthia) Lu (73.00)
2. Ching-Tzu Chen (73.50)
3. Briana Chacon (74.00)
4. Ashleigh Park (72.67)
5. Brittany Shin (73.00)

Historic 2021-22 Season
It was a magical run for the Ducks in 2021-22, as they shattered nearly every program record, won their first Pac-12 Championship and NCAA Regional title, and advanced through match play to the national title match. Oregon was paced by a lineup of five all-Pac-12 selections and four all-Americans, led by individual Pac-12 champion Hsin-Yu (Cynthia) Lu. The Ducks were ranked No. 2 in the nation for the entire spring season, and came up just short to top-ranked Stanford in the title match. With Tze-Han (Heather) Lin and Sofie Kibsgaard Nielsen moving on from the program, Oregon still returns three of its five players from the historic season in Lu, Ching-Tzu Chen and Briana Chacon. Lu was a second-team all-American last year as a sophomore, while Chacon earned all-American honors for the second time in her career.

Radley Adds Reinforcements
Needing to replace the production of both Lin and Nielsen, head coach Derek Radley used recruiting and the transfer portal to reload the roster. Ashleigh Park joined the Ducks as a junior transfer from Texas, bringing more NCAA Championships experience to Oregon's lineup. Radley also signed two-time JUCO national champion Minori Nagano, and added a highly-touted freshman in Anika Varma. The Ducks also return Brittany Shin, the 2021 Big West Player of the Year for Cal State Fullerton, as well as sophomore Baylee Hammericksen.

Ducks Improve Each Round In Fall Opener
Oregon opened the 2022-23 season on Sept. 12-14 at the Annika Intercollegiate in Minnesota, placing sixth in an elite 12-team field. The Ducks got better each round, closing with a 3-under 285 in the final round to move up two spots and finish sixth at 2-over par overall. Oregon ran out a lineup consisting of three returners from last year's Pac-12 championship and NCAA national runner-up team; Hsin-Yu (Cynthia) Lu and Chen tied for the team's top individual finish in a tie for 12th at 1-over par, and Briana Chacon tied for 35th at 6 over. Texas transfer Ashleigh Park was terrific in her Oregon debut, matching Lu and Chen in a tie for 12th overall after firing a 1-under 71 in round two and a 2-under 70 in the final round. Freshman Anika Varma also impressed in her collegiate debut, tying for 29th (+5) with an even-par 72 in the second round and a 1-under 71 in round three.

Park, Shin Lead Ducks At Windy City Classic
The Ducks were led by a pair of newcomers their last time out at the Windy City Classic, earning their first top-five finish of the season in third overall behind impressive showings from Ashleigh Park and Brittany Shin. Park was 6 over through two rounds before firing a 3-under 69 to tie for seventh overall at 3 over, putting together her second straight impressive outing and first top-10 finish as a Duck. Shin matched Park in a tie for seventh for her first top-10 finish at Oregon, fueled by a 1-under 71 in the second round. Hsin-Yu (Cynthia) Lu tied for 12th for the second straight tournament at 5 over, and Ching-Tzu Chen tied for 24th at 8 over.