NCAA Westfield Regional Begins Monday For No. 8 Ducks

WESTFIELD, Ind. - The No. 8 ranked Oregon women's golf team will look to earn its way back to the NCAA Championships beginning on Monday at the 2023 NCAA Westfield Regional in Indiana. The Ducks are the 2-seed in the 12-team field, aiming for a top-five finish in order to return to Grayhawk Golf Club in Scottsdale following last year's national runner-up finish.

This is Oregon's 15th consecutive NCAA Regional appearance and 27th overall, and the Ducks are trying to advance to the NCAA Championships for the third straight year and 13th time in program history.

2023 NCAA Westfield Regional
Dates: Monday, May 8 - Wednesday, May 10
Location: Westfield, Ind.
Course: The Club at Chatham Hills
Par/Yards: 72/6,300
Format: Three rounds of stroke play, one round each day; top 5 teams advance

How To Follow
Live scoring for the NCAA Westfield Regional will be available at Golfstat.com. 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=28076

The Field
Oregon has competed against six of the other 11 teams in the Westfield Regional field this season, holding a combined 10-3 competitive record against Mississippi State (0-1), Vanderbilt (0-1), Iowa State (1-0), Virginia (2-1), Michigan (3-0) and Oregon State (4-0). UO is one of five teams in the field ranked in the Golfstat national top 25 at No. 8, second only to No. 5 Mississippi State.

Teams (Golfstat national ranking)
1. Mississippi State (5)
2. Oregon (8)
3. Vanderbilt (17)
4. Iowa State (20)
5. Virginia (25)
6. Tulsa
7. Tennessee
8. Michigan
9. Oregon State
10. Xavier
11. Lipscomb
12. Morehead State

Teeing Off For The Ducks (Scoring Avg.)
1. Hsin-Yu (Cynthia) Lu (73.18)
2. Anika Varma (72.92)
3. Briana Chacon (73.41)
4. Ashleigh Park (72.74)
5. Minori Nagano (74.05)
Alt. Ching-Tzu Chen (74.44)

Numbers To Know
1 - Oregon won its first NCAA Regional title last season, and Briana Chacon became the first Duck to win an NCAA Regional individual title.
7 - The Ducks' win at the Therese Hession Regional Challenge was Oregon's seventh under HC Derek Radley, all since the spring of 2021.
15 - Oregon is making its 15th consecutive NCAA Regional appearance, and 27th all-time. UO is looking for its 13th NCAA Championships bid.
66 - Junior Minori Nagano fired a 6-under 66 in the final round of the Pac-12 Championships, earning her best career finish at T3 overall.

First NCAA Regional Title In 2022
Oregon captured its first NCAA Regional team title in program history last season in Albuquerque, shooting 4-under par to win by three strokes and advance to the NCAA Championships. The Ducks were led by Briana Chacon, who finished 9-under par to become the first Duck ever to win an NCAA Regional individual title. Prior to last season's victory, Oregon's best finish at a NCAA Regional was third in 2017.

Nagano Leads UO To Pac-12 Runner-Up Finish
Oregon enters the NCAA Westfield Regional with momentum after using a stellar final round to finish as the runners-up at the 2023 Pac-12 Championships, coming up just short in an attempt to defend last year's title. The Ducks fired a 6-under 282 in round three to move up from fourth to second, fueled by an incredible 6-under 66 by junior Minori Nagano. The junior college transfer was bogey-free with six birdies, including a stretch of five in seven holes from No. 7 to No. 13. Nagano tied for third overall at 4-under par for her best finish as a Duck, and her 6-under 66 was the best single round of the tournament and just one stroke shy of matching the Pac-12 Championships single-round record.

Freshman Varma Sparks Lineup
True freshman Anika Varma has provided a huge boost to Oregon's lineup late in the season, earning three straight top-20 finishes and her first career top-10 showing the last time out at the Pac-12 Championships. Varma shot 2 under (70-72-72) to tie for ninth overall at Pac-12s, playing the final two rounds paired with individual champion and world amateur No. 1 Rose Zhang (Stanford). Varma has shot par-or-better in four of her last five rounds and seven of her first 12 collegiate rounds, owning a 72.92 scoring average entering Regionals.

Park Returns For NCAA Action
Junior Ashleigh Park has missed two of the last three tournaments with a minor injury, but will make her return to the lineup in Westfield. Park leads the Ducks this season with a 72.74 scoring average and three sub-70 rounds, and is tied for the team lead with 10 par-or-better showings. Park owns five top-20 finishes in seven events with four in the top 10, headlined by a career-best runner-up finish at the Pac-12 Preview after shooting 8-under par (70-69-72).

Four Ducks Earn All-Pac-12 Honors
Oregon had four Ducks receive all-conference recognition from the Pac-12 following the conference tournament. Hsin-Yu (Cynthia) Lu and Ashleigh Park both landed on the first team, while both Briana Chacon and Minori Nagano earned honorable mention recognition. Lu became the first Duck in program history to earn all-Pac-12 first team three years in a row.

Ducks Climbing Up All-Time Birdie List
Three current Ducks are making their way up Oregon's all-time birdie list. Briana Chacon enters the NCAA Westfield Regional in ninth with 262 career birdies, just one back of No. 8 and 20 behind No. 7. Ching-Tzu Chen is in the top 10 with 253, and Hsin-Yu (Cynthia) Lu is knocking on the door in 12th (243) despite being in just her third season.

Oregon All-Time Birdie Leaders

Rk.	Name (Years)	Years	Birdies
1.	Cassy Isagawa	2012-15	377
2.	Caroline Inglis	2013-16	354
3.	Kathleen Scavo	2016-19	341
4.	Kendra Little	2008-11	338
5.	Cathleen Santoso	2014-17	317
6.	Petra Salko	2016-19	289
7.	Tze-Han (Heather) Lin	2019-22	282
8.	Cathryn Bristow	2006-09	263
9.	Briana Chacon	2020-pres.	262
10.	Ching-Tzu Chen	2020-pres.	253
11.	Alexis Phadungmartvorakul	2018-21	246
12.	Hsin-Yu (Cynthia) Lu	2021-pres.	243