Ducks Head to Pullman for Pac-12 Championships

PULLMAN, Wash. - Postseason play begins on Sunday for the Oregon women's golf team at the 2024 Pac-12 Championships, hosted by Washington State at Palouse Ridge Golf Club.

The No. 16 Ducks will look to continue their recent run of success at the Pac-12 Championships. Oregon won the program's first-ever conference championship in 2022 at Eugene Country Club, before finishing as the runners-up last spring in Phoenix.

Oregon owns a 62-51-1 competitive record in 2023-24 and is one of six Pac-12 schools currently in the top 25 of the national rankings.

2024 Pac-12 Championships
Dates: Sunday, April 21 - Tuesday, April 23
Course: Palouse Ridge Golf Club
Par/Yardage: Par 72/6,324 yards
Format: Three rounds of stroke play - one round each day

The Field (11 Teams)
No. 1 Stanford, No. 4 UCLA, No. 9 USC, No. 12 Arizona State, No. 14 Arizona, No. 16 Oregon, California, Colorado, Oregon State, Washington, Washington State

How to Follow
Live scoring for the 2024 Pac-12 Championships will be available on Golfstat. Live updates will be provided on Twitter at @OregonWGolf, and Pac-12 Networks will air 30-minute highlight recaps on Monday (10 a.m. PT), Tuesday (10 a.m.) and Wednesday (8 a.m.).

Teeing Off for the Ducks (Scoring Average)
1. Kiara Romero (70.81)
2. Ching-Tzu Chen (73.29)
3. Minori Nagano (72.57)
4. Karen Tsuru (73.33)
5. Ting-Hsuan Huang (75.87)

Romero Leads the Way
Freshman Kiara Romero has been Oregon's top player this season while establishing herself as one of the elite golfers in the nation. Currently the No. 5 ranked player in the country, Romero leads the Ducks with a stellar 70.81 scoring average while shooting par-or-better in 17 of 21 rounds. The San Jose, Calif., native has posted six top-20 finishes in seven stroke-play tournaments with a pair of wins, claiming co-medalist honors at the Annika Intercollegiate in her collegiate debut in the fall before dominating at the San Diego State Classic earlier this spring. Romero shot 69-70-68 to win the San Diego State Classic by four strokes with a 9-under 207, tied for the fifth-best 54-hole performance in program history. The victory was fueled by a hole-in-one in the opening round, the first of Romero's college career and astounding ninth in her lifetime on a 193-yard par 3. Romero claimed her first collegiate win in her first tournament as a Duck to kick off the fall season, tying for first at the Annika Intercollegiate with an 8-under 208 (67-71-70). Her career-opening 5-under 67 featured five birdies and zero bogeys, and was the first of 10 straight par-or-better rounds to begin her Oregon career.

Youth Movement
Romero will be one of three true freshmen in the lineup for Oregon at the Pac-12 Championships, along with Ting-Hsuan Huang and Karen Tsuru. Huang owns a 75.87 scoring average since joining the Ducks for the final tournament of the fall, and she went 3-0 in match play at the Therese Hession Regional Challenge to kick off the spring. Tsuru made her collegiate debut earlier this month at the Silverado Showdown as an individual, impressing with a top-25 finish after posting a 73-73-74 week to finish at 4-over par.

Nagano Posts Top-Five Finish in Tempe
Senior Minori Nagano put together her best performance of the season at the PING/ASU Invitational, shooting 69-71-71 (-5) to tie for fourth individually. It was Nagano's second top-five finish of the season; she also tied for fifth at the Molly Collegiate Invitational. Nagano's opening-round 69 was her fourth sub-70 performance of the season, and she has now shot par-or-better in 13 of 21 rounds. Nagano was one of just eight players in the field in Tempe to finish par-or-better in all three rounds, and she tied for the best score in the field on par-3s at 3-under par. Nagano ranks second among Ducks with a 72.57 scoring average this season.

Chen Chasing All-Time Birdie Record
Fifth-year senior Ching-Tzu Chen put together her best tournament of the spring the last time out at the Silverado Showdown, shooting 3-over par (71-74-74) to match Kiara Romero for the team's top performance in a tie for 18th overall. Chen made 12 total birdies for the week, raising her career total to 331. Chen ranks fifth all-time in program history and will have a chance in Pullman to enter the top three, sitting just seven birdies back of Kendra Little (338, 2008-11) for No. 4 and 10 behind Kathleen Scavo (341, 2016-19) for No. 3. Chen is chasing Cassy Isagawa (377, 2012-15) for the all-time program record as she begins her final postseason as a Duck.

Park, Ducks Win Molly Collegiate Invite
The Ducks picked up their first win of 2023-24 and eighth under head coach Derek Radley at the Molly Collegiate Invitational in the fall, their second tournament of the season. UO won with a final score of 28-under par behind a historic performance by senior Ashleigh Park, who claimed her first collegiate victory by four strokes at 13-under par (68-67-68). Park's 13-under 203 was the second-best 54-hole performance in Oregon history.