Saturday, February 15
Palm Springs, Calif.
All Day
University of Oregon
vs
Alice & John Wallace Classic
Ducks Race Out To Seven-Stroke Lead
02/15/25 | Women's Golf
PALM DESERT, Calif. - The Oregon women's golf team got its second spring tournament off to a tremendous start on Saturday at the Alice & John Wallace Classic, shooting an 8-under 276 to jump out to a seven-stroke lead at Monterey Country Club.
The No. 5 ranked Ducks were led by the trio of Kiara Romero, Karen Tsuru and Suvichaya Vinijchaitham, who each fired a 3-under 68 in the opening round to finish the day in a tie for first place individually.
Oregon was one of only two teams to shoot under par in the opening round, along with No. 3 USC (-1). San Jose State sits in third place at 2-over par.
UO was the top team in the field on par 4s (-3) and par 5s (-5), and the Ducks led the field with 18 total birdies while tying for the lead with 60 total pars.
"Really great start for the Ducks today," head coach Derek Radley said. "This was a course we didn't have a lot of information on going into this tournament, and I thought our ladies did a great job of preparing and then coming out and really attacking our game plan today. Kiara, Karen and Hut played great and put us in a good position. We're excited to come back out and get after it again tomorrow."
How it Happened: After opening her spring with a second-place finish earlier this month, Romero picked up where she left off with three birdies in her first five holes. The sophomore was 3 under through 10 holes before making her first bogey at No. 11, but she got that stroke back with a birdie at No. 16 and made par on the rest of the holes to card a 3-under 68.
Romero has now shot under par in four straight rounds with three consecutive sub-70 performances. In her career, she owns 34 par-or-better showings in 45 rounds with 13 sub-70 performances.
Tsuru put together her best round as a Duck, going sub-70 for the second time in her career with a bogey-free 68. The sophomore made par on her first seven holes before carding her first birdie, and she got to 3 under with back-to-back birdies on No. 12 and No. 13 before finishing her day with all pars.
Vinijchaitham - who dazzled with a 7-under 64 in the final round of the Therese Hession Regional Challenge - made two birdies on the front nine and was 1 under at the turn after a bogey at No. 9. She bounced back with four straight pars before making birdie on two of her final four holes, breaking 70 for the third time in her freshman season.
Freshman Tong An rounded out Oregon's counting scores with a 1-over 72, making four birdies against five bogeys.
Sophomore Ting-Hsuan Huang added a 2-over 73, and sophomore Darae Chung came in with a 4-over 75 in her spring debut while competing as an individual.
Team Leaderboard (top five):
1. Oregon - 276 (-8)
2. USC - 283 (-1)
3. San Jose State - 286 (+2)
4. Long Beach State - 289 (+5)
T5. Cal State Fullerton - 290 (+6)
T5. Pepperdine - 290 (+6)
T5. Washington - 290 (+6)
Ducks on the Leaderboard:
T1. Kiara Romero - 68 (-3)
T1. Karen Tsuru - 68 (-3)
T1. Suvichaya Vinijchaitham - 68 (-3)
T20. Tong An - 72 (+1)
T30. Ting-Hsuan Huang - 73 (+2)
T51. Darae Chung (Ind.) - 75 (+4)
Up Next: Round two of the Alice & John Wallace Classic will begin with a shotgun start at 8:30 a.m. PT on Sunday morning.
The No. 5 ranked Ducks were led by the trio of Kiara Romero, Karen Tsuru and Suvichaya Vinijchaitham, who each fired a 3-under 68 in the opening round to finish the day in a tie for first place individually.
Oregon was one of only two teams to shoot under par in the opening round, along with No. 3 USC (-1). San Jose State sits in third place at 2-over par.
UO was the top team in the field on par 4s (-3) and par 5s (-5), and the Ducks led the field with 18 total birdies while tying for the lead with 60 total pars.
"Really great start for the Ducks today," head coach Derek Radley said. "This was a course we didn't have a lot of information on going into this tournament, and I thought our ladies did a great job of preparing and then coming out and really attacking our game plan today. Kiara, Karen and Hut played great and put us in a good position. We're excited to come back out and get after it again tomorrow."
How it Happened: After opening her spring with a second-place finish earlier this month, Romero picked up where she left off with three birdies in her first five holes. The sophomore was 3 under through 10 holes before making her first bogey at No. 11, but she got that stroke back with a birdie at No. 16 and made par on the rest of the holes to card a 3-under 68.
Romero has now shot under par in four straight rounds with three consecutive sub-70 performances. In her career, she owns 34 par-or-better showings in 45 rounds with 13 sub-70 performances.
Tsuru put together her best round as a Duck, going sub-70 for the second time in her career with a bogey-free 68. The sophomore made par on her first seven holes before carding her first birdie, and she got to 3 under with back-to-back birdies on No. 12 and No. 13 before finishing her day with all pars.
Vinijchaitham - who dazzled with a 7-under 64 in the final round of the Therese Hession Regional Challenge - made two birdies on the front nine and was 1 under at the turn after a bogey at No. 9. She bounced back with four straight pars before making birdie on two of her final four holes, breaking 70 for the third time in her freshman season.
Freshman Tong An rounded out Oregon's counting scores with a 1-over 72, making four birdies against five bogeys.
Sophomore Ting-Hsuan Huang added a 2-over 73, and sophomore Darae Chung came in with a 4-over 75 in her spring debut while competing as an individual.
Team Leaderboard (top five):
1. Oregon - 276 (-8)
2. USC - 283 (-1)
3. San Jose State - 286 (+2)
4. Long Beach State - 289 (+5)
T5. Cal State Fullerton - 290 (+6)
T5. Pepperdine - 290 (+6)
T5. Washington - 290 (+6)
Ducks on the Leaderboard:
T1. Kiara Romero - 68 (-3)
T1. Karen Tsuru - 68 (-3)
T1. Suvichaya Vinijchaitham - 68 (-3)
T20. Tong An - 72 (+1)
T30. Ting-Hsuan Huang - 73 (+2)
T51. Darae Chung (Ind.) - 75 (+4)
Up Next: Round two of the Alice & John Wallace Classic will begin with a shotgun start at 8:30 a.m. PT on Sunday morning.
Players Mentioned
/ Women's Golf
/ Women's Golf
/ Women's Golf
/ Women's Golf
/ Women's Golf
/ Women's Golf
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