University of Oregon
NCAA Championships
Ducks Start Strong At NCAA Championships
05/16/25 | Women's Golf
CARLSBAD, Calif. - No. 5 Oregon got off to a strong start at the 2025 NCAA Women's Golf Championships on Friday, firing an even-par 288 to end day one in a tie for third place at Omni La Costa Resort and Spa.
The Ducks were one of six teams to shoot par-or-better on the opening day and will enter Saturday's second round six strokes back of No. 24 Vanderbilt (-6) for the lead. No. 25 Oklahoma State is in second place at 4 under followed by Oregon and four other teams in a tie for third at even par.
Oregon finds itself near the top of the standings despite teeing off in the afternoon wave, with temperatures dropping and winds increasing as the day went on. The Ducks will tee off in the morning wave on Saturday.
"I'm really proud of my Ducks," head coach Derek Radley said. "Very thankful to be here; last year a lot of fun making it to the final four, and I think the experience that we learned last year with the golf course certainly paid off today and I'm very proud of the first round that we had.
"To get into the house at even par was a great start for the afternoon. The wind picks up out here. The greens are certainly a lot softer than they were last year, but it's still challenging with the wind. You need to be in the right place in the fairways to hit shots close and I thought we did a really good job of that."
How it Happened: Oregon was led by three players at par-or-better, getting 1-under 71s from sophomore Ting-Hsuan Huang and Suvichaya Vinijchaitham and an even-par 72 from sophomore Kiara Romero.
It was a hot start for the Ducks, who were a combined 5-under par through five holes with nine birdies and just four bogeys. That was thanks in large part to Huang, who ripped off four consecutive birdies to open her day.
Huang - who helped lead Oregon to the match play semifinals last spring as a freshman - battled through a stretch of three straight bogeys before shooting even across her final eight holes to come in with a 71.
"I felt pretty good about my game today, especially after being able to start with four birdies," Huang said. "My swing feels good, putting is good and I'm feeling pretty confident about it. Just later on I just noticed myself not being fully committed to my shots, but I know the course and I'm excited to come back out tomorrow."
Vinijchaitham got off to a precarious start in her first career NCAA Championships, having to take an unplayable after going wide right on her opening tight shot. But she managed to salvage a bogey and immediately got that stroke back with a birdie at No. 2, and two holes later she provided the highlight moment of the day with a hole-out birdie from the greenside bunker.
Vinijchaitham shot even par the rest of the way after that birdie at No. 4, making 12 pars with one more birdie and a bogey. She and Huang are tied for 17th individually entering Saturday's second roun.
It was a relatively quiet day from Romero, at least by her standards, as the Big Ten Golfer of the Year made two birdies and two bogeys to come in at even par. She was 1 under before making bogey at 17 and was in some trouble after her approach shot on 18 came up short of the green, but a terrific up and down saved par and secured a 72 to end Oregon's day.
Romero shot par-or-better for the 18th time in her last 19 rounds dating back to the start of the spring season, and she has now finished at par-or-better in 48 of 60 career rounds with the Ducks.
Oregon's counting scores were rounded out by sophomore Karen Tsuru and freshman Tong An, who both came in with a 2-over 74.
Ducks on the Leaderboard:
T3. #5 Oregon - 288 (E)
T17. Ting-Hsuan Huang - 71 (-1)
T17. Suvichaya Vinijchaitham - 71 (-1)
T27. Kiara Romero - 72 (E)
T64. Tong An - 74 (+2)
T64. Karen Tsuru - 74 (+2)
Up Next: Oregon will have an early start for Saturday's second round, teeing off from No. 10 beginning at 6:50 a.m. PT.
Players Mentioned
