Women?s Golf Hosts 2004 Oregon Duck Invitational
EUGENE, Ore. ? The Oregon women’s golf team will host the 2004 Oregon Duck Invitational Monday and Tuesday at Eugene Country Club. Nine teams will compete on the par-72, 5,968-yard lay out. Teams will play 36 holes Monday and 18 Tuesday with an 8 a.m. shotgun start on both days.
Oregon will be led by juniors Jess Carlyon and Johnna Nealy (Grants Pass, Ore.), sophomores Erin Andrews and Therese Wenslow and freshman Kim McCready. Senior Katie Cunningham (West Linn, Ore.), junior Jaime Seefried and sophomore Michelle Timpani will compete as individuals.
"It’s nice to get a chance to play at home," said Oregon coach Shannon Rouillard. "This is our opportunity to showcase Eugene, the University of Oregon and Eugene Country Club, and for the community to come out and support us and see what great strides we’ve taken in building this program."
One player to watch will be two-time Oregon Duck medalist Kim Welch of Washington State. The junior from Sacramento, Calif., who regularly nails 300-yard drives, became the first golf All-American in WSU history when she finished fifth at the 2003 NCAA championships. She was just two stokes behind the 2003 champion Mikaela Parmlid of USC.
Welch won the 2002 Duck Invitational when it was held at Mallard Creek in Lebanon, and then led the Cougars to the team title in 2003 by shooting a 7-under 209 when the event was held at Shadow Hills in Junction City. WSU shot an 896 to defeat San Diego State by 18 strokes last season. Oregon finished seventh at 940.
Joining the Ducks and Cougars will be British Columbia, Cal State Northridge, Idaho, Long Beach State, Portland, Portland State and Santa Clara. The tournament becomes the spring opener for Oregon after the Feb. 27-29 Pinehurst Challenge was cancelled due to bad weather.
"I think we’re a bit anxious to get going," said Rouillard, whose team won an unofficial indoor putting contest while the teams were trying to wait out the weather at Pinehurst. "We may look at adding an event this spring."
This will be the first time that Eugene Country Club has hosted the Oregon Duck Invitational, and just the second time ever that the women have competed at ECC. The previous event was the 2000 Pacific-10 Championships.
"It’s a strategic golf course, so the practice round will be very important for these teams coming in," said Rouillard. "The fairways can be generous and the course certainly rewards well-placed shots, but you can’t spray the ball all over the place. It will not give shots back."
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