Ducks Bound For Hoosier Tourney
EUGENE ? After a string of successful showings the past month, the No. 44 University of Oregon women’s golfers look ahead to their final stop of the regular season next week, the Indiana Invitational, Monday-Tuesday, April 7-8.
Oregon individuals have shined recently with a pair of individual wins by junior Cathryn Bristow and freshman Kendra Little in UNLV and Oregon tourneys the last three weeks, respectively, and another runner-up finish by Bristow last week near Sacramento.
UO is also one of the West Coast’s hottest with its first Duck Invitational win, a runner-up placing in the NCAA West Regional Preview and a third-place finish in the UNLV Spring Rebel Invitational.
In the upcoming action at the Indiana University-hosted event, UO is one of 15 teams set to play two, 18-hole rounds Monday and a final round Tuesday morning on the par 72 course. Action begins at 8:30 a.m. (Eastern Time) Monday and 9 a.m. Tuesday (ET) at Crooked Stick Golf Course in Indianapolis, Ind.
SIZING UP THE FIELD
No. 6 Purdue is one of six top-50 ranked teams in the field with No. 28 Texas, No. 36 Ohio State, No. 44 Oregon, No. 49 UNLV and No. 50 Indiana. Other teams slated to play (and those with top 100 rankings in ()) include Ball State, Illinois (90), Illinois State, Indiana (50), Iowa, Lipscomb, Michigan (70), Minnesota, Northwestern (61) and Penn State.
National rankings are available at the www.GolfStat.com website at the http://www.golfstat.com/2007-2008/women/wncaahth.htm URL address.
TOURNEY PLAY / RESULTS
Live stats will be available at the www.GolfStat.com website, and complete results will be posted after each round on the www.IUhoosiers.com website.
POLL POSITIONS
Besides the Golf State national team rankings index, Golf Week magazine also compiles their own national and individual rankings at their www.golfweek.com website.
DUCKS TO WATCH
Freshman Kendra Little paced UO in this week’s Golfweek national rankings (92nd, 74.17), just ahead of junior Cathryn Bristow (112th, 74.46), and next is sophomore Felicia Eastick (251st, 76.11).
Bristow scored a runner-up finish in last week’s NCAA West Regional Preview (75-70-72-217) and was only one stroke shy of her second collegiate win this season and fourth overall.
A month earlier, Bristow won the UNLV Spring Rebel Invitational by a Duck record score (69-69-70-208) on the par 72 course. In between those events, she had another of her five, top-10 placings this year in the Duck Invitational (sixth, 75-77-72-224). Altogether in nine tournaments this year, she has paced UO three times and ranked second in three other stops.
Bristow’s six par or better scores in the last three events gives her nine in her 27 rounds this season. The pair of 3-under 69 scores the first two rounds at UNLV in early March tied her season best from the fall’s Stanford Intercollegiate, although that previous score was on the par 71 Stanford Golf Course. Her other par or better scores include two 70's and two 71’s on par 72 courses, and two more par 72’s. From a team standpoint, she has has paced UO in 10 rounds this year.
Little scored her first collegiate win in the Duck Invitational two weeks ago and has led UO in five of her nine contests this season.
The tourney before in Las Vegas, her fourth-place finish tied her previous career best after a similar placing in the Edean Ihlanfelt Invitational in Seattle last fall. The local product out of Sheldon High School has three more top-15 placings and two more top-25 efforts among her nine collegiate tournaments.
Among her 27 collegiate rounds, the Eugene, Ore., native and Sheldon High School product has shot nine rounds of 72 or better - a school 67 (-5) in Las Vegas in early March, two 69’s (-3, -2), a 70 (-2), three 71’s (-1) and two 72’s (par) ? and has paced UO in 11 rounds overall (spring-5, fall-6).
Also a team leader in four rounds last fall, sophomore Felicia Eastick shot a career low three-under 69 en route to a win in the fall opener, the Giustina Memorial Classic in Corvallis, Ore., (74-69-74). She has scored consecutive top 25 appearances the last two weeks in the Duck Invitational (15th, 75-78-75-228) and NCAA West Regional (21st-tie, 73-74-78-225) and has stood top three for the Ducks in seven of her eight appearances in 2007-08.
Sophomore Kate Hildahl opened the spring on fire with four of the six lowest rounds of her career in the spring’s first two stops (72, 73, 74 (x2)), and her other two came her freshman season in 2006-07 (73 (x2)). The Tualatin, Ore., native led the Ducks in the first and third rounds and in the overall final standings in the spring opener, the Lady Gator Invitational (27th, 77-73-74-224).
Also in the Duck Invitational, freshman Erica Omlid has ranked fourth for UO in the final standings in two of three spring contests, and junior Blair Ressler had the second-highest finish of her collegiate career (30th, 77-75-82) behind her 2007 fall opener debut, the Giustina Memorial Classic (24th-t, 79-76-76).
LAST WEEK’S REWIND
In last week’s NCAA West Regional Preview final round, Tuesday April 1, junior Cathryn Bristow and the No. 44 University of Oregon women’s golf team both climbed into runner-up positions in final round action on the on the par 72, 6,018-yard Lincoln Hills Golf Course.
At the Sacramento State-hosted event that featured eight teams ranked top 55 in Golfweek national rankings, the Ducks shot a final round 308 to improve one position in the final standings (second, 300-292-900). No. 10 Denver won the overall title (288-290-298-876), ahead of Oregon (second, 300-292-308-900) and Fresno State (third, 305-293-306-904). UO’s overall tournament score (900) tied its second lowest of the season, behind its record-breaking 869 (292-291-286) two weeks prior in the UNLV Spring Rebel Invitational, and tied its 900 scores from the week before’s Duck Invitational (297-309-294) and Edean Ihlanfeldt Invitational last fall (307-290-303).
Bristow improved two positions the last round and made up five strokes on the first-day leader and eventual winner to finish one stroke shy of the win (second-tie, 75-70-72-217). The Huapai, New Zealand native’s seventh score of par or better this season was also the 10th time she led UO this season. The Ducks also claimed two other top-25 finishes from sophomore Felicia Eastick (21st-tie, 73-74-78-225) and freshman Kendra Little (24th-tie, 76-71-79-226). UO 's other entries included sophomore Kate Hildahl (54th-tie, 76-77-79-232) and freshman Erica Omlid (69th-tie, 78-77-83-238).
OTHER SPRING ACTION
The week before in the 14th annual Duck Invitational (3/24-25), freshman Kendra Little and No. 43 UO swept the team and individual titles at the Eugene Country Club. Little added three strokes to her lead in the final round to win by four strokes (70-73-71-214) over Washington State’s Amy Eneroth (second, 72-72-74-218). Two other Ducks placed top 15 overall ? Cathryn Bristow (sixth-tie, 75-77-72-224) and Felicia Eastick (15th, 75-78-75-228). Junior Blair Ressler (30th-tie, 77-75-82-234), freshman Erica Omlid (35th-tie, 77-83-76-236) and sophomore Kate Hildahl (39th-tie, 79-81-77-237) added top-40 finishes overall. As a team, UO won its first home tourney title and added three strokes to its lead in the final round (297-309-294-900) thanks to the tourney’s low round and won by four strokes over UC Davis (second, 302-305-297-904).
The week before in the UNLV Spring Rebel Invitational (3/10-12), Bristow won her third collegiate title, the Ducks broke both the team round and tournament scoring records, and freshman Kendra Little rewrote the UO single round best in the finale. Bristow became the first Duck ever to shoot three consecutive under-par rounds in the same tourney (69-69-70-208) and won by two strokes on the par 72, 6,202-yard Boulder Creek Golf Club. Little broke the school single round record with her five-under 67 and finished fifth overall (72-74-67-213). Little’s record final round ? the best of the tourney ? bettered the previous Duck record of 4-under shot by Kim McCready in 2006 (67, -4), Paula Patterson in 1997 (68, -4) and Jerilyn White in 2001 (68, -4). As a team, the Ducks ended with a three-round school best that was punctuated by a record final round (292-291-286-869) to finish in a third-place tie with No. 48 Texas Tech (292-286-291-869).
In early February, the Ducks opened the spring with a ninth-place finish in the Lady Gator Invitational (2/22-24) at Gainesville, Fla., against a field that featured seven, top-50 ranked teams. UO climbed four spots in the second round and two spots in the finale (321-295-303). Hildahl shot the Duck low in the first and third rounds (27th, 77-73-74-224) and was the Ducks’ top finisher overall for the second time in her career. Other Oregon entries included Eastick (44th, 83-71-77-231), Bristow (53rd-t, 80-76-78-234), Omlid (56th-t, 81-75-79-235), Little (60th-t, 85-78-74-237) and Ressler (72nd-t, 88-77-77-242).
FALL REWIND
The Ducks opened the fall season with third-place finishes in two of their first three tourneys ? the Giustina Memorial (299-304-300) and Edean Ihlandfeldt Invitational (307-290-303) in Corvallis, Ore., and Sammamish, Wash., respectively. Oregon also competed in the Heather Fall Memorial (sixth, 038-298-295-901), Stanford Invitational (16th, 310-319-303-932) and USF Invitational (fourth, 308-307-303-918).
DUCK STATS
To see current UO women’s golf statistics, choose the STATISTICS link at the top of the UO women’s golf page or go to the http://www.goducks.com/ViewArticle.dbml?SPSID=36837&SPID=247&DB_OEM_ID=500&ATCLID=1283367 URL address.
2007 INDIANA INVITATIONAL REWIND
The Ducks played at the same Indiana Invitational event last year and were led by junior Cathryn Bristow and now graduated Kim McCready who both shot final round scores of 70 to finish in ties for fourth (78-70-148) and sixth places (80-70-150), respectively. Other Ducks that played included Felicia Eastick (13th-tie, 75-77-152), Victoria Wenslow (60th, 71-70-161) and Kate Hildahl (73rd, 85-79-164). As a team, the then- No. 54-ranked Ducks climbed six places into fourth place overall in the final round (314-296-610), and trailed then-No. 43 Michigan (first, 308-295-603), then-No. 23 Michigan State (second, 299-307-606) and Illinois (third, 304-305-609). On the individual leaderboard, Seul Ki Park of Illinois held onto her first-day lead with her second straight even-par round (72-72-144), and won by five strokes over runners-up Rachel Meikle of Michigan State (74-73-147) and Noriko Kanakzaki of Notre Dame (75-72-147). The tournament was supposed to feature three rounds altogether, but one round was cancelled the first day because of frigid temperatures.
TOP DUCK
In 2007-08, Duck head coach Shannon Rouillard returns for her eighth season at the helm and guided Oregon to 11th place in the 2000 NCAA Championships, while UO regional-qualifying squads just missed return NCAA trips three of the past seven seasons. As a player, she was a Pac-10 honorable mention all-conference honoree for UO in 1995 and took seventh in the 1993 Pac-10 Championships to help the squad to a fourth-place finish. She was tabbed twice as the team’s most improved player and was a team captain and MVP her senior season after she took 29th in the NCAA Championships that season.
After her collegiate career, Rouillard was a 1999 Women's U.S. Open qualifier and a medalist in the Lake Merced (Calif.) qualifying tournament. Before she returned to the Duck program as a coach, she played on the Players West Golf Tour (1995-96) and served as an assistant women's golf coach at California (1997).
Earlier this past fall, Rouillard was again busy as a player in the U.S. Women's Mid-Amateur, held in Carefree, Ariz., after she tied for 35th in stroke play qualifying (80-81-161). A month before, she claimed medalist honors in the U.S. Women’s Mid-Am qualifier at Oswego Lake Country County Club in late August, and won the single-round event by two strokes with her 74.
JONES JOINS IN
The Duck coaching staff is rounded out by first-year assistant Meredith Jones. The Eugene native was one of Baylor’s top players from 2003-06, and an All-Big 12 Tournament selection and top 15 conference championships finishers all three seasons. She enjoyed a seventh-place Big 12 placing as a sophomore, followed by 12th- and 14th-place efforts as a junior and senior, and also played on Baylor’s first-ever NCAA tournament qualifiers. As a prep, the three-time state champion helped Marist High School to five championships.
Off the course, she was honored as an Academic All-American, Academic All-Big-12, Commissioners Honor Roll and NCGA Scholar selection.
Her family enjoys strong ties to the Duck athletic department. Her father Dr. Donald Jones is a UO team doctor, and her brother-in-law Peter Sirmon was an All-Pac-10 linebacker for the Ducks.
RECENT RESULTS
NCAA West Regional Preview
Host: Sacramento State University, Lincoln, Calif.
Lincoln Hills Golf Club - Par 72, 6,018 yards
Monday-Tuesday, March 31-April 1, 2008
Team Results ? 1, Denver, 288-290-298-876. 2, Oregon, 300-292-308-900. 3, Fresno State, 305-293-306-904. 4t, UC Davis, 300-299-306-905. 4t, UNLV, 301-296-308-905. 6, UC Irvine, 299-299-308-906. 7, Washington State, 297-293-318-908. 8t, Colorado, 307-296-310-913. 8t, Eastern Washington, 302-298-313-913. 10, San Diego State, 311-301-302-914. 11, Northern Arizona, 319-295-303-917. 12, San Francisco, 304-309-307-920. 13, Cal State Northridge, 311-308-309-927. 14t, Sacramento State, 307-308-315-930. 14t, Cal Poly, 305-308-317-930. 16, Nevada, 310-317-310-937. 17, Idaho, 310-322-309-941. 18, Santa Clara, 308-313-326-947. 19, Cal State Bakersfield, 342-340-345-1027.
Top Individual Results ? 1, Amy Eneroth, Washington State, 71-68-77-216. 2t, Cathryn Bristow, Oregon, 75-70-72-217. 2t, Alice Kim, UC Davis, 71-72-74-217. 4, Katie Kempter, Denver, 70-73-75-218. 5, Natasha Krishna, UNLV, 73-72-74-219. 6t, Selanee Henderson, UC Irvine, 74-76-70-220. 6t, Chelsey Lollar, Eastern Washington, 74-72-74-220. 8t, Sophia Choi, Northern Arizona, 76-69-76-221. 8t, Stephanie Sherlock, Denver, 71-77-73-221. 8t, Chelsea Stelzmiller, UC Davis, 77-70-74-221.
Oregon Individual Results ? 2t, Cathryn Bristow, 75-70-72-217. 21t, Felicia Eastick, 73-74-78-225. 24t, Kendra Little, 76-71-79-226. 54t, Kate Hildahl, 76-77-79-232. 69t, Erica Omlid, 78-77-83-238.
INDIVIDUAL SEASON BEST SCORES / FINISHES
* NOTE: Complete results/statistics are available above in the STATISTICS link.
Individual Victories
Duck, Year, Fall Tournament Rounds Average
Felicia Eastick, So., Giustina Memorial Classic 74-69-74-217 72.3
Cathryn Bristow, Jr., UNLV Spring Rebel Invitational 69-69-70-208 69.3
Kendra Little, Fr., Duck Invitational 70-73-71-214 71.3
Additional Top-10 Finishes
Duck, Year, Fall Tournament, Place Rounds Average
Cathryn Bristow, Jr., USF Invitational, 2nd 75-72-72-219 73.0
Kendra Little, Fr., Edean Ihlanfeldt Invitational, 4th-tie 76-69-75-220 73.3
Cathryn Bristow, Jr., Edean Ihlanfeldt, Inv., 8th-tie 77-73-71-221 73.7
Kendra Little, Fr., UNLV Spring Rebel Invitational, 5th-t 72-74-67-213 71.0
Cathryn Bristow, Jr., Duck Invitational, 6th-t 75-77-72-224 74.7
Cathryn Bristow, Jr., NCAA West Reg. Preview, 2nd-t 75-70-72-217 72.3
Additional Top-25 Finishes
Duck, Year, Fall Tournament, Place Rounds Average
Kendra Little, Fr., Heather Fall Memorial Classic, 11th-t 78-71-72-221 73.7
Kendra Little, Fr., Giustina Memorial Classic, 12th-t 73-79-75-227 75.7
Kendra Little, Fr., USF Invitational, 13th-t 76-74-78-228 76.0
Cathryn Bristow, Jr., Giustina Memorial Classic, 16th-t 73-80-76-229 76.3
Blair Ressler, Jr., Giustina Memorial Classic, 24th-t 79-76-76-231 77.0
Cathryn Bristow, Jr., Heather Fall Memorial, 24th-t 77-71-77-225 75.0
Kendra Little, Fr., Stanford Intercollegiate, 26th-t 69-78-76-223 74.3
Felicia Eastick, So., Duck Invitational, 15th 75-78-75-228 76.0
Felicia Eastick, So., NCAA West Reg. Preview, 21st-t 75-70-72-217 75.0
Individual Best Tournament Scores (Par 72 unless otherwise noted)
Duck, Year, Fall Tournament, Place Rounds-Score Avg.
>Cathryn Bristow, Jr., UNLV Spring Rebel Invitational 69-69-70-208 69.3
Kendra Little, Fr., UNLV Spring Rebel Invitational, 5th-t 72-74-67-213 71.0
Kendra Little, Fr., Duck Invitational 70-73-71-214 71.3
Felicia Eastick, So., Giustina Memorial Classic, 1st 74-69-74-217 72.3
Cathryn Bristow, Jr., NCAA West Regional Preview 75-70-72-217 72.3
Cathryn Bristow, Jr., USF Invitational, 2nd (par 71) 75-72-72-219 73.0
Kendra Little, Fr., Edean Ihlanfeldt Invitational, 4th-t 76-69-74-220 73.3
Kendra Little, Fr., Heather Fall Memorial, 11th-t 78-71-72-221 73.7
Cathryn Bristow, Jr., Edean Ihlanfeldt Invitational, 8th-t 77-73-71-221 73.7
- Kendra Little, Stanford Intercollegiate, 26th-t (par 71) 69-78-76-223 74.3
Cathryn Bristow, Jr., Duck Invitational, 6th-t 75-77-72-224 74.7
Cathryn Bristow, Jr., Heather Fall Memorial, 24th-t 77-71-77-225 75.0
Low Rounds (Overall Score)
Duck, Year, Fall Tournament Score Round
Kendra Little, Fr., UNLV Spring Rebel Invitational 67 (-5) 3rd Round
Felicia Eastick, So., Giustina Memorial Classic 69 (-3) 2nd Round
Kendra Little, Fr., Edean Ihlanfeldt Invitational 69 (-3) 2nd Round
Cathryn Bristow, Jr., UNLV Spring Rebel Invitational 69 (-3) 1st Round
Cathryn Bristow, Jr., UNLV Spring Rebel Invitational 69 (-3) 2nd Round
Kendra Little, Fr., Stanford Intercollegiate 69 (-2) 1st Round
Cathryn Bristow, Jr., Stanford Intercollegiate 69 (-2) 3rd Round
Cathryn Bristow, Jr., UNLV Spring Rebel Invitational 70 (-2) 3rd Round
Kendra Little, Fr., Duck Invitational 70 (-2) 1st Round
Cathryn Bristow, Jr., NCAA West Regional Preview 70 (-2) 2nd Round
Kendra Little, Fr., Edean Ihlanfeldt Invitational 71 (-1) 3rd Round
Cathryn Bristow, Jr., Heather Fall Memorial 71 (-1) 2nd Round
Cathryn Bristow, Jr., Heather Fall Memorial 71 (-1) 3rd Round
Kendra Little, Fr., Duck Invitational 71 (-1) 3rd Round
Kendra Little, Fr., NCAA West Regional Preview 71 (-1) 2nd Round
Kendra Little, Fr., Heather Fall Memorial 72 (-) 3rd Round
Kate Hildahl, So., Heather Fall Memorial 72 (-) 3rd Round
Kendra Little, Fr., UNLV Spring Rebel Invitational 72 (-) 1st Round
Kate Hildahl, Fr., UNLV Spring Rebel Invitational 72 (-) 3rd Round
Cathryn Bristow, Fr., Duck Invitational 72 (-) 3rd Round
Cathryn Bristow, Jr., NCAA West Regional Preview 72 (-) 3rd Round
Cathryn Bristow, Jr., USF Invitational 72 (+1) 2nd Round
Cathryn Bristow, Jr., USF Invitational 72 (+1) 3rd Round
Kendra Little, Fr., Giustina Memorial Classic 73 (+1) 1st Round
Cathryn Bristow, Jr., Giustina Memorial Classic 73 (+1) 1st Round
Felicia Eastick, So., Lady Gator Invitational 71 (+1) 2nd Round
Kendra Little, Fr., Duck Invitational 73 (+1) 2nd Round
Felicia Eastick, So., NCAA West Regional Preview 73 (+1) 1st Round
Low Rounds (By Par)
Duck, Year, Fall Tournament Score Round
Kendra Little, Fr., UNLV Spring Rebel Invitational 67 (-5) 3rd Round
Kendra Little, Fr., Edean Ihlanfeldt Invitational 69 (-3) 2nd Round
Cathryn Bristow, Jr., UNLV Spring Rebel Invitational 69 (-3) 1st Round
Cathryn Bristow, Jr., UNLV Spring Rebel Invitational 69 (-3) 2nd Round
Kendra Little, Fr., Stanford Intercollegiate 69 (-2) 1st Round
Cathryn Bristow, Jr., Stanford Intercollegiate 69 (-2) 3rd Round
Cathryn Bristow, Jr., UNLV Spring Rebel Invitational 70 (-2) 3rd Round
Kendra Little, Fr., Duck Invitational 70 (-2) 1st Round
Cathryn Bristow, Jr., NCAA West Regional Preview 70 (-2) 2nd Round
Kendra Little, Fr., Edean Ihlanfeldt Invitational 71 (-1) 3rd Round
Cathryn Bristow, Jr., Heather Fall Memorial 71 (-1) 2nd Round
Cathryn Bristow, Jr., Heather Fall Memorial 71 (-1) 3rd Round
Kendra Little, Fr., Duck Invitational 71 (-1) 3rd Round
Kendra Little, Fr., NCAA West Regional Preview 71 (-1) 2nd Round
Kendra Little, Fr., Heather Fall Memorial 72 (-) 3rd Round
Kate Hildahl, So., Heather Fall Memorial 72 (-) 3rd Round
Kendra Little, Fr., UNLV Spring Rebel Invitational 72 (-) 1st Round
Kate Hildahl, Fr., UNLV Spring Rebel Invitational 72 (-) 3rd Round
Cathryn Bristow, Fr., Duck Invitational 72 (-) 3rd Round
Cathryn Bristow, Jr., NCAA West Regional Preview 72 (-) 3rd Round
Felicia Eastick, So., Lady Gator Invitational 71 (+1) 2nd Round
Cathryn Bristow, Jr., USF Invitational 72 (+1) 2nd Round
Cathryn Bristow, Jr., USF Invitational 72 (+1) 3rd Round
Kendra Little, Fr., Giustina Memorial Classic 73 (+1) 1st Round
Cathryn Bristow, Jr., Giustina Memorial Classic 73 (+1) 1st Round
Kendra Little, Fr., Duck Invitational 73 (+1) 2nd Round
Felicia Eastick, So., NCAA West Regional Preview 73 (+1) 1st Round
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