Little Paces Field in Oregon Amateur Opener
BANDON, Ore. ? Sophomore Kendra Little kicked off the summer on the right foot by leading the field in the Oregon Amateur opening round of stroke play at Bandon Dunes Monday.
Little shot a five-over 77 and had the lowest first round score as the Eugene native shot birdies on the par-5 third and ninth holes and par-4 eighth holes, claimed par scores on eight holes (#2, 4, 6, 7, 11, 12, 15, 16) and also had seven bogeys.
Little held a five-stroke lead over Amy Beth Simanton (second, 82).
Junior Kate Hildahl and sophomore Erica Omlid followed in a tie for eighth place with their 16-over scores (88), while freshman-to-be Avery Sills stood 15th (91) in the 44-person field.
Final first round results from the event are available at the www.oga.org website at the http://oga.org/index.php/i-frame/C17/131 URL address.
The event continues Tuesday with a final stroke play round before action shifts to match play Wednesday and continues each day through the weekend to the final on Saturday, June 27.
Hildahl is the defending event champion when she won last year’s event over former Duck and 1993 event champion Karly Mills in the match play final, while the Tualatin, Ore., native Hildahl also led the stroke play (74-76-150) at the Bend Golf and Country Club course.
Looking back at the recently competed 2008-09 collegiate season, Oregon ranked 35th and 39th nationally in the Golfweek and Golfstat year-end rankings, and two individuals stood top 100 ? Kendra Little (GS 78th, 74.57; GW 89th, 74.08) and Cathryn Bristow (GS 87th, 74.87; 91st, 74.16). Bristow capped UO’s ninth postseason appearance (and third by an individual) in the NCAA Golf Championships last month (96th-t, 78-79-79-80-316).
As a team, UO took 12th in the NCAA West Regional (299-298-293-890) and seventh in the Pac-10 ? and the latter placing tied its best finish since 1996. Bristow took ninth in the regional (72-74-69-215) and 10th in the Pac-10 Championships en route to All-Pac-10 honorable mention honors, and finished two places ahead of Little in the league finale (12th) who was a repeat All-Pac-10 Second Team selection.
- www.GoDucks.com -
