No. 33 Ducks Rewarded With NCAA West Regional Bid
EUGENE – Seeking its first back-to-back NCAA Championships trips since 1997-98, the No. 33 University of Oregon women’s golf team was rewarded Monday with its fourth straight postseason bid and 16th overall in school history
In 10 days, the Ducks will begin play in the three-day, three-round NCAA West Regional, Thursday-Saturday, May 5-7 at the Washington National Golf Course in Auburn, Wash. Players will start teeing off the par-72, 6,321-yard course on holes 1 and 10 each day at 8 am. (with the last tee time at 2:10 p.m.), and admission is free.
The other two regionals will be hosted simultaneously by Notre Dame at Warren Golf Course in South Bend, Ind., and by Stetson at the LPGA International in Daytona Beach, Fla.
The low eight team finishers and low two individuals not on those teams from each regional will advance to the NCAA Championships, hosted by the Traditions Golf Club in College Station, Texas, Tuesday-Saturday, May 17-20.
Just like last year, UO is the 11th-highest seeded team in its 24-team region field and each squad’s Golfstat rankings follow: USC (1), Virginia (6), Arizona (7), Georgia (12), Tennessee (13), Pepperdine (19), Iowa State (15), UC Davis (23), Texas A&M (27), Oklahoma (28), South Carolina (36), Washington (38), Tulsa (42), Denver (47), San Diego State (49), BYU (51), New Mexico (52), UTSA (57), Portland State (60), New Mexico State (64), San Jose State (71), Oral Roberts (88) and UTEP (97).
Six individuals were also selected to the West Regional field - Kayla Mortellaro and Teo Poplawski of Idaho, Amy Anderson of North Dakota State, Brianna Espinoza of Colorado State, Jessica Hollandsworth of Maryland and Chelsey Cothran of Baylor.
Live results will be available at the www.GolfStat.com website; more tourney info will be posted at the www.GoHuskies.com website and www.NCAAsports.com websites; and national rankings are available at the www.GolfStat.com and www.GolfWeek.com websites.
In last year’s trip to the NCAA Central Regional in Columbus, Ind., the then-No. 32 Ducks tied their second-highest ever regional placing (sixth-tie, 305-316-318-939), and finished five places better than their-pre-tourney seeding (11th).
Individually, Kendra Little
paced UO in the overall standings all three rounds and tied for eighth overall (70-79-79-228), two strokes ahead of Cheyenne Hickle
who jumped 15 places the final day (12th-t, 77-78-75-230). UO’s other entries included Ashley Edwards
(38th-t, 77-79-81-237), Erica Omlid
(79th-t, 83-80-83-246) and then-senior Kate Hildahl
(89th-t, 81-86-83-250).
Several members of the current Duck roster also played for the then-No. 36 Ducks in the 2009 NCAA West Regional at Arizona State’s Karsten Golf Course (12th, 299-298-293-890) and for then-No. 44 UO in the 2008 NCAA West Regional at Sacramento’s Lincoln Hills Golf Course (13th, 303-297-301-901). Those two finishes ultimately proved 11 and nine strokes, respectively, from the final team qualifying spot.
Among other past regional events, Little played in 2009 (35th-tie, 74-72-76-222) and ’08 (17th-t, 71-75-74-220), and Edwards and Omlid made their debuts as freshmen in ’09 (74th-tie, 79-75-76-230) and ’08 (80th-t, 79-77-76-232), respectively.
Among its 14 prior NCAA regional trips, Oregon's highest finish came in 1995 (fourth, 898) among its 10, top-10 placings. UO also took sixth in 2010 (939) and ’97 (885), seventh in ’00 (895), eighth in ’04 (913), ninth in ’93 (885) and ’01 (923), and 10th in ’94 (912), ’98 (912) and ’05 (913).
UO will set its sights on its second NCAA trip under second-year head coach Ria Scott
, and its all-time NCAA finishes follow (1993 – 17th; 1994 – 14th; 1995 –
13th; 1997 – 7th; 1998 – 14th; 2000 – 11th; 2010 – 23rd-t). Two Oregon
individuals have also competed in the national finale in 2005 (Johnna
Nealy, 85th, 307) and ’09 (Cathryn Bristow, 96th-t, 316).
Last weekend in the Pac-10 Championships at ASU, Little (sixth, 72-77-68-217) claimed her second top-10 league finish, while her four-under final round (68) tied the best of the tourney and was UO’s sixth-best ever.
Other Duck competitors included Omlid (15th-tie, 71-75-75-221), Edwards (22nd-tie, 72-77-76-225), Raphaela Dyer
(33rd-tie, 75-77-77-229) and Hickle (35th, 76-78-77-231). Team-wise, UO took seventh (290-306-296-892) and ended one stroke shy of its best spring tourney score. The Ducks equalled their pre-tourney seeding in the field that featured five top-10 teams and three more ranked top 40.
Boasting a school record team scoring average so far this season (299.30), Duck individuals have combined for one win among their seven top-10 individual finishes, 27 par or better rounds, two of the four best tournament scores and two of the top-six rounds in school history.
Among overall results, senior Erica Omlid
scored UO’s 28th individual tourney victory last fall in the Dick McGuire / Branch Law Firm Invitational to join senior Kendra Little
on the victor’s stand with the latter winning four events in prior seasons.
Little claimed her second top-six career finish in the Pac-10 Championships (sixth), and added fifth place a month prior in the Juli Inkster Spartan Invitational in early March .
Little also staked two top-10 efforts last fall in the Ptarmigan Ram Classic and Pac-10 SEC Challenge (seventh / 10th), as did freshman Raphaela Dyer
in the Las Vegas Collegiate Showdown (sixth).
Junior Ashley Edwards
followed with her best-ever finish (second) in the Pacific Coast Intercollegiate in early April and was joined in the top 10 with Dyer and Hickle who tied for 10th overall.
In the Oregon history books, Omlid’s team season-best tourney score – an eight-under 211 - tied the second-best in Duck history (four strokes behind Kendra Little
’s 12-under in the same event in 2009). Dyer’s three-under score of 213 in Las Vegas stood as the fourth-best tourney score all-time among Ducks and tops among freshmen.
Among all-time best rounds, Little has twice tied the sixth-best score in school history with her four-under 68's, and Edwards and Omlid have also shot a four-under 68 and 69 in the Pacific Coast Intercollegiate and Dick McGuire events. In previous seasons, Little shot a career-best five-under scores four times - the second-best score in school history behind former teammate Cathyrn Bristow’s seven-under 65 in the 2008 Indiana Invitational. Little, Omlid and Dyer have each also staked three-under scores once, too (68/69/70), this year.
Factoring in every round this year, Little has five under-par rounds – tops on the team – followed by Edwards (4), Omlid (4) and Dyer (3).
Participation-wise, all seven players have played at least two events; Little and Dyer have played in all 10 events so far; Edwards and Hickle have contested eight events, and Omlid has traveled to seven tournaments. Freshman Avery Sills
and senior Monika Graf
also appeared in five and three events, respectively, and have carded counting scores for the team in seven and four rounds, respectively.
Last fall, the Duck squad turned in its second- and third- lowest team tourney totals in the Ptarmigan Ram Fall Classic (872, 8+) and Las Vegas Collegiate Showdown (877, 13+) and fell just shy of its school record (869, 5+) from the 2008 UNLV Spring Rebel Classic. Among individual rounds, this year’s squad has posted the third-best round ever (2-under 290) twice, and the fifth- and sixth-best-ever scores (288 (E) / 289 (+1) twice).
Oregon posted its 23rd and 24th team titles in the Branch Law Firm Invitational (295-296-290-881) and Pacific Coast Intercollegiate (304-297-290-891), and has also placed third in the Ptarmigan Ram Classic (288-294-290-872) and Juli Inkster Spartan Invitational (302-302-300-904).
Past Duck NCAA Women’s Golf Regional Championships Results
Year Top UO Individual Place Score Team Score
1993 C Mack/S. Maier T29th 221 9th 885
1994 Karly Mills T22nd 224 10th 912
1995 Shannon Hare T29th 301 4th 898
1996 Christel Tomori T54th 242 16th 974
1997 Paula Patterson
T5th 213 6th 885
1998 Kylie Wilson T23rd 226 T10th 912
1999 J. White/A. Rizzo T39th 231 T12th 932
2000 J. White/A. Heuser T21st 223 7th 895
2001 J. White T16th 224 9th 923
2002 K. Cho T63rd 237 --- ---
2004 Johnna Nealy T25th 224 T8th 913
2005 Johnna Nealy T6th 220 10th 913
2008 Kendra Little
T17th 220 13th 901
2009 Cathryn Bristow T9th 215 12th 890
2010 Kendra Little
T8th 228 T6th 939
* 2011 NCAA Regional Fields *
#= seed, determined by Golfstat Rankings
NCAA EAST REGIONAL
LPGA International, Daytona Beach, Fla. (Host: Stetson)
1. Alabama
2. Purdue
3. California
4. Arizona State
5. Auburn [Southeastern]
6. Michigan State [Big Ten]
7. North Carolina [Atlantic Coast]
8. Vanderbilt
9. Florida
10. Florida State
11. Colorado
12. TCU [Mountain West]
13. Louisville
14. Mississippi
15. Texas Tech
16. FIU
17. Coastal Carolina [Big South]
18. Augusta State
19. Yale [Ivy League]
20. Kentucky
21. Stetson [Atlantic Sun]
22. North Carolina Wilmington [Colonial Athletic Association]
23. Fairleigh Dickinson [Northeast]
24. Alabama State [SWAC]
Individuals
Shena Yang (South Florida)
Charlotte Lorentzen (Georgia State)
Stefanie Kenoyer (Furman)
Kelly Shon (Princeton)
Maria Ronderos (Miami)
Leigh Whittaker (College of Charleston)
NCAA CENTRAL REGIONAL
Warren GC, Notre Dame, Ind. (Host: Notre Dame)
1. UCLA
2. Duke
3. LSU
4. Arkansas
5. Wake Forest
6. Texas [Big 12].
7. Tulane
8. Stanford
9. Notre Dame [Big East]
10. Ohio State
11. Kent State [Mid-America]
12. Chattanooga [Southern]
13. Northwestern
14. Minnesota
15. UNLV
16. Oklahoma State
17. North Texas
18. Wisconsin
19. East Carolina
20. Michigan
21. Illinois
22. Morehead State [Ohio Valley]
23. Illinois State [Missouri Valley]
24. Butler [Horizon]
Individuals
Harin Lee (St. John's (N.Y))
Lindsay Gahm (Indiana)
Bonnie Hu (Harvard)
Nina Muehl (E. Tennessee State)
Brittany Kelly (Ball State)
Britney Hamilton (Western Michigan)
NCAA WEST REGIONAL
Washington National GC, Auburn, Wash. (Host: Washington)
1. USC [Pac-10]
2. Virginia
3. Arizona
4. Georgia
5. Tennessee
6. Pepperdine
7. Iowa State
8. UC Davis [Big West]
9. Texas A&M
10. Oklahoma
11. Oregon
12. South Carolina
13. Washington
14. Tulsa
15. Denver [Sun Belt]
16. San Diego State
17. Brigham Young
18. New Mexico
19. UTSA [Southland]
20. Portland [Big Sky]
21. New Mexico State
22. San Jose State [Western Athletic]
23. Oral Roberts [Summit League]
24. UTEP [C-USA]
Individuals
Kayla Mortellaro (Idaho)
Teo Poplawski (Idaho)
Amy Anderson (North Dakota State)
Brianna Espinoza (Colorado State)
Jessica Hollandsworth (Maryland)
Chelsey Cothran (Baylor)
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