She had just completed her best tournament of the fall season, shooting just 1 over par in North Carolina. Five days later, Oregon sophomore women’s golfer Cathleen Santoso couldn’t finish her first round at Stanford due to illness.
“I was actually pretty bummed to sit out because I knew I had good momentum,” Santoso said.
In one week, Santoso personified both the shortcomings of the fall season and the hope that the Ducks have for when competition continues in the Spring.
Ranked 36th in the nation according to Golfstat.com, the Ducks are within striking distance of some of the nation’s top teams. They finished ninth in the Pac-12 Preview this past Sunday, the final tournament until early February. Though the Pac-12 boasts five teams ranked in the top fifteen, Oregon believes that it has yet to play its best golf.
“If you ask any player on our team, they know they can play better,” head coach Ria Scott said.
In all likelihood, Oregon’s woes this past month are a reflection of the inauspicious situation created by its schedule. Early in September, the Ducks traveled to Spain for 11 days to compete against the Spanish national team. While the excursion built team chemistry, it forced the Ducks to backload their fall schedule. Oregon played four tournaments across the country in a one-month span.
Scott admitted that the demanding month was problematic. She noted that there wasn’t a lot of time for the Ducks to work on their craft.
As a result, the Ducks knew they would have to rely more on instincts to carry them through the month.
“There’s a time to fix, but there’s also a time to play with what you’ve got,” Scott said. “That was a good example this fall season of learning to play with what you’ve got.”
The inability to make adjustments acutely affected senior Cassy Isagawa, who owns the top three season scoring averages in Oregon history. Her current 76.11 season scoring average is her worst by four strokes.
“Cassy should be out here leading our team, especially as a past leader,” Scott said. “And performance-wise, we just want her to get back stronger than she ever has.”
Isagawa decided to work on her swing following the Stanford Intercollegiate. She did not compete in the Pac-12 Preview. In the three months leading up to the team’s next event, Isagawa will work on her swing with swing coach Jeff Smith. He also works with the Oregon men’s golf team, who are ranked No. 2 in the country.
Known for her ball striking ability, Isagawa hopes to improve her swing even more in the coming months.
“She’s going to hit it even longer with the changes that she’s making,” Scott said.
The Ducks also admittedly lacked concentration at certain points this fall. “Sometimes we tend to laugh a lot and get off track,” freshman Kelsey Ulep said. “I think maybe (we need to be) a little bit more focused and a little bit more towards our goal.”
After making the necessary tweaks, both mentally and physically, in three needed months off the Ducks believe they will be able to compete with anyone.
“We’re all really skilled,” Ulep said. “We’re all really experienced and I know that we can play as well as the guys.”
Follow Jack Heffernan on Twitter @JHeffy13