Oregon women’s golf is hosting the Pac-12 championships for the first time since 2010, but there was hardly a home advantage for the Ducks at the Eugene Country Club on Monday with uncharacteristic April weather.

No. 2 Oregon finished at 7-over as a team on Monday, five behind the leader, Stanford who is ranked No. 1 in the country.

USC finished in second at 4-over, while Washington and Arizona tied for third at 6-over.

“Today was tough when that wind picked up; normally if it gets a little wet out here it’s never really windy,” Oregon head coach Derek Radley said. “So I was seeing some balls out there kind of in some spots that I don’t normally see. The next two days though, the wind is supposed to die down even if it’s supposed to rain, and that’ll be our comfort zone.”

Hsin-Yu (Cynthia) Lu had the best day for the Ducks, as she finished in fifth place overall individually, with an even-par, 72. Ching-Tzu Chen and Tze-Han (Heather) Lin both had 2-over, 74 rounds, while Briana Chacon rounded out the team scoring, shooting a 3-over, 75.

After the front nine, the Ducks were only one-stroke back of Stanford. With light rain all day, heavy winds picked up during the back nine, making it a struggle for the Ducks as they shot 5-over as a team on the last nine holes.
“It’s pretty remarkable how many teams are bunched up right now,” Radley said. “We’re really all together. Obviously not the start we wanted; however, I kind of love where we’re at with two days to go. Excited just to recap together, figure out what went wrong in some spots and figure out how to capitalize the next two days.”

Wind hopefully won’t be an issue for the Ducks in the next two rounds of the tournament, as they will try and spark a comeback in round two.

It kicks off on Tuesday at 9.a.m.