After falling behind early and storming back, the Ducks lost to No. 1 Stanford in the NCAA final, 3-2 at the Grayhawk Golf Club in Scottsdale, AZ.

In the Ducks’ quarterfinal victory over San Jose State on Tuesday, an early lead helped them cruise to the win. In Wednesday’s final, consistent play from the Ducks didn’t amount until the late afternoon.

Ching-Tzu Chen, Hsin Yu (Cynthia) Lu and Sofie Kibsgaard Nielsen never led in their matches as all fell to their match play opponents. 

“Disappointed, but yet at the same time so proud,” UO coach Derek Radley said. “We did not play well from the beginning. In the start of this I think we were a little timid, just for the moment. However, I never count my Ducks out.” 

Tze-Han (Heather) Lin and Briana Chacon were able to rally to win their matches in the final. For Chacon, this was her third match-play win of the tournament as she finished the year extremely strong, adding on to her win at regionals. 

Chacon put her match to even at the 17th hole and birdied No. 18 to win her match in a dramatic fashion 1-up.

For the senior, Lin, this was her last collegiate tournament and she finished strong, winning her match 3&2 after halving No. 16.

“I feel like my biggest goal this week was just to give it everything I have, no regrets,” Lin said. “And I think I accomplished that, I would say.”

After coming so close to being NCAA champions, this experience will prove to be valuable for the Ducks in years to come. 

It wasn’t the end they wanted, but it was a historic year for Oregon women’s golf, winning the first Pac-12 championship and regional title in program history along with advancing to the match-play semi-finals for the first time ever. 

“I’m proud of our performance,” Radley said. “Hats off to Stanford; they’re an incredible program… But this was huge, for our program to get our logo on this stage. This was the dream and we’re here and I hope we’re here to stay.”