No more quizzes for the Oregon women’s golf team. Midterms are over.
It’s finals time.
The Ducks travel to Tempe, Ariz., this week for the Pacific-10 Conference Championships, starting today at the Karsten Golf Course. The tournament will be the first postseason test for Oregon and could determine where the team will end up for the NCAA Regional tournament in two weeks.
“It’s our first final exam of the postseason,” Oregon head coach Shannon Rouillard said. “It doesn’t mean everything, but it does mean something.”
That “something” is bragging rights in the Pac-10. One of the toughest golf conferences in the country, the Pac-10 boasts seven of the nation’s top 50 teams, according to the most recent MasterCard Collegiate Golf Rankings.
The Ducks will jump on the back of star Jerilyn White and try to ride her to a strong showing at the Pac-10s. White, ranked 35th in the country, recently won her first individual tournament title at the Peg Barnard Collegiate last weekend. That performance led the Ducks to fifth place, their best finish of the season.
White said the Peg Barnard will give her a boost in contending for the Pac-10 crown.
“It’s giving me a lot of confidence going into Pac-10s,” White said. “But I’m really trying hard to not put too many expectations on it.”
White will have to play better than some of the nation’s best golfers if she wants to win the individual title in Tempe. The field includes top-ranked Lorena Ochoa of Arizona, No. 2 Candie Kung of Southern California, No. 9 Stephanie Keever of Stanford and No. 10 Natalie Gulbis of Arizona, along with 17 more top-100 competitors. Based solely on rankings, White would finish ninth individually.
Of course, White knows all about her competition.
“I could shoot a 69 every day and not win it,” White said. “It would be awesome to do and great if I won, but there’s such great competition in the Pac-10, who knows what would win it.”
Other probable starters for Oregon include junior Kathy Cho, senior Dawn Berry, freshman Lacy Erickson and sophomore Megan Heckeroth.
Cho is the only golfer besides White to play in every tournament this season, and she holds the team’s second-best stroke average. Berry has placed at the Pac-10s twice, finishing 47th her sophomore season and 35th last year.
Rouillard said her team needs to improve its consistency to finish strong at the Pac-10s.
“We just need to look at this tournament as another step up for us,” Rouillard said.
The Pac-10 teams will play three 18-hole rounds over three days, starting today and concluding Wednesday.