Senior Kathy Cho matched the best round of her career with a 73 on Monday to help the Oregon women’s golf team tie for 11th after the first round of the OSU/Shanico Invitational, being played at the 6,072-yard, par-72 Trysting Tree Golf Course in Corvallis.
Cho, a senior from Honolulu, Hawaii, finished the first round in a tie for 12th after shooting a 38 on the front nine, and carding an impressive 35 on the more difficult back nine for her 1-over score. Cho notched her first round of 73 at last spring’s NCAA West Regional that was also played at Trysting Tree.
“Kathy played a very solid round,” Oregon head coach Shannon Rouillard said. “She stepped up and did the job she needed to do as a senior and as a leader.”
Of the 19 teams in the tournament, California took the first-day lead by shooting a 286, followed by Arizona in second at 289, Stanford at 295, Brigham Young at 296 and Oregon State at 298. The Ducks had their lowest round of the season, a 309, and were tied with Idaho for 11th. Immediately in front of the Ducks were Nevada-Las Vegas and Northern Arizona at 307 and Long Beach State at 308.
“We are certainly in a position to catch some of the teams ahead of us,” Rouillard said. “We still need to make sure we’re putting and chipping well. I witnessed a few three-putts that we didn’t need to have. But we’re doing a better job of hitting greens in regulation, which was one of our focuses this week. So if we can eliminate some of the three-putts and do a better job of chipping, we should be in good shape.”
Freshman Jonna Nealy carded the lowest round of her young Oregon career with a 4-over 76, and was tied for 24th. Freshman Jess Carlyon had a 6-over 78 to tie for 46th.
Stanford’s Kim Kouwabunpat shot a blistering 5-under 67 and finished her round with a one-stroke lead on California’s Ria Quiazon and a two-stroke lead on Brigham Young’s Jessica Gardner in the medalist chase.
The rain mostly stayed clear of Trysting Tree on Monday, as play was disrupted only once by a brief passing shower. A high pressure system is supposed to move into the region in time for the second round, scheduled to get underway at 8:30 a.m. Tuesday.
Men finish in top 20
Three golfers placed among the top 20 as Oregon fired rounds of 303 and 297 to stand in fourth place at 600 following the first two rounds of the Pepperdine Club Glove Invitational in Somis, Calif.
Oregon’s John Ellis was tied for 13th at 4-over 148 on Monday at the 6,884-yard, par-72 Saticoy Country Club. The junior from San Jose, Calif., was the only Duck to shoot par Monday with a 72 in the second round. Also in the top 20 for the Ducks were senior Aaron Byers, tied for 17th at 5-over 149, and junior Chris Carnahan, tied for 20th at 6-over 150. Carnahan, a junior from Albany has fired five consecutive rounds of 75, dating to the Oct. 1-2 Husky Invitational.
In the team competition, Pepperdine forged a 14-stroke lead after the first two rounds. The host Waves shot 292-288 for a 580 total. San Jose State was second at 594, followed by California at 595, Oregon and then Fresno State at 602. Colorado State and UC Santa Barbara were tied for sixth at 603, followed by San Diego State at 606, Alabama-Birmingham at 608, Southeastern Louisiana at 611, Long Beach State at 616 and Oregon State rounded out the field at 625.
Pepperdine’s Jason Allred shot a 3-under 141 for a three-stroke lead in the individual competition going into the final round. Alabama-Birmingham’s Daniel Ozley and San Diego State’s Scott Henderson were tied for second at even par. Allred’s teammate Michael Beard was two strokes back.
Final round action is slated to get underway at 7:30 a.m. Tuesday.
— From staff and wire reports
