The University women’s golf team used steady play to finish in ninth place at the Kitahara Fresno State Invitational Feb. 26-27 in Fresno, Calif. The No. 40 Ducks posted identical team scores of 309 in both rounds of the 36-hole tournament. Their overall score of 618 put the Ducks 22 strokes behind 1st place Fresno State and two strokes behind No. 13 Denver. Oregon did finish one stroke ahead of rivals Oregon State.
Junior Victoria Wenslow, who led the Ducks with a two-over-par performance in this event last year, started this year’s edition also playing well. Despite a double bogey on her third hole of the tournament, Wenslow played strong for the rest of the round, carding two birdies on her way to a three over par day, good enough for a tie for 10th place after 18 holes. Day two was a different story for Wenslow. Her day started poorly and didn’t improve much thereafter. A double bogey on the first hole was followed by five more bogeys on the front nine. Two more on the back nine gave Wenslow a nine over par score for the day.
Freshman Kate Hildahl shook off a tough first round in which she bogeyed six of her first nine holes to knock in three birdies in that same nine-hole stretch to earn a score of one over par in the final round for the Ducks’ individual leader on Tuesday.
In the first round Monday, Senior Therese Wenslow started on the back nine, blemishing her card with three bogeys before making the turn. The older Wenslow shot four over for the rest of the day, finishing the round at six over par. Wenslow got off to a rocky start on Tuesday, posting double bogey on the first hole and bogeys of on holes two through four. Wenslow improved her play on the back nine, posting a par score and a five over par 77 for the round. Her overall tournament score of 11 over par put her in a tie with Hildahl for Oregon’s best performance and into 32nd place overall.
Sophomore and New Zealand native Cathryn Bristow scored a birdie on her second hole of the first round, but posted either a bogey or double bogey on six of her next seven holes. Those struggles did not continue in the second half of the round; Bristow played even golf after the turn, thanks to birdies on the fourth and sixth holes. Bristow’s final round featured two more double bogeys but, she improved her score on Monday by two strokes, six over par for the day and 14 over par for the tournament.
Freshman Felicia Eastick, from Queensland, Australia had a first round similar to that of her Kiwi teammate. Eastick scored a birdie on her second hole before posting five bogeys in her next nine holes. Eastick’s Monday round finished with eight straight pars. The Aussie never really got going in the final round, scoring seven-over par on the front nine and 10 over par for the day.
The Ducks will return to action next week in North Carolina for the Pinehurst Challenge before returning to Oregon for their only home event of the season, the Duck Invitational Mar. 26-27.