Playing halfway across the country in Columbus, Ind., the No. 31 women’s golf team quickly made itself right at home in the Central Regional.
The Ducks shot an opening-round 305 at Otter Creek Golf Club on Thursday and currently stand tied for fourth overall. Only No. 2 Arizona State, No. 5 USC and No. 8 Purdue shot lower scores than Oregon to start the tournament.
Even more impressive was the showing by junior Kendra Little. No stranger to leaderboards, the 50th-ranked Little shot a two-under-par 70 and tied with Purdue’s Thea Hoffmeister for the overall lead.
Sophomore Ashley Edwards and freshman Cheyenne Hickle tied for 28th with scores of 77, while senior Kate Hildahl shot an 81 and tied for 69th overall. Junior Erica Omlid rounded out Oregon’s top five with an 83 and stands tied for 86th.
No. 26 Oklahoma State matched Oregon’s score in the first round, while No. 21 New Mexico was not far behind with a 306. Further demonstrating the talent of the Pacific-10 Conference, all three of the teams representing the conference are in the top four overall through one round.

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