As senior Caroline Inglis walked off the green of ninth and final hole at Eugene Country Club on Saturday, she was greeted by thunderous applause.
“That was loud,” she said to her teammates.
It was loud. And she deserved it.
Inglis had just set a course record, a seven-under par 65, and helped Oregon climb up the leaderboards from 15th to fifth.
Her eight birdies — four on each nine — catapulted her 35 spots up the individual rankings to land her tied for fourth when the round concluded.
“I was just trying to go shot by shot and stay present, and the birdies kept coming,” Inglis said. “I was really focusing on picking a target, breathing, and committing to the shot and I did a really good job of that.”
Inglis, a Eugene-native, was followed all day by a sizable gallery that grew bigger as the day wore on. Head coach Ria Scott said half-jokingly that she “didn’t watch her very much” because she “couldn’t get through her gallery.”
But that was all right with Scott.
“When things are going well for a player, you stay out of the way and let them do their thing,” Scott said.
Inglis, a senior, is soaking up the love in her last weekend of collegiate golf. She’s just trying to roll with this new environment.
“I just try to embrace it,” she said. “It’s fun to have that support when you make a putt.”
Inglis wasn’t the only player to have a solid performance on day two. Junior Cathleen Santoso, who shot an even par in the first round, capitalized on three of her own birdies to shoot a 2-under 70 for the day.
“It was just incredible today,” Santoso said. “I didn’t get off to the best start but pulled it together. I am really happy for all of us.”
Santoso teed off right after Inglis and could hear the roars from her crowds ahead of her. Those cheers “motivated” Santoso as she shot an even par on the front nine. She sits tied for tenth overall at 2-under.
Freshmen Petra Salko and Kathleen Scavo contributed scores 2-over and 6-over par respectively. Junior Marcella Pranovia shot a 1-over.
Oregon made leaps and bounds in today’s round, and Scott thinks the team is “satisfied” with its results. But it still has more to prove. The Ducks need to be one of the top 15 teams by the end of Sunday to advance to the next round.
Things are looking up for the Ducks as the home-course advantage seems to be taking effect. But they can’t get complacent; there’s a lot of golf left and they know it.
“I think tomorrow is a whole new day. Almost forget it and have no expectations tomorrow,” Inglis said. “You can’t go out and think, ‘Oh I shot 65, so tomorrow I’m going to do that.’”
“It’s golf; you never know what’s going to happen, you never know what’s going to show up.”
Oregon tees off at 7:30 a.m. tomorrow at Eugene Country Club.
Follow Gus Morris on Twitter @JustGusMorris