A sluggish final two rounds at the par-72 Karsten Golf Course in Tempe, Ariz., left the Ducks finishing 12th in the field at the Ping/ASU Invitational hosted by No. 7 Arizona State.
Despite the team’s mediocre finish, junior Erin Andrews shot a 1-over 73 in the final round, placing her in a tie for ninth place — her best finish of the year.
Andrews carded three birdies and four bogeys in Sunday’s final round, giving her a final score of 220 and her highest placing since the 2004
Oregon Duck Invitational, where she tied for seventh. Andrews’ 220 was 11 strokes higher than first-place finisher Louise Stahle of Arizona State. UCLA’s Amie Cochran (212) CQ of No. 2 UCLA settled for second place, falling three strokes shy of Stahle. Stahle defended her home turf well, taking home the
individual title with a three-round
total score of 209.
The Sun Devils claimed the team
title after shooting a final-round even-par 288 to tie for first place with No. 2 UCLA at 870. Arizona State was then declared the victor because of its lower fifth-player score tie-breaker.
Oregon struggled for the second day in a row Sunday by shooting an 18-over 306 and finishing at 908. The Ducks fell short of No. 12 New Mexico (907) by one stroke but edged out Texas Christian (910) by two.
Taking third place was No. 5 Pepperdine (888), followed by No. 19 Arizona (891), California (894) and No. 8 Washington (895). Finishing seventh was No. 18 Southern
California (896), leaving No. 24
Tulsa (899), No. 20 Stanford (900) and No. 22 Texas (905) to round out the top 10 in the field of 17.
Oregon’s closest finisher behind Andrews was Johnna Nealy, who tied for 28th place. The senior from Grants Pass carded a total score of 225 after shooting a final round of 79. Other Ducks competing included freshman Victoria Wenslow (231), who tied for 54th, sophomore Kim McCready (232), tying at 59th, and junior Michelle Timpani, (244) who tied for 86th.
The Ducks head to Stanford, Calif., for the Peg Barnard Collegiate held April 9-10, the final regular season tournament for Oregon.
— Scott J. Adams