The 2003-04 fall golf season saw the Oregon golf teams going in opposite directions.
Fielding relatively young squads, the women started the season with their first team title since the 2000 Lady Aztec Invitational. In contrast, the men struggled to a 10th-place finish at the Topy Cup in Tanagura, Japan.
“It was important that we got off to a strong start,” Oregon women’s head coach Shannon Rouillard said. “I told the girls that if we play well, we would have a chance to win the tournament.”
They responded, jumping out to grab the opening-day lead of the Lady Vandal Invitational. They held on to win, mainly behind the strong play of the team but in particular because of sophomore Erin Andrews. Andrews grabbed her first collegiate victory and the first individual title for an Oregon golfer since Jerilyn White won the 2001 Peg Barnard California Collegiate.
Andrews, who had been ranked as high as 33rd this season, continued to impress throughout the fall. She followed up her win with finishes of 12th at the Edean Ihlanfeldt Invitational, 20th at the Stanford/Pepsi Collegiate — which included a NCAA championship-caliber field — and a 21st-place finish at the Hawaii Fall Golf Classic.
The Ducks took the momentum they created and carried it through the four fall tournaments, capturing three more top-ten finishes along the way. The Ducks received outstanding play from the entire team, including freshman Kimberly McCready, who Rouillard said “has had tremendous impact on our team and has really elevated her game from high school.”
The Ducks are looking to shore up some of their fundamentals during the winter before focusing on reaching their first NCAA championship berth since 2000.
The Oregon men, coming off of their surprising entry in last year’s NCAA championships, looked to start strong. A 10th-place finish at the Topy Cup in Japan, along with finishes of ninth or worse in three of the final four tournaments, never gave the Ducks the momentum they were looking for.
“We did not have the finishes that we are happy or satisfied with,” Oregon men’s head coach Steve Nosler said. “Our goal each and every year is to make it into post-season play and to make each tournament a learning experience.”
A learning experience is the biggest positive that can be taken away by a team that includes six freshman and four sophomores.
“The group as a whole played hard,” Nosler said. “Each member of the team is playing a lot, which is good in the long run because it means more experience for the individual.”
Seniors Jimmy White and Mike Sica provided the most consistent play of the fall. White played the best golf, finishing in the top-20 in two of the five events he played in. His fourth-place finish at the Northwest Collegiate Classic included a final-round 63, which set the school record for the lowest single-round score in Oregon history.
White’s 63 coincided with the team’s only top-five finish of the fall.
The Ducks will come back in the spring looking to find a way to gain some momentum for a difficult postseason run. The women return to play Feb. 27 at the Pinehurst Challenge in Pinehurst, N.C., while the men open at the Ping Arizona Intercollegiate in Tucson, Ariz., on Feb. 2.