The Oregon women’s golf team had a rough first round Monday at the Pacific-10 Conference Championships, as the Ducks shot a 331 to sit in 10th place at Walla Walla Country Club in Washington.
Sophomore Lacy Erickson took charge for the Ducks as the low golfer, shooting an 80 to stand in a tie for 36th on a windy day that saw only two players break par.
Senior Kathy Cho, Oregon’s No. 1, had a first-round 81 to put her in a tie for 40th, and freshmen Johnna Nealy, Jaime Seefried and Jess Carlyon were tied for 52nd at 85. Junior Kim Melrose anchored the Ducks in a tie for 57th, shooting 86.
“The winds were up today, and the greens were quicker than they were in practice rounds,” Oregon head coach Shannon Rouillard said. “It was a rough day all the way around, and the conditions seemed to make us second guess ourselves, which made the course that much more difficult.”
Defending champion Arizona had four golfers in the top 10 and took the first round lead at 293. USC was not far behind in second place with 297, followed by California with a 299 and Stanford in fourth at 300.
Only two players were resilient enough to not let Mother Nature affect their game. Mikaela Parmlid and Yvonne Cho of USC were the two golfers to break par, tying for the first round lead at 71. Defending individual champion Lorena Ochoa of Arizona was just a stroke back at even par 72.
The second round will be played today where the Ducks are confident they can regain their poise and fight back in the next two rounds. Oregon hopes this time around to reach the goal of 305, which Rouillard said is the team’s “magic number.”
“We will play better the next couple of days,” Rouillard said. “We need to come out and stick to our game plan and play hard.”
Last year at Arizona State, Oregon finished ninth with a 914 as Cho and Erickson tied for 42nd at 236.