The Oregon women’s golf team should be watching the NBA playoffs on TNT this week, since the network’s slogan applies to their season right now: win or go home.
The No. 26 Ducks will travel to Tempe, Ariz., for the NCAA West Regionals, which tee off a week from today. They will compete with 23 other top-50 teams for 11 spots in the NCAA Championships, which will be held May 24-27 in Sunriver. All 10 schools in the Pacific-10 Conference will play in the regionals.
The Ducks make their eighth straight trip to the West Regionals, but an appearance at the NCAAs would only be the team’s third in five years.
Experienced upperclassmen
Oregon has at least one leg up on the competition in Tempe, and that is the experience of its players. Four seniors and one junior will make the trip to Arizona, with all five possessing previous regionals competition experience.
Senior co-captain Pam Sowden will lead the Ducks against the competition next week at the NCAA West Regionals in Tempe.
The Ducks will try to repeat their performances at the Colby and Lady Aztec Invitationals, where they got consistent performances from their upperclassmen. Senior Kylie Wilson won the Colby, but three other players finished in the top 10 and the Ducks took home the team title as well. At the Lady Aztec, senior Pam Sowden won the individual crown, but again the Ducks had three other top-15 finishers and won the team title.
Jumpin’ Jerilyn
Junior Jerilyn White quietly jumped into the national rankings this week and is now the only Duck among the country’s top 100 golfers. The Salem native is ranked 80th.
White placed ninth at the Pac-10 Conference Championships a week ago and holds the team’s lowest stroke average, despite being the team’s youngest regular starter. She will be the only non-senior to travel with the team to Tempe.
West is the best
The West Regional features some of the toughest competition of any tournament the Ducks have played in this year.
Every team in the 24-team field is ranked among the nation’s top 50, including seven of the top 10 and 15 of the top 25.
Along with top team competition, the Ducks face some of the best individuals in the country next week.
Eight of the country’s top 10 golfers will play in the regionals, including the top three — Jenna Daniels of Arizona, Miriam Nagl of Arizona State and Candie Kung of Southern California, who won the individual title at the Pac-10 Championships last week.
The hottest team at the regionals — and the favorite — is No. 1 Arizona. The Wildcats’ victory at the Pac-10 Championships a week ago marked their sixth straight win and their seventh in nine tournaments.
