The Oregon women’s golf team wrapped up the 2005 Pacific-10 Conference Championships on Wednesday, finishing eighth place on the shoulders of senior Johnna Nealy, whose team-leading final score of 227 placed her in a tie for 18th place.
Following the tournament, Nealy was named to the All-Pac-10 second team — the third golfer in school history to be named to the conference’s first or second team.
Nealy finished 20 strokes behind first-place finisher Louise Stahle (220) of Arizona State. The freshman from Sweden came into the tournament as the No. 1 golfer in the nation, but had to climb out of a four-stroke deficit in the final round to claim the individual title.
Kim McCready had the best final-round score for Oregon. The sophomore from Placerville, Calif., shot a 74 on Wednesday, good enough to tie for 37th. Teammate Erin Andrews tied for 28th with a 231. Freshman Victoria Wenslow (232) followed for the Ducks by tying for 31st, and Michelle Timpani (246) claimed sole possession of 47th. The eighth-place finish for Oregon came as an upset to No. 18 Stanford (932), who finished ten strokes behind the Ducks in ninth place.
No. 2 UCLA (874), the highest ranked team in the Pac-10, further legitimized itself as one of the premiere teams in the nation by holding off a late run by No. 6 Arizona State and taking home its second straight conference title. The Sun Devils (878) settled for second, followed by
No. 20 Southern California, which stunned a number of other top-20 teams in the field that seemed guaranteed a top-three finish going into the tournament.
Oregon has a good chance of earning a spot at the NCAA Regionals, but will have to wait until noon Monday to find out the official postseason bids. The NCAA West Regional is scheduled to start May 5.
— Scott J. Adams