Mother Nature, it seems, has it in for the Oregon women’s golf team this spring.
After being forced off the course by persistent thunderstorms, the Ducks were never able to climb the talented leaderboard. In the end, Oregon finished in 13th place at the 2004 PING/ASU Invitational in Tempe, Ariz., snapping their streak of six consecutive top 10 finishes.
The inclement weather forced the Ducks to wait and finish the first round of the tournament on Saturday.
“The first delay we had was about an hour and a half long,” Oregon coach Shannon Rouillard said. “The second (delay) was exactly an hour, and with all the lightning and rain, the officials finally decided to call it.”
When play was halted on Friday, the Ducks, as a team, completed eight holes on the 6,230-yard, par-72 Karsten Golf Course. Two of the Ducks, sophomore Michelle Timpani and junior Jess Carlyon, were able to finish six holes in their opening rounds.
The suspension of play was a mixed blessing, providing some players with the opportunity to start anew, but for others, the weather put a halt to solid opening rounds.
“I took it as a benefit,” Tipmani said. “I got off to a rough start. I was six over when play was suspended, and ended up finishing the rest of the round at even par. But for the girls who were playing well, it was tough.”
Improvement continued on Sunday. The Ducks, behind sophomore Therese Wenslow’s final round 73 and Timpani’s 75, finished with a team score of 299 to give them a tournament score of 915, four strokes ahead of Texas Christian, which finished tied with Oregon State. As much as the Ducks improved, however, so did the rest of the field. Tournament champion and second-ranked UCLA returned to form after its opening round 295 by shooting 284 and 282 in the second and third rounds, respectively. USC finished in second, sixteen strokes back, while sixth-ranked New Mexico fired a team total 881, to finish third.
Individually, Wenslow continued her strong spring play. Her tie for 22nd gives her three straight top 25 finishes, including a tie for second at the Duck Invitational and a tie for 11th at the Colby Invitational.
“I’ve been practicing a lot lately,” Wenslow said. “It’s nice, now that I am scoring better. I just need to make some more putts, however.”