At the Darius Rucker Intercollegiate at Long Cove Club in Hilton Head Island, SC, No. 8 Oregon women’s golf came out second-to-last out of 17 teams, and the worst of the two Pac-12 teams in the tournament. 

The only other conference foe, Arizona State, is currently leading the team leaderboard with a score of 278 (-6), and is three strokes ahead of both Duke and Northwestern.

The Ducks had a total score of 296 for the day, which put them two strokes ahead of bottom-feeder Baylor and one stroke behind Ohio State. 

Oregon’s top performer today came as a surprise as No. 5 individual — ranked by Clippd — Kiara Romero, had a lackluster outing for her standards. 

Ting-Hsuan Huang played the best round of her Oregon career, shooting under par for the first time collegiately. Huang shot three bogeys and one birdie in her front nine holes, but locked in and played some incredible golf on the back nine. 

Huang went par-or-better on her last nine holes while shooting three birdies in the process to take her under par with a one-under score of 70. She is currently three strokes behind the leaders — LSU’s Ingrid Lindblad and Mississippi State’s Julia Lopez Ramirez, tied for 15th. 

Although Romero had a rough showing compared to her usual performance, she was still the second-best Duck on Monday.

Romero got off to a disaster start to the tournament, going over par in three of her first four holes, with one double-bogey included. 

On her last 14 holes, Romero was one-under with two birdies and a bogey, but her first stretch of holes was just too much to overcome. She shot a par on each of her back nine holes, showing her remarkable ability to be consistent. 

Romero finished the day with a three-over score of 74, but has a lot of positive momentum to carry into the rest of the tournament. Oregon’s star is currently tied for 56th, but it can be expected for her to move up the standings Tuesday and Wednesday. 

Minori Nagano also played her best golf on the back nine of her day. She began with three bogeys on the front nine, and on her 10th hole, Nagano shot a quadruple-bogey (+4). 

After that major blunder, Nagano shot two-under with two birdies on her last eight holes. Comparing her first nine holes with her back nine, she saved her day from a much worse fate and finished five-over (76), putting Nagano tied for 72nd place with teammate Anika Varma. 

Varma, the replacement for Ashleigh Park in this tournament, spaced out her bogeys. She shot over-par six times on Monday, five of those being standard bogeys with one double on her back nine. Varma also finished with a five-over (76).  

In her first start of the spring season, Varma has a lot more to prove as the Darius Rucker Intercollegiate moves forward into the later rounds. She has a lot more to offer, shown in her two birdies, and looks to create real movement in the leaderboard with improved outings going forward on Hilton Head Island. 

Ching-Tzu Chen had a day to forget in the first round in South Carolina. She started her day shooting over par on each of her first three holes, and a double-bogey on her first hole. Chen was six-over after the front nine, which was something she never overcame in Monday’s round. 

On the back nine, Chen posted a birdie, two bogeys and a double-bogey, bringing her final score to a 10-over (81). She currently holds the 87th best score out of 89 golfers. 

Scorecard: Score (Par), Position in rankings

Huang: 70 (-1), T-15th

Romero: 74 (+3), T-56th

Nagano: 76 (+5), T-72nd

Varma: 76 (+5), T-72nd

Chen: 81 (+10), 87th

Oregon: 296 (+12), 16th