Last summer, the Oregon women’s golf team took a trip down under to the largest island in the world and its humble next door neighbor. For most of the team, it was a chance to see the sights and soak up the sun of Australia and New Zealand.
But for two Ducks, it was a homecoming.
“It was awesome to have the team come home to play our golf courses and meet our families,” senior co-captain Kylie Wilson says in her bright New Zealand accent, in which “team” sounds more like “tame” and “golf” more like “gulf.”
Wilson and fellow senior captain Pam Sowden have traveled a long way to get where they are today — captains of a Pac-10 golf team, medalists at three tournaments this year, playing on some of the most beautiful golf courses in America.
“They’ve represented Oregon and themselves, their families and actually their country as great ambassadors,” head coach Renee Baumgartner said.

Now, less than a week before Sowden and Wilson’s final postseason in Oregon golf shirts, the two Auckland natives are at once excited about the postseason and reflective of their time as Ducks.
For Sowden and Wilson, leading the women’s golf team has been much more than a position. The two have captained the team on and off the golf course this year with low scores and positive attitudes.
“Coach always says, if we look after ourselves, the team’s going to benefit as well,” says Wilson.
Baumgartner knows what she’s talking about.
In the nine tournaments Oregon played during the regular season, Sowden won two individual titles and Wilson won one. Oregon won all three of those tournaments — the Fall Nittany Lion Invitational, the Colby/ Santa Clara Invitational and the Lady Aztec Invitational.
“Not a lot of Oregon golfers have won tournaments,” Baumgartner said. “They’re pretty significant in what they’ve meant to Oregon golf.”
Although you might not believe it in the scores-oriented world of Pac-10 golf, the two captains stress team unity almost as much as low handicaps.
“It’s an individual sport but also a team sport,” Sowden says. “You have to trust your teammates.”
Beyond golf course fences the team eats, hangs out and, of course, takes the occasional trip to Australia together.
“It’s like a family,” Wilson says.
But before the captains can get too choked up over the end of their Oregon careers, there is business to attend to. For the New Zealanders and fellow seniors Anika Heuser and Angie Rizzo, this marks their last postseason as Ducks.
“We’ll see what happens,” Sowden says, covering her bases on the subject of the Pac-10 Championships, which start on Monday at the Eugene Country Club. “The Arizona teams are among the best in the country, and then USC and Stanford are also pretty tough.”
Despite Sowden’s modesty, her manner masks a strong desire to win and a confidence in her teammates. The team has never been in a better position to perform well.
“We’ve been having tournaments all year,” Wilson says. “But these are the finals — both physical and mental.”
Head Coach Renee Baumgartner is in her final year as coach before she focuses solely on her assistant athletic director duties. She has a team, led by Sowden and Wilson, of mostly upperclassmen with plenty of experience under their belts.
Finally, as if the golf gods were shining on them, two of the three postseason tournaments the Ducks could play are in Oregon.
Besides the Pac-10 Championships next week, the NCAA Championships will be held at Sunriver May 24 through 27. The Ducks need to make the cut at the West Regionals in Tempe, Ariz. May 11 through 13, in order to play in Sunriver. It’s a feat they should accomplish.
“We’re just going to go out and play our game, and add it up at the end,” Sowden says of the regionals, “and hope we get our tickets.”
The Auckland natives represent two-thirds of the Oregon roster with NCAA Tournament experience, which will no doubt come in handy down the postseason stretch. Heuser is the only other Duck to have played in the NCAAs.
It wasn’t all fun and sun for Oregon in Australia last summer.
When the Ducks traveled to New Zealand they played a number of teams, including the New Zealand National team, which Wilson and Sowden both played for before coming to America.
“It was good,” Sowden says about playing her former team. “We were playing for the right team.”
That about sums up the captains’ views on Oregon. They may be a long way from home, but for the past four years Pam Sowden and Kylie Wilson have been playing for a team they love very much. The right team.