The Oregon women’s golf team improved by one place on the final day of the Rainbow Wahine Fall Classic and finished the tournament sixth out of 15 teams.
The Ducks finished only four strokes behind fifth-place Texas A&M. On Wednesday, Oregon shot a 300, the third-best round of the tournament ­ by any team.
The finish was the best of the Ducks’ fall season, and their last of the season before they resume play in February.
The finish wasn’t the only “best” that Oregon recorded at the tournament. The Ducks had their best 18-hole score of the season Wednesday and their best first round of a tournament Tuesday.
Senior Jerilyn White had the Ducks’ best score of the tournament, a 231 that put her in a tie for 14th place. Junior Kathy Cho and senior Dawn Berry finished a stroke behind White in a six-way tie for 19th.
White’s 231 was her best three-round score of the season and may have marked the comeback of the Ducks’ best player. Prior to the Fall Classic, White, an All-American candidate before the season started, hadn’t put together a complete tournament of good scores this season.
Seniors Julia Smith (28th) and Claire Hunter (67th) also finished the tournament for the Ducks. Senior Kimi Cunninghamcompeted as an individual and finished 75th, but her score didn’t count towards the team’s total.No. 16 UCLA won the Fall Classic by five strokes over No. 25 New Mexico. Washington — the only other Pacific-10 Conference school to compete — finished fourth, three strokes behind third-place San Francisco.
Hawaii-Manoa, the tournament’s host, finished last in the 15-team field. Cho played for the Rainbow Wahines for three years before coming to Oregon.
The surprise of the Fall Classic was the play of No. 17 San Jose State. The Spartans finished seventh, despite being one of three ranked teams in the tournament’s field.
The Ducks’ next tournament will be the Arizona Wildcat Invitational, Feb. 19-21. Oregon will play four tournaments in the spring before the Pac-10 Championships in April.