After a day at the Rainbow Wahine Fall Golf Classic, the Oregon women’s golf team is figuring out that experience pays off.
After two rounds at the Hawaii-hosted tournament, the Ducks are in seventh place and six strokes out of sixth.
Oregon shares seventh place with Idaho and San Jose State, but the Ducks are three strokes ahead of 10th-place Long Beach State.
Oregon hasn’t finished higher than eighth at a tournament yet this season.
The Ducks were tied with San Francisco for fourth place after the first 18-hole round, in which they shot a 309, their second-lowest single round of the year. But then Oregon shot a 319 through the second round to drop to seventh.
Individually, senior Jerilyn White paced the Ducks through two rounds with a 155, good enough for 20th. Junior Cathy Cho, who attended Hawaii for two years before coming to Oregon, shot a 157 and placed 29th.
Seniors Julia Smith, Dawn Berry and Claire Hunter also placed for the Ducks. Smith placed 37th, Berry was 50th and Hunter finished 54th.
White had the second-best score of the morning’s round, a two-over-par 74. It was the Salem native’s best first-round score of the season.
Oregon head coach Shannon Rouillard took the most experienced lineup possible to Hawaii this week, stocking the team with four seniors and a junior.
Cho and White have played in every tournament this season, Hunter has played in all but one tournament, and Berry and Smith have three tournaments’ worth of experience together.
Noticeably missing from the Ducks’ lineup this week is freshman Katharina Schallenberg. The newcomer has played in every tournament so far this season and has the lowest stroke average to date.
The Ducks will finish play at the Rainbow Wahine Fall Classic today with one 18-hole round. It will be the golfers’ last round of the fall, and they will resume play again in February.