The Oregon women’s golf team will begin the 2009 NCAA West Regional tournament today at the Karsten Golf Course in Tempe, Ariz. The Ducks placed seventh at last week’s Pacific-10 Conference Championships, and will look to raise their level of play as they take on some of the best teams in the country during the next three days.
The No. 36 Duck squad will feature plenty of experience, as four of the five girls have competed at the regional tournament before. Senior Cathryn Bristow, juniors Felicia Eastick and Kate Hildahl, and sophomore Kendra Little each participated in last year’s tournament, while freshman Ashley Edwards will make her first appearance.
“I think they’re all going to do well,” interim head coach Meredith Jones said. “Four out of five have been there before, and Ashley is always ready to go.”
Last season Oregon finished in 13th-place overall, while Little led the way, finishing in a tie for 17th. She will look to improve upon that now that she knows what to expect going into the tournament.
“It always helps having played in this sort of a tournament,” Little said. “The stakes are higher, but all we need to do is stay focused on each day at hand, and the rest will take care of itself.”
With that in mind, the Ducks spent most of their week working on their short games, while also trying to simulate shots that they anticipate having to make over the next few days. This will be Bristow’s second trip to the Karsten Golf Course in her four years on the Oregon squad.
“We’ve just worked on a lot short, game-type things,” Bristow said. “Putting, chipping, that sort of stuff.”
Oregon’s practices have been limited by the weather throughout most of this week, but it still expects to go out and have a strong showing.
“I think with Cathryn being a senior, she is really going to have a great tournament because this is what she’s really been working toward,” said Jones.
The Ducks played in Tempe for the ASU Invitational on April 3-5, which Little feels could play into the Ducks advantage.
“We are all feeling very confident going into this tournament,” Little said. “We’ve played the course before so we kind of know what to expect from it.”
But for Oregon players, going out and playing well is only part of the equation, as they all aspire to take on the national tournament as well.
“Obviously the goal is to go to nationals,” Bristow said. “But we still try to treat it as another tournament. Just try and focus on the small things that are within our control.”
Bristow also was named to the honorable mention All-Pac-10 team last week, while Little was named to the All-Pac-10 second team for the second year in a row. With that, Bristow joined former Duck Paula Patterson as the only Oregon players to be named to three all-conference honors.
This season marked the 14th postseason bid in school history for the Ducks, as they finished with their highest placing at the Pac-10 tournament since 1996. But over the course of the next few days, the Ducks will be able to see just where they fit in on the national scale.
“I just want to go out there and help lead the team with some low numbers,” Little concluded. “I feel like if you get too specific with goals you start to limit yourself, so I’ll just go out there this week, have fun and make some birdies.”
Teams competing at the West Regional include: No. 1 Arizona State, No. 3 Southern California, No. 10 Louisiana State, No. 13 Pepperdine, No. 16 Arkansas, No. 17 San Jose State, No. 20 Arizona, No. 25 California, UNLV, San Francisco, UC Irvine, TCU, Texas A&M, Long Beach State, Colorado, Texas, Baylor, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, Northern Arizona and Oral Roberts.
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Ducks hope experience is difference at regional
Daily Emerald
May 6, 2009
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