Although the Oregon women’s golf team will not represent itself in the NCAA West Regional Tournament, senior Kathy Cho will do her best to make up for the entire team.
Oregon, which finished 10th in the Pacific-10 Conference Championships, did not qualify for the regional tournament for the first time since 1992.
Cho, however, was selected to participate as an individual. The Honolulu, Hawaii, native begins her quest today to advance to the NCAA Championships for the first time in her career. She led the Ducks this season with a 76.8 strokes per round average.
“It’s hard to say what Kathy will need to shoot (to advance), but I’m guessing she will need to average between 73 and 74 to make it,” Oregon head coach Shannon Rouillard said. “She probably needs to push herself a little bit more than she did in the regular season, but that’s the next logical progression in her career.”
Cho will tee off at 7:30 a.m. at the Stanford Golf Course in Palo Alto, Calif.
“The course can bite you if you’re not careful,” Rouillard said. “Kathy has played Stanford on several occasions and I think that will give her an advantage over those players seeing the course for the first time.”
The top eight teams and the top two individuals at the regional will advance to the NCAA Championships in Auburn, Wash., which will begin May 21.