Oregon looking for biggest win yet to cap its historic women's golf season

Oregon has gone two-for-two during postseason play so far this spring.

But those tournaments were just tune-ups for what’s coming this week when the second-ranked Ducks compete at the NCAA women’s golf championships on the par-72, 6,384-yard Grayhawk Golf Club in Scottsdale, Arizona, closing out what has been the best season in school history.

The 24-team tournament begins Friday with the first round of stroke play.

The field will be trimmed to 15 teams following Sunday’s third round of stroke play. After Monday’s final round of stroke play — when the individual champion will be determined — the top eight teams will advance to match play. The quarterfinals and semifinals will be held on Tuesday, with the championship match scheduled for Wednesday.

“I feel like we’re pretty confident right now,” said Oregon junior Briana Chacon. “I feel like everybody’s game is right where we need it to be and I feel like we’re all peaking at the right time.”

The results lend credence to Chacon’s claim.

Last month, the Ducks won their first Pac-12 championship, led by Cynthia Lu’s individual title at Eugene Country Club.

Last week, Oregon cruised to a victory at the NCAA Albuquerque Regional with Chacon, the individual medalist, fueling the Ducks’ first regional win.

“After winning Pac-12s and the regional, I think we’re coming in pretty hot,” junior Sofie Kibsgaard Nielsen said.

Those victories just continued what has already been a historic season for Oregon, which has won a program-best five tournaments and is ranked higher than it's ever been.

“It’s been a process,” said fourth-year coach Derek Radley. “I think for them, they feel like they can go into every tournament and win it, and that’s a big first step.”

Having a roster as talented as Oregon’s certainly helps.

The Ducks have five of the top-34 players in the nation according to Golfstat’s individual player rankings, with Lu 12th, Kibsgaard Nielsen 21st, Heather Lin 22nd, Ching-Tzu Chen 32nd and Chacon 34th.

“To have as strong of players as we do from 1-5 is everything,” Radley said. “I don’t know if there’s anyone else in the country that has that strong of a five and that depth.”

Those five were also the Ducks’ core group last season when they finished tied for 11th at the NCAA tournament and came two strokes short of advancing to match play for the first time since 2016, when Oregon tied for fifth for its best finish in 11 tournament appearances.

“I think that definitely stuck with them,” Radley said of last season's tournament finish. “It was a huge learning curve. You could see them utilizing that right from the get-go this season. The goal all year is to get in that top eight and so I’m excited for them to have that opportunity.”

Follow Chris Hansen on Twitter @chansen_RG or email at chansen@registerguard.com.

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This article originally appeared on Register-Guard: Confident Oregon caps historic season at NCAA women's golf championships