Oregon springs back into action by overtaking Stanford to claim team crown in Therese Hession Regional Challenge

   The Pac-12 has always been one of the best conferences in women’s college golf.

   Makes sense. Lots of warm weather where women can play year round. Stanford, the L.A. schools, Southern California and UCLA, Arizona and Arizona State, even Washington have all produced their share of national champions and standout individuals.

   Another player arrived on the scene in the Pac-12 in the last couple of years, particularly last year when Oregon won the first conference crown in program history and made it all the way to the Final Match in the NCAA Championship at Grayhawk Golf Club in Scottsdale, Ariz. before falling, 3-2, to perennial Pac-12 power Stanford.

   The awakening of the sleeping giant can be traced back to the 2018 hiring of Derek Radley, who had been an associate head coach for 2017-2018 national champion Arizona, as the head coach at Oregon.

   I have to believe Radley’s chief lieutenant, Monica Vaughn, has had a little something to do with the rapid ascension of the Ducks as well.

   Vaughn isn’t all that far removed from the college game herself as she was the individual national champion while leading Arizona State to the team crown in the 2016-’17 season in some brutally cold spring weather at Rich Harvest Farms in Sugar Grove, Ill.

   Not sure if Vaughn, an Oregon native from Reedsport, ever had her sights set on a pro career, but she has settled in nicely with the Oregon program. Have to think she’ll be on a few short lists if any head coaching jobs come open in the next couple of years.

   When Oregon rallied in the final round to overtake Stanford for the team crown in the Therese Hession Regional Challenge, presented by Northrop Grumann, which wrapped up Tuesday at the Palos Verdes Golf Club in Palos Verdes Estates, Calif., it was the seventh tournament win for the Ducks under Radley, all of them coming since the spring of 2021.

   Stanford has been sitting atop the Golfstat rankings ever since Rose Zhang arrived on campus in the fall of 2021 and the Cardinal’s victory over Oregon in the Final Match at Grayhawk last spring validated their status as the best team in Division I women’s golf.

   But Oregon, which moved up from No. 5 to No. 3 in the Golfstat rankings in the wake of its Therese Hession Regional Challenge victory, has never been far behind these last two seasons.

   The Ducks made the most of their home-course advantage to take the title in the Pac-12 Championship last spring at Eugene Country Club. After claiming the team title in the NCAA Albuquerque Regional, Oregon was second behind Stanford in the four rounds of qualifying for match play at Grayhawk.

   Don’t think Stanford was all that surprised to see the Ducks waiting for it in the Final Match.

   The event at Palos Verdes was known as the Northrop Grumann Regional Challenge before this year and has become one of the premier tournaments on the women’s college golf scene, a harbinger of what is to come in the spring sprint to the postseason.

   Ohio State has always been the host and the event was renamed for the longtime Buckeyes head coach. Hession became the director of golf for the men’s and women’s programs at Ohio State in 2018 after 27 years as the head coach of the women’s team. She retired last year.

   Hession was succeeded by Lisa Strom, the 1994 PIAA champion at Lansdale Catholic who starred at Ohio State under Hession and played on the LPGA Tour.

   Stanford was without two of its stars at Palos Verdes as 2021 NCAA individual champion Rachel Heck, a junior from Memphis, Tenn. and No. 12 in the Women’s World Amateur Golf Ranking (WAGR), and Brooke Seay, a senior from San Diego and No. 38 in the Women’s WAGR, did not tee it up.

   The Stanford website cited injuries for their absences, which is more than you usually get out of a college website, but it’s not like there’s an injury report for women’s college golf. Hopefully, it’s nothing serious because they are two players who would be unquestioned No. 1 players on a lot of Division I rosters.

   Stanford, of course, still has Zhang, the unquestioned No. 1 player in the Women’s WAGR, for what, three years now. The sophomore from Irvine, Calif. was the individual champion for the eighth time in her 15^th career college start, including the NCAA individual crown she won at Grayhawk last spring. Zhang cruised to a three-shot victory with a 6-under-par 207 total over the 6,017-yard, par-71 Palos Verdes layout.

   But with Heck and Seay sitting this one out, the team title was there for the taking and Oregon seized the day.

   Trailing Stanford by eight shots and in a tie for fourth place entering Tuesday’s final round, Oregon, behind a 3-under 68 from junior Ashleigh Park, another Irvine, Calif. kid who transferred to Eugene from Texas, and a 2-under 69 from individual runnerup Ching-Tzu Chen, a senior from Taiwan, the Ducks ripped off a 4-under 280, the low team round for the week, to blow past the rest of the field.

   Oregon had opened with a 4-over 288 and added a 6-over 290 in Monday’s second round. The strong finish by the Ducks left them with a 6-over 858 total.

   Cold-weather gear was very much in evidence from the still photos I saw from Palos Verdes, so there was a late-winter chill in the air by Southern California standards.

   The top-ranked Cardinal had opened with a 2-over 286 and matched par in Monday’s second round with a 284 to take a two-shot lead over Mountain West Conference power San Jose State into the final round.

   But Stanford struggled a little in the final round, closing with a 9-over 293 and settling for runnerup honors, five shots behind Oregon with an 11-over 863 total.

   Zhang was Zhang, carding a pair of 3-under 68s in the first two rounds to take a two-shot lead over Texas’ Sophie Guo, a senior from Orlando, Fla., and San Jose State’s Lucia Lopez-Ortega, a sophomore from Spain, into Tuesday’s final round.

   Zhang matched par in the final round with a 71 to end up at 6-under, three shots clear of the trio of Oregon’s Chen, Texas’ Guo and Baylor’s Silje Ohma, a freshman from Norway.

   Another Pac-12 power, Southern California, and Baylor, out of the Big 12, finished a shot behind Stanford in a tie for third place, each landing on 12-over 864.

   The Trojans, who improved from No. 23 to No. 15 in the Golfstat rankings off their showing in the Therese Hession, opened with a 6-over 290 and added back-to-back 3-over 287s in a solid showing.

   The Bears, who moved into the Golfstat top 10 at No. 10 after entering the Therese Hession at No. 18, had the lead following an opening round of 2-under 282. But Baylor struggled a little in Monday’s second round with a 297 before finishing up with a solid 1-over 285.

   San Jose State finished four shots behind Southern Cal and Baylor in fifth place with a 16-over 868 total, moving up from No. 7 to No. 4 in the Golfstat rankings. If there was a bigger surprise than Oregon’s postseason run a year ago, it just might have been the spring the Spartans had as they won the team crown in the Ann Arbor Regional and reached the match-play bracket in the NCAA Championship before falling to the Ducks, 4-1, in the quarterfinals at Grayhawk.

   San Jose State was just two shots behind Stanford going into the final round after posting back-to-back 2-over 286s in the first two rounds. The Spartans struggled a little in the final round with a 12-over 296, but it seems pretty clear that they mean business again this spring.

   It was a pretty nice showing for Strom’s host Buckeyes as the Big Ten power finished three shots behind San Jose State in sixth place in the elite field of 16 teams with a 19-over 871 total. After opening with a solid 2-over 286, Ohio State added an 8-over 292 in Monday’s second round before finishing up with a 293.

   The Buckeyes’ strong showing in the event renamed to honor the best coach in the history of the program enabled them to move into the Golfstat top 25 at No. 24 after entering the Therese Hession at No. 35.

   Chen opened with a 3-under 68, slipped back a little with a 2-over 73 in Monday’s second round, but finished strong with her 2-under 69 to get a share of second place with a 3-under 210 total and lead Oregon to the team crown.

   Backing up Chen for the Ducks was Briana Chacon, a senior from Whittier, Calif. and No. 79 in the Women’s WAGR who finished in the group tied for 20^th place with a 5-over 218 total. Chacon carded back-to-back 1-over 72s in the first two rounds before closing with a 3-over 74.

   Oregon has a really nice addition plucked from the junior college ranks in Minori Nagano, a junior from Japan who finished among the group tied for 27^th place with a 7-over 220 total.

   Nagano, who was the junior college national champion in 2021 and 2022 while leading Seminole State to the team crown in both years, struggled a little in the opening round with a 5-over 76. But she matched par in the second round with a 71 and contributed a steady 2-over 73 in the final round.

   Junior Cynthia Lu, part of Oregon’s Taiwan Connection along with Chen and No. 29 in the Women’s WAGR, finished among the group tied for 31^st place with an 8-over 221 total. After struggling to a 6-over 77 in the opening round, Lu bounced back with a 74 in Monday’s second round before closing with a crucial 2-under 70.

   Rounding out the Oregon lineup was Park, who finished in the group tied for 37^th place with a 9-over 222 total. A veteran of Texas’ run to the NCAA Championship quarterfinals as a freshman in 2021, Park opened with a solid 1-over 72 at Palos Verdes, but then struggled mightily to an 82 in Monday’s second round.

   But Park put that round in the rear-view mirror and was the low Duck in Tuesday’s final round with an extremely clutch 3-under 68.

   Texas’ Guo was just two shots behind Zhang in the individual chase after carding back-to-back 2-under 69s in the first two rounds before closing with a 1-over 72 to finish among the trio tied for second place at 3-under 210.

   Ohma sparked the fast start for Baylor as she fired the best individual round of the week, a 5-under 66, in the opening round to grab the individual lead. She added a 2-over 73 in Monday’s second round before matching par in the final round with a 71 to join Guo and Oregon’s Chen for a share of runnerup honors.

   Three players who I had a chance to watch in last summer’s 42^nd Curtis Cup Match at Merion Golf Club’s historic East Course in the Ardmore section of Haverford Township, Kentucky’s Jensen Castle, a senior from West Columbia, S.C. and No. 24 in the Women’s WAGR, Stanford’s Megha Ganne, a freshman from Holmdel, N.J. and No. 57 in the Women’s WAGR, and Florida’s Annabell Fuller, a senior from Florida and No. 54 in the Women’s WAGR, were among a group of six players tied for fifth place at even-par 213.

   After opening with a 2-over 73, Castle, winner of the U.S. Women’s Amateur at Westchester Country Club in Rye, N.Y. in 2021, matched par in Monday’s second round with a 71 before closing with a solid 2-under 69.

   Ganne, one of the top freshmen in the country, posted back-to-back 1-under 70s before finishing up with a 2-over 73.

   Fuller, a member of the Great Britain & Ireland team at Merion, matched Ganne’s splits with a pair of 1-under 70s in the first two rounds and a 2-over 73 in the final round.

   Ganne’s Stanford teammates, Zhang and Heck, were also on the winning U.S. side at Merion last year, as was Castle. That Curtis Cup was a tremendous opportunity for those of us who follow the women’s game to see the future of women’s golf up close in the wonderful setting that is Merion in June.

   There were two more players who teed it up in that Curtis Cup in the group of five players tied for 12^th place at 2-over 215, Team USA’s Amari Avery, a sophomore at Southern California from Riverside, Calif. and No. 8 in the Women’s WAGR, and GB&I’s Caley McGinty, a redshirt junior at Ohio State from England and No. 25 in the Women’s WAGR. Just so many talented players on those two teams.

   Rounding out the group of six players tied for fifth place at even-par were San Jose State’s Lopez-Ortega, Ohma’s Baylor teammate, Rosie Belsham, a junior from England, and Avery’s Southern California teammate Cindy Kou, a sophomore  from China.

   Lopez-Ortega was just two shots behind Zhang in the individual chase after recording back-to-back 2-under 69s in the first two rounds. She cooled off a little with a 4-over 75 in the final round.

   Belsham carded back-to-back 2-over 73s in the first two rounds before zooming up the leaderboard with a final round of 4-under 67. After opening with a 1-over 72, Kou registered a solid 3-under 68 in Monday’s second round before closing with a 2-over 73.

   McGinty’s Ohio State teammate, Kary Hollenbaugh, a freshman from New Albany, Ohio, finished alone in 11^th place with a 1-over 214 total. Hollenbaugh, who reached the semifinals of the U.S. Women’s Amateur Four-Ball Championship with her New Albany High teammate Anna Ritter last spring at the Grand Reserve Golf Club in Rio Grande, Puerto Rico, opened with a solid 3-under 68 and added a 1-over 72 in Monday’s second round before closing with a 74.

   Nice to see Kaitlyn Lees, a graduate student at Georgetown who was a three-time Inter-Ac League champion during an outstanding scholastic career at Agnes Irwin, in the lineup for the Hoyas.

   Lees finished in the group tied for 67^th place with a 232 total as she struggled in Monday’s second round with an 83 after opening with a solid 3-over 74. She bounced back in the final round with a 4-over 75.

   Georgetown, out of the Big East, finished last of the 16 teams in the elite field, but there is no downside to playing that kind of competition and the Hoyas were steady, adding a 304 in Monday’s second round to their opening-round 303 before closing with a 302 for a 909 total.

   I lost track of Lees in a busy spring a year ago, but she and Esther Park, a product of the Charter School of Wilmington in Delaware, both finished in a tie for 10^th place to help Georgetown finish in second place behind Xavier in the Big East Championship at the Callaway Resort & Gardens in Pine Mountain, Ga.