Bristow & Little Lead Record-Breaking Day

LAS VEGAS – University of Oregon junior Cathryn Bristow and freshman Kendra Little capped a record-breaking day for the women’s golf team in final round action Wednesday in the UNLV Spring Rebel Invitational at the Boulder Creek Golf Club in nearby Boulder City, Nev.

Bristow shot her third consecutive under-par round Wednesday to win the event by two strokes, and Little broke the school single round record with her five-under 67.

As a team, the Ducks ended with a three-round school best (292-291-286-869) and climbed two positions to finish in a third-place tie with No. 48 Texas Tech (292-286-291-869), while Washington State and tied for the team win (285-289-285-859) with No. 35 BYU (293-284-282-859).

Oregon scored its fifth individual victory the past three years courtesy of the Huapai, New Zealand native Bristow who shot a two-under 70 Wednesday to win the overall tourney title (69-69-70-208) by two strokes.

“I knew that as long as I put myself in the right position off the tee I’d give myself great opportunities,” Bristow said. “The course had wide fairways, so I was aggressive to give myself the best birdie putt chance. With my wedge game 100 yards in, I was hitting it fairly close to the pins consistently, so that allowed me to relax even if I did make a bogey. I was hitting the ball well on the greens, too, and reading the putts well.”

Bristow’s final day scorecard featured birdies on five holes, the seventh, 10th, 11th, 16th and 17th holes, bogeys on the third, 12th and 13th holes and par scores on the other 10 holes.

“After the two bogeys (early on the back nine), I was pretty annoyed with myself,” Bristow said, “and tried to refocus and stick to one shot at a time. That next hole I was able to keep it on the fairway and get par so that helped settle me down.”

Bristow began the day tied for the lead on the par 72, 6,202-yard course with Idaho’s Kelly Nakashima who shot a 76 Wednesday and finished in a tie for eighth place. Texas Tech’s Ulrika van Niekerk carded a 69 Wednesday to climb a position into second place (69-69-70). BYU’s Jade Bollinger (71-71-70-212) and Washington’s Christina Yoon (73-72-68-212) tied for third place.

“I knew the other girls around me were playing pretty well, but in reality I wasn’t worried about anyone else,” Bristow said. “I stayed focused on what I was trying to do. I was nervous to start with today, so I did my best to stay relaxed when I was out there and focus on staying on the fairway and the things that I’ve been working on in practice.”

Bristow celebrated her third career victory after she won twice by one stroke in 2005-06 - her collegiate debut, the fall OSU Invitational (70-74-73-217), and the spring regular season-ending Illinois Invitational (74-72-146).

Other Ducks to score wins the past two seasons include sophomore Felicia Eastick who opened the 2007-08 season with a win in the Giustina Memorial in Corvallis (74-69-74-217), and former teammate Kim McCready won the Baja Classic in Baja, Calif., to open the spring slate in 2007 (70-75-145).

Bristow’s three scores this tournament gives her six rounds of par or better among her 21 rounds this season. The pair of 69 scores tied her season best from the fall’s Stanford Intercollegiate, although that previous score was on the par 71 Stanford Golf Course. She also shot a pair of 1-under 71’s in the Heather Fall Memorial in Denver last fall.

Also making history, Duck freshman Kendra Little carded a school record 5-under 67 final round to jump into a tie for fifth place overall (72-74-67-213). Little’s score Thursday – the best of the tourney – bettered the previous Duck record of 4-under shot by Kim McCready in 2006 (67, -4), Paula Patterson in 1997 (68, -4) and Jerilyn White in 2001 (68, -4).

“Initially, I had no idea it was a record when Kate (Hildahl) told me,” Little said. “When we found out that we had a team school record, too, it was nice to be able to enjoy the moment together.”

Little staked her second top-five collegiate finish with her fourth-place Edean Ihlanfelt Invitational effort in Seattle last fall, and three more top-15 placings and another top-25 effort in her seven collegiate tournaments. Among her 21 collegiate rounds, the Eugene, Ore., native and Sheldon High School product has shot six rounds of 72 or better - a 67 (-5), two 69’s (-3, -2), a 71 (-1) and two 72’s (par).

“It was a lot of fun today, although the last two or three holes it was a little stressful,” Little said. “No matter how well you’re playing you can never relax for one second because you have to concentrate and keep your head steady. I got off to a poor start yesterday, so I wanted to set a good tone early today. On holes 9-12 I didn’t hit any of the greens, but was able to save par when bogeys were looming so that also gave me confidence. During the tourney, our team talked about how score-able the back nine. It was reassuring after I survived the previous rough stretches, so I knew I could still put up a good number. I’m glad to finish strong.”

On Wednesday, sophomore Kate Hildahl added UO’s third round of par or better on the day and improved to 42nd overall (78-74-72-224), nine places better than her overall ranking after the second round. Sophomore Felicia Eastick and Erica Omlid added final round scores of 77 Wednesday and finished in ties for 46th (75-74-77-226) and 56th places (76-75-77-228).

Thanks to its previous team season-low rounds of 291 and 292 on Tuesday and Monday, UO enjoyed a three-round tally of 869 that improved upon the previous school record of 885 that it shot once during the 1996-97 and 1999-2000 seasons. Oregon’s Wednesday round of 286 ( -2) also appears to be its best ever based on the records available.

“It was an incredible day. It was so fun to see them make so many birdies and play really solid,” Oregon head coach Shannon Rouillard said. “We really focused on getting relaxed before each round and staying that way. We tried to have the players go out with no expectations, and they took the day as it came. We weren’t trying to win the tourney or shoot ourselves in the foot the first day. We tried to let each day be itself, and take it one day at a time. This is a huge confidence booster going into our home event.”

Hole-by-hole results from each round are available at the www.GolfStat.com website, and more information on the event is located at UNLV’s www.UNLVrebels.com athletic department website.

Looking ahead, the Ducks look forward to the home tourney in 1 1/2 weeks, the Duck Invitational at Eugene Country Club, Monday-Tuesday, March 24-25

“I can’t remember if we’ve had a player shoot three rounds in the same tourney under par – so that says a lot about Cathryn’s performance,” Rouillard said. “Kendra also showed great maturity and attacked the course with confidence and skill. Felicia had two rounds of 75 or better and was knocking on the door. Erica (Omlid) is continuing to improve her game, and this was her first tourney with three rounds in the 70s so that’s a turning point for her, and she continues to get more competitive. She’s doing a great job and working hard and seeing those improvements as a results. Kate (Hildahl) has really taken a turn for the positive mentally. She’s learned that she can play a great round of golf and still score well even if she’s not hitting it perfect. “



FINAL ROUND RESULTS

UNLV Spring Rebel Invitational
Boulder Creek Golf Club - Boulder City, Nev.
Par 72, 6,202 yards
Wednesday, March 12, 2008

Team Standings – 1t, Washington State, 285-289-285-859. 1t, BYU, 293-284-282-859. 3t, Oregon, 292-291-286-869. 3t, Texas Tech, 292-286-291-869. 5, San Francisco, 291-290-289-870. 6, UNLV, 284-302-287-873. 7, UC Davis, 296-294-285-875. 8, Campbell, 297-293-293-883. 9, Idaho, 297-293-297-887. 10, Washington, 293-297-298-888. 11, Indiana, 295-299-295-889. 12, Fresno State, 301-293-296-890. 13t, Colorado State, 304-29-4303-901. 13t, Sacramento State, 299-300-302-901. 15, New Mexico State, 305-302-306-913. 16, Kansas State, 311-301-302-914. 17, Eastern Washington, 322-315-288-925. 18, Long Beach State, 321-309-312-942.

Individual Standings – 1, Cathryn Bristow, Oregon, 69-69-70-208. 2, Ulrika van Niekerk, Texas Tech, 70-71-69-210. 3t, Jade Bollinger, BYU, 71-71-70-212. 3t, Christina Yoon, Washington, 73-72-67-212. 5t, Kendra Little, Oregon, 72-74-67-213. 5t, Therese Koelbaek, UNLV, 71-71-71-213. 5t, Christina Stockton, San Francisco, 69-72-72-213. 8t, Kelly Nakashima, Idaho, 68-70-76-214. 8t, Jee Park, UC Davis, 71-71-72-214. 8t, Jessica Potter, San Francisco, 73-70-71-214. 8t, Chelsea Stelzmiller, UC Davis, 76-69-69-214. 8t, Daphne Vines, BYU, 72-71-71-214.

Oregon Individual Results – 1, Cathryn Bristow, Oregon, 69-69-70-208. 5t, Kendra Little, Oregon, 72-74-67-213. 42, Kate Hildahl, 78-74-72-224. 46t, Felicia Eastick, 75-74-77-226. 56t, Erica Omlid, 76-75-77-228.



ADDITIONAL PLAYER / COACH COMMENTS



Cathryn Bristow
“I knew the other girls around me were playing pretty well, but in reality I wasn’t worried about anyone else. I just stay focused on what I was trying to do. I was nervous to start with today, so I did my best to stay really relaxed when I was out there and focus on staying on the fairway and the things I’ve been working on in practice.”

“After the two bogeys, I was pretty annoyed with myself, and tried to refocus and stick to one shot at a time. That next hole I was able to keep it on the fairway and get par so that helped settle me down.”

“It was nice to be following Kendra all day and see her put up great scores – that gave me confidence that I could do the same.“

“I knew that as long as I put myself in the right position off the tee I’d give myself great opportunities. The course had wide fairways, so I was aggressive so I could give myself the best birdie putt chance. In my wedge game from 100 yards in, I was hitting it fairly close to the pins consistently so that allowed me to relax even if I did make a bogey. I was hitting the ball well on the greens, too, and reading the putts well.”

“We had great weather every day, around 75 degrees with just a little wind at most.”


Kendra Little

“It was a lot of fun today, although the last two or three holes it was a little stressful. No matter how well you’re playing you can never relax for one second because you have to concentrate and keep your head steady. Initially, I had no idea my score was a record when Kate (Hildahl) told me. When we found out that we had a team school record, too, it was nice to be able to enjoy the moment together. We’ll take what we can get, and it’s something we can build on.”

“I knew Cathryn was playing well during the round, and knew she would do well based on how she plays. It’s comforting to have someone behind you with that kind of experience and ability and that gives you more confidence in your game.”

“I got off to a poor start yesterday, so I wanted to set a good tone early today. After I made a birdie on the second hole, that was good. Then on holes 9-12 I didn’t hit any of the greens, but was able to save par when bogeys were looming so that also gave me confidence. During the tourney, our team talked about how score-able the back nine was. It was reassuring after I survived the previous rough stretches, I knew I still could put up a good number. I’m glad to finish strong.”

“After yesterday’s round I finally felt that I knew the course pretty well. The first round there were a couple holes I wasn’t sure about. Overall, I drove the ball particularly well this week. I knew that on this course it was key is to position yourself well off the tee. It was nice to get the rolls on the desert type course, something you might not get in Eugene this time of year.”

“Playing in the desert, it’s different coming out here, adjusting from the 55 and rainy weather to the dry, clear 75 and 80 temperatures. It can be a little shock if you let it. In the past, I’ve usually played well in hot weather so I was looking forward to it. It’s important to be able to adjust from cold to warm climates since we’ll probably face that again later in the spring.”

“I’ve been trying to work on my short game over the winter. I’m making the strides I need to and that comes from practice. One thing that held me back last year was my short game, and that helps keep your scoring consistent.”



Shannon Rouillard

“I can’t remember if we’ve had a player shoot three rounds in the same tourney under par – so that says a lot about Cathryn’s performance. Kendra also showed great maturity and attacked the course with confidence and skill.”

“Felicia had two rounds of 75 or better and was knocking on the door. Erica (Omlid) is continuing to improve her game, and this was her first tourney with three rounds in the 70s so that’s a turning point for her, and she continues to get more competitive. She’s doing a great job and working hard and seeing those improvements as a results. Kate (Hildahl) has really taken a turn for the positive mentally – she’s really matured. She’s learned that can play a great round of golf and still score well even if she’s not hitting it perfect. “

“For our team it was an incredible day. It was so fun to see them make so many birdies and play really solid. This is a huge confidence booster going into our home event. The practice round was the windiest day, but it was calm the last three days. We knew the golf course could be very score-able, so it doesn’t surprise me with all the under-par rounds. All the par 5 holes were reachable in two for Cathryn and Kendra, and Kendra may have even birdied all the par 5s one day. They had several opportunities for eagles during the tourney.“

“We really focused on getting relaxed before each round and staying that way. We tried to have the players go out with no expectations, and they took the day as it came. We weren’t trying to win the tourney or shoot ourselves in the foot the first day. We tried to let each day be itself, and take it one day at a time.”

“It was a pretty typical desert course, slightly hilly but not bad. The ball was rolling well. It was warm, and the course was quite firm - some of them even had problems getting their tee in on the third tee. The fairways and tee boxes were green, but everything else was brown. Not many trees, and there were some waste areas which you can hit out of – could be sand or rocks leading into the natural terrain – and we played those pretty well. There was a little bit of water and normal bunkers.”