Ducks Carry Loose Confidence Into NCAA Championships

The Oregon women's golf team headed to NCAA Regional play in Lubbock, Texas, last week having gone nearly three months without a top-five finish, and fresh off taking ninth in the Pac-12 Tournament.

A year earlier, the Ducks' position hadn't been much different; they'd finished last in the Pac-12 Preview tournament the previous November, and then eighth in the actual conference tournament come spring. But the Ducks raised their game when NCAA play began and went on to reach the national quarterfinals last spring, a feat they'll attempt to match after again advancing through regionals last week to reach the 2017 NCAA Championships that begin Friday in Sugar Grove, Ill.

"They've had that pretty good ability of being able to wipe the slate clean when NCAAs come around," said eighth-year coach Ria Scott, who will coach the Ducks in the NCAA Tournament for the fourth time. "I wasn't concerned, because they knew they had the ability, and certainly the experience."

The Ducks will try and lean on experience again this week in Illinois, looking to advance for the second straight year through the four rounds of stroke play and into the match-play quarterfinals. A week after finishing third in the Lubbock Regional after entering as the No. 12 seed, and a year after making the NCAA quarterfinals after a fifth-place finish at regionals, Oregon is well aware of the clean slate a national tournament presents.

"They know what it takes – and it's not going to take unbelievable golf," Scott said. "It's just going to take solid golf from the Oregon Ducks."

UO senior Marcella Pranovia's biggest takeaway from Oregon's NCAA experience last spring? "That I know we could win the whole thing," Pranovia said Monday. "It's not easy, but it's very doable."

Pranovia's attitude reflects the comfort Oregon now feels in the national spotlight, after the Ducks played their way into it a year ago in the NCAA Championships on their home course in Eugene. The UO women were undeterred by the pressure of being expected to excel on their home course, and undeterred by a field of teams with bigger national profiles.

"I think everybody knows now what to expect," Scott said. "They know what the championship looks like, they know the format, they know how grueling it is. There's not going to be any surprises, so I think that brings them some comfort."

The "really relaxed" feeling among the Ducks seems to have been generated at the regional tournament. Pranovia considered Oregon "the definition of underdog" in Lubbock, as a No. 12 seed looking to finish in the top six and advance to nationals.

That No. 12 seeding didn't reflect Oregon's experience – four of the five Ducks who competed in Lubbock were veterans of the team's 2016 postseason run. After the opening round at regionals, Oregon was in second place.

That hot start might have generated pressures of its own. Instead, the battle-tested Ducks got a career-low-tying round of 67 from Pranovia in the second round, entered the final round in third place and remained there 18 holes later.

"I felt free; no pressure," Pranovia said. "Everything finally came together for me, and I didn't have to think about anything. … Sometimes you don't need to overthink everything. That's what I did last week."
That loose confidence, she said, has carried over into Oregon's practices since.

"Momentum's a big thing in golf," said Cathleen Santoso, the other UO senior competing this postseason. "As a team we're all finally meshing, and I think that will be a big thing going forward."

Some of Oregon's improvements in the postseason have been practical. They learned from their experience at a windy Pac-12 Championships in Tucson, Ariz., and applied those lessons in similar windy conditions at Lubbock. They honed their wedge play and course management on par-5 holes, Scott said, and ended up leading their regional field in par-5 scoring, at 21 under.

But the Ducks' growth has been subjective as well. Players rave about the team's chemistry, and say it's paying dividends on the course.

"I care about how my teammates are going," Pranovia said. "I care about how they're going, and I want to play well for them. Because we're a team. Golf is a very individual sport, but it's very different here. I just love my teammates so much, and my coaches, I want to make them happy by playing well."

As a senior, Pranovia sees the end of her collegiate career looming. But caught up in the exhilaration of Oregon's play at regionals, and the desire to play as many rounds as possible for coaches and with teammates she loves, Pranovia heads to Illinois riding a wave of optimism and determination.

"I'm going to give it everything I have," she said. "This is my last tournament as an Oregon Duck."