Womens Golf Wins Regionals, Heads to NCAA Championships

[Charles Fischer]

Romero, Ducks Win Way Into NCAA Championships

 

GOLD CANYON, Ariz. - Led by dominant sophomore Kiara Romero, the Oregon women's golf team won the NCAA Gold Canyon Regional on Wednesday and punched its ticket to the 2025 NCAA Championships. 

 

The No. 5 Ducks shot their best round of the week with a 7-under 281 in the final round to win the tournament by nine strokes, securing the second NCAA Regional victory in program history. Romero followed up her UO record 10-under 62 from Tuesday with a 4-under 68 on Wednesday to win individual medalist honors by seven strokes at 16-under par. 

 

Oregon advances to the NCAA Championships for the 14th time in program history and fourth time in the last five years. The Ducks will return to Omni La Costa Resort and Spa in Carlsbad, Calif. (May 16-21), after advancing through NCAA stroke play and reaching the match-play semifinals there last spring. 

 

"Super proud of our team for not only punching their ticket to the NCAA Championships, but for coming out here and getting a win against a really good field," head coach Derek Radley said. "They didn't come here with the mindset of just finishing in the top five; they wanted to make a statement. Really pleased with the way our whole lineup performed today. It's not easy to get to the NCAA Championships, and these ladies have earned it. We're excited to get back to Carlsbad and see what we can do next week."

 

Oregon earned its third tournament win of the season and second in a row after running away with the Big Ten Championship a couple weeks ago. The Ducks are following in the path of the 2021-22 team that won the Pac-12 Championship and the NCAA Albuquerque Regional before going on to finish as the national runners-up. 

 

Romero became the second Duck ever to win an NCAA Regional individual title, joining Briana Chacon from that 2021-22 team. The win was also Romero's second in a row after winning the Big Ten individual title, and she tied Kendra Little (2008-11) for the most career individual tournament wins with four. 

 

"What can you say about Kiara Romero at this point?" Radley said. "She is just on another level. The combination of talent, confidence and composure she has is incredible, especially at such a young age. Just an unbelievable performance by her this week to lead us and I'm so excited to see what she can do at nationals."

 

 

How it Happened: The Ducks entered Wednesday with a four-stroke lead on the strength of Romero's stellar second round, and that lead only widened as the final round played on. Oregon's 7-under 281 was the best round by any team this week as it finished nine strokes ahead of host and No. 8 ranked Arizona State (-3). Oklahoma State (+2), No. 20 Mississippi State (+11) and Cal State Fullerton (+23) rounded out the top five and earned bids to the NCAA Championships, with No. 17 Auburn (+24) finishing one stroke shy of the cut.

 

Romero also opened the day with a four-stroke lead individually and quickly ran away from the field. She opened her round with a birdie at No. 1 and then bounced back from a bogey at No. 3 with a birdie at No. 4, her 119th of the season to break her own UO single-season record of 118 set as a freshman last year. 

 

Romero made four birdies on the front nine and made the turn at 2 under, and she stayed there through 13 holes after opening the back nine with four pars. The Big Ten Golfer of the Year carded back-to-back birdies at 14 and 15 to get to 4 under, then responded after a bogey at 16 with her final birdie of the day at No. 17. 

 

Romero's 16-under 200 for the week is the second-lowest 54-hole total in program history, and her 22 total birdies for the week were nine more than any other player in the field. She also led the field by multiple strokes in both par-3 (-4) and par-4 (-8) scoring.

 

So far this spring, Romero has shot par-or-better in 17 of 18 rounds while going sub-70 13 times in that span. 

 

Romero was one of three Ducks to shoot under par on Wednesday, with freshman Suvichaya Vinijchaitham putting together her best round of the week with a 3-under 69 and sophomore Ting-Hsuan Huang coming in right behind her with a 2-under 70. Freshman Tong An added a 2-over 74 as Oregon finished with four players in the individual top 15, with Vinijchaitham tying for eighth (E), An placing 11th (+1) and Huang tying for 15th (+3). 

 

Vinijchaitham poured in six birdies in the final round, including four during a bogey-free back nine after making the turn at 1 over. Huang was bogey-free on her round with a pair of birdies, and An shot even par across her final 13 holes after starting 2 over through five. 

 

Another big storyline for the Ducks was the return of all-Big Ten first-team selection Karen Tsuru, who subbed in for the final round and made her first appearance in competition since late May after dealing with a back injury. Tsuru carded a fairly clean 2-over 74 with a birdie and three bogeys, a good sign as the Ducks prepare to play at the NCAA Championships in her hometown of Carlsbad. 

 

Ducks on the Leaderboard:

1. #5 Oregon — 289-282-281 — 852 (-12)

1. Kiara Romero — 70-62-68 — 200 (-16)

T8. Suvichaya Vinijchaitham — 74-73-69 — 216 (E)

11. Tong An — 71-72-74 — 217 (+1)

T15. Ting-Hsuan Huang — 74-75-70 — 219 (+3)

NA. Karen Tsuru — Sub-Sub-74 — 74 (+2)

NA. Darae Chung — 79-85-Sub — 164 (+20)

 

What it Means: Oregon enters the NCAA Championships as one of the hottest teams in the nation, and one of three (South Carolina, Florida State) to win both its conference tournament and a NCAA Regional. The Ducks own a terrific competitive record of 124-17-0 this season, including a 97-7-0 mark this spring, and boast a lineup featuring three players that were on last season's team that reached the match-play semifinals at Omni La Costa. Led by one of the nation's elite players in Romero, Oregon appears poised to once again make a deep run in Carlsbad. 

 

Up Next: The 2025 NCAA Championships begin on Friday, May 16, at Omni La Costa Resort and Spa in Carlsbad, Calif. There will be three rounds of stroke play before the field is cut to the top 15 teams for a final round of stroke play on Monday, May 19, with the top eight teams then advancing to match play. The match play quarterfinals and semifinals will be played on Tuesday, May 20, with the championship match on Wednesday, May 21. 

 

[Jon Joseph]

 

Hats Off to Kiara Romero. I certainly do not know from experience, merely from watching 'real' golfers, but after a record 62 on opening day, to shoot 68 the following day is golfing your ball. 

 

A Natty would be so sweet. Finishing in the top 4 gets you a game at Augusta National the week before the 2026 Masters, which is nice.