In recent years, the Oregon amateur golf tournament has arguably become one of the most prestigious golf competitions in the state and has proved to attract equally stiff competition in the women’s bracket as the men’s. This year’s championship was held at the Waverly Country Club in Milwaukie and saw an upset in the rankings as the number one overall seed for the women’s bracket, Caroline Inglis, failed to advance into the final round of play.
Portland State junior Tiffany Schoning had an impressive run in the qualifiers of the Oregon Amateur, advancing to the final round of 32 for the second straight year.
Schoning finished stroke play at 12 over par, good enough for 16th place going into the round of match play. The low seeding was not an unfamiliar position for Schoning, who went into last year’s tournament with the same ranking, yet advanced to the semi-finals after knocking off then-No. 1 seed Amy Beth Simanton. Unfortunately, Schoning didn’t have the same result this year, but gave Oregon State junior Chelsey Lind a run for her money.
Schoning and Lind, both from the Bend area, were pitted against one another in the final round of 32. The hometown match-up made for a subtle rivalry of sorts as play went back and forth throughout the day. Schoning started off with the upper hand early in match-play, capturing the first and fourth holes to take a two-stroke lead. However, the small advantage would not stick as Lind fought back into the game, evening up the scores after
the eighth hole.
After a par and birdie on the 10th and 12th holes, Schoning had once again taken the lead as well as control of her game. Lind struggled to find her form early, recording her first double bogey of the day on the sixth. However, advantage seemed to shift indefinitely in Lind’s favor when it mattered most, as she took the next three holes and shot par on the final three to solidify a one shot lead after 18 holes, locking her place in the round of 16. Although Schoning came up short, the Viking junior was still able to make some noise before narrowly being eliminated by Lind.
The overall competition wrapped up last Saturday, as former Oregon State standout Jillian Carlile took down the original favorite, former Duck’s golf coach Lara Tennant, and was handed her first Oregon Amateur trophy.
Although it was a disappointing finish for both Schoning and Portland State, there were certainly positives to take from the tournament. Vikings sophomore Katie Ortman showed great signs of improvement, finishing 45th overall in the field, attaining five pars and a birdie. Former PSU women’s golf head coach Felicia Johnston also participated in the Oregon Amateur, finishing 42nd overall in the field. The early exit was not what Schoning was looking for, but inevitably, she’ll return after her senior year to make another run at the tournament next summer.