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Golfer proves dad wrong - Tulsa World (5-22-2007)


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Golfer proves dad wrong

by MATT DOYLE World Sports Writer

5/22/2007

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Criticism from her father didn't stop ORU's Ontiveros.

If Pamela Ontiveros' father had his way, Oral Roberts University would still be seeking its first individual participant in the NCAA Women's Golf Championships.

Cuauhtemoc Ontiveros thought golf was a man's sport. Growing up in Torreon, Mexico, athletic options were not plentiful for girls. Pamela Ontiveros tried basketball, but again, her father was not too keen on the idea since he thought it was a boys' sport.

On Tuesday, she will make history. She is the first ORU women's player to compete in the NCAA Championship, set for the LPGA International Legends Course in Daytona Beach, Fla.

Pamela Ontiveros got her first taste of golf as a 7-year-old, and it wasn't something she wanted to ditch.

She was persistent and persuasive in her pitch. She liked hitting balls with her father. But since she was the lone girl participating in a golf league at the club in Torreon, he did not want her to participate in tournaments.

Only a year later, when another girl from Torreon took up golf, did Pamela Ontiveros' father finally relent and allow her to play.

The hours of practice and playing she put in as a youth in the hot weather of her hometown in the north-central region of Mexico paid off two weeks ago in the cool, windy conditions of Ann Arbor, Mich.

The ORU junior entered the final round of the NCAA Central Regional on May 12 in ninth place for the individual medalist. With the Golden Eagles out of contention to qualify as a team, Pamela Ontiveros understood she had a great chance to earn one of the two individual spots allotted to players from non-qualifying teams.

The wind was constantly whipping at 20 mph with temperatures hovering in the 50s that day. The conditions did not concern Pamela Ontiveros.

"Let's go play," she said to herself. Despite thinking she was ready to play, she got off to a horrible start.

She bogeyed the opening hole. Two holes later, she made a double bogey. Making birdie at the fifth hole was quickly tempered by back-to-back, three-putt bogeys at hole Nos. 7 and No. 8.

Pamela Ontiveros' chances to qualify for the NCAA Championship were slipping away. Help awaited her at the tee box on the ninth hole.

ORU coach Lance Watson gave his standout player a motivational talk to calm her down and inject some confidence.

Par, Watson said, is your friend.

"He told me all I had to do was make pars and everything would be fine," Ontiveros said. "I didn't need to be Superman that day, (Watson) said. If I made pars, I could realize my dream to make it nationals. That talk brought an inner peace to myself, and I got into a zone out there on the course."

She recorded 10 consecutive pars to close out her round and earn a trip to the NCAA finals.

"It was the best nine pars on the back side I've ever seen," Watson said. "Once she settled down, she played great. She handled the conditions and tough pin placements pretty well. She's been ranked among the top players in the country all year, and she showed why."

The determination Ontiveros showed in that final round of regionals was reminiscent, she said, of the first tournament she participated in back home in Mexico. After getting her father's blessing, she placed second in her first competition. The success has kept on building over the years. It's also an adventure she is thankful her father allowed her to experience.

"When he first asked me if I wanted to play in tournaments, I said yes because I wanted to feel what competition was actually like," she said. "I've put my heart into golf. My goal is to always play my best. But I also want to have fun. That's the key for me to do well. Having fun."

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Matt Doyle 581-8316

matt.doyle@tulsaworld.com

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NCAA women?s golf finals

When: Tuesday-Friday

Where: LPGA International Golf Course, Daytona Beach, Fla.

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