In Pac-12's final act, Stanford, UCLA will battle for NCAA crown at La Costa

 

   Let’s face it, the imminent demise of the Pac-12 was a football decision.

   If women’s golf had been the basis for the conference scattering to the winds, maybe things would have been different. The Pac-12 has always been one of the best in the country when it comes to women’s golf, even moreso since a layer of match play was added to determine the national champion.

   Maybe this group of Pac-12 players just wanted to let everybody know one last time that they played in the best conference in the land. Of maybe they just wanted their time as Pac-12 golfers to last as long as it possibly could.

   There were four Pac-12 team teeing it up in the quarterfinals of the NCAA Championship Tuesday morning at the Omni Resort & Spa’s North Course. All four won, setting up an all-Pac-12 afternoon of semifinals.

   Stanford and UCLA will play for the national championship Wednesday over the 6,207-yard, par-72 North Course layout.

   The top-seeded Cardinal have been a dominant power for a decade now. They won the first NCAA Championship contested at match play in 2015 and won it again two years ago at Grayhawk Golf Club in Scottsdale, Ariz.

   A year ago, Stanford’s bid for a second straight national championship was derailed by Pac-12 rival Southern California. The Cardinal’s aura may intimidate some opponents, but, while they are certainly respected in the Pac-12, Stanford always knows it’s getting their opponent’s best when it’s a conference rival.

   When Stanford won the Pac-12 team crown last month at Palouse Ridge Golf Club in Pullman, Wash., it was the Cardinal’s first conference title in 10 years.

   So, there they were again Tuesday, Stanford and Southern Cal in a rematch of last spring’s semifinal match. This time, the Cardinal were a little better, claiming a 3.5-1.5 victory to earn a spot in Wednesday’s Final Match.

   Sadie Englemann, a senior from Austin, Texas and No. 51 in the Women’s World Amateur Golf Ranking (WAGR), hadn’t been at her best in four rounds of stroke-play qualifying for match play.

   But she capped a 2-0 day by putting the first point on the board for Stanford with a dominant 6 and 5 victory over Cindy Kou, a senior from China.

   Amari Avery, a junior from Riverside, Calif. and No. 33 in the Women’s WAGR, then answered for the Trojans, gutting out a 2 and 1 victory over Rachel Heck, a senior from Memphis, Tenn. and No. 45 in the Women’s WAGR. They were teammates on the United States team that won the Curtis Cup Match over Great Britain & Ireland at Merion Golf Club’s historic East Course two summers ago.

   Stanford’s Megha Ganne, a sophomore from Holmdel, N.J. and No. 40 in the Women’s WAGR, and Avery were the Young Guns on that U.S. team at Merion, twice teaming up for four-ball victories while having more fun than anyone.

   Ganne put the second Stanford point on the board with a 2 and 1 decision over Southern Cal’s Brianna Navarrosa, a senior from San Diego, Calif. who had stunned the best amateur player in the world in Rose Zhang to fuel the Trojans upset win over the Cardinal in the semifinals a year ago.

   Kelly Xu, a sophomore from Claremont, Calif. and No. 56 in the Women’s WAGR then accounted for the clinching point with a 3 and 2 victory over a really tough customer in Catherine Park, a sophomore from Irvine, Calif. and No. 13 in the Women’s WAGR. Park claimed the Pac-12’s individual crown last month at Palouse Ridge.

   A couple of talented freshmen, Stanford’s Paula Martin Sampedro, a Spaniard who is No. 22 in the Women’s WAGR, and Southern Cal’s Bailey Shoemaker of Dade City, Fla. and No. 100 in the Women’s WAGR, battled to a draw through 17 holes when Xu clinched the win for the Cardinal.

   UCLA was dominant in its two matches on quarterfinal/semifinal day at the NCAA Championship.

   The Bruins cruised into the Final Match with a 3-1 victory over Pac-12 rival Oregon after rolling to three match-play wins in a 3-0 triumph over Southeastern Conference power Texas A&M in the quarterfinals earlier in the day.

   Meghan Royal, a sophomore playing close to her Carlsbad, Calif. home, Caroline Canales, a junior from Calabasas, Calif., and Natalie Vo, a junior from San Jose, Calif., completed 2-0 days with win against Oregon.

   Royal rolled to a 4 and 3 verdict over Ching-Tzu Chen, a graduate student from Taiwan, Canales cruised to a 7 and 5 victory over Karen Tsuru, a freshman and another Carlsbad kid, and Vo claimed a 2 and 1 decision over Minori Nagano, a senior from Japan.

   Oregon’s lone point came in one of the more interesting matches of the day as the Ducks’ standout freshman, Kiara Romero of San Jose, Calif. and No. 26 in the Women’s WAGR, knocked off UCLA’s top player, Zoe Antoinette Campos, a junior from Valencia, Calif., 4 and 3.

   In the morning quarterfinals, Royal’s 1-up win over Texas A&M’s Bianca Fernandez Garcia-Poggio, a graduate student from Spain, set the tone for UCLA’s sweep of the Aggies.

   Canales pulled out a 2 and 1 decision over the younger of the Spanish sisters, Cayetana Fernandez Garcia-Poggio, a freshman who is No. 17 in the Women’s WAGR.

   Vo added a 3 and 2 victory over Texas A&M veteran Zoe Slaughter, a senior from Houston, to account for the third UCLA point as the Bruins headed for the semifinals.

   Probably the most anticipated match of the day was the quarterfinal showdown between Stanford and SEC power Auburn.

   Not sure there was a bigger match win all day than Englemann pulling out a victory on the 19^th hole over Auburn’s freshman phenom Anna Davis of Spring Valley, Calif. and No. 10 in the Women’s WAGR that sparked the Cardinal to a 3-0 triumph over the tough Tigers.

   Heck claimed a 4 and 3 decision over Anna Foster, a senior from Ireland, and Vo, as she would later in the day against Southern California, picked up the clinching point on the 16^th hole by completing a 4 and 2 victory over Katie Cranston, a sophomore from Canada.

   In the tightest team match of the day, Oregon advanced to the semifinals with a hard-fought 3-2 victory over the LSU, the SEC’s Bayou Tigers.

   LSU’s two fifth-year stars, Latanna Stone of Riverview, Calif. and No. 41 in the Women’s WAGR, and Ingrid Lindblad, the Swede who has held down the No. 1 spot in the Women’s WAGR ever since inheriting it from Zhang, went out in style with match wins for the Bayou Tigers.

   Stone earned a 3 and 2 decision over Ting-Hsuan Huang, a freshman from Taiwan and No. 89 in the Women’s WAGR, while Lindblad rolled to a 4 and 3 triumph over Tsuru.

   But Romero, winner of last summer’s U.S. Girls’ Junior Championship at the Air Force Academy Eisenhower Golf Club’s Blue Course in Colorado Springs, Colo., clinched the win for Oregon with a hard-fought 1-up victory over Aine Donegan, a junior from Ireland and No. 98 in the Women’s WAGR who had been playing well the whole week at La Costa.

   Chen also pulled out a thriller, claiming a 1-up win over Carla Tejedo, a senior from Spain, and Nagano rolled to a 7 and 6 victory over Taylor Riley, a sophomore from San Diego, Calif., to account for the other two points for the Ducks.

   Southern California rolled into the semifinals with a 3-1 victory over Clemson, out of the Atlantic Coast Conference.

   Avery rolled to a 6 and 5 victory over Chloe Holder, a senior from Anderson, S.C., Shoemaker earned a 3 and 2 decision over Isabella Rawl, a sophomore from Lexington, S.C., and Navarrosa cruised to a 7 and 5 win over Sydney Roberts, a sophomore from Chesnee, S.C., to account for the three points for the Trojans.

   Annabelle Pancake, a senior from Zionsville, Ind. and No. 68 in the Women’s WAGR, capped a strong postseason for Clemson by picking up the lone point for the Tigers with a 4 and 3 victory over Kou.