Ganne sends Stanford to NCAA Championship's Final Match against Northwestern

 

   It’s the kind of drama you’ve come to expect on quarterfinal/semifinal day in the NCAA Championship.

   Stanford’s Megha Ganne, a junior from Holmdel, N.J. and No. 11 in the Women’s World Amateur Golf Ranking (WAGR), and Florida State’s Lottie Woad, a junior from England and the No. 1 player in the Women’s WAGR, going at it in extra holes with the Cardinal, No. 1 in the Scoreboard, powered by clippd, rankings all season long, needing a win from Ganne to advance to the Final Match.

   Stanford joined the Atlantic Coast Conference this season and, with the way the seedings worked out following qualifying for match play in the ACC Championship last month at Sedgefield Country Club in Greensboro, N.C., it looked like we were going to get a Stanford-Florida State matchup for the title.

   Wake Forest threw a wrench into those plans by knocking off Stanford in the semifinals with Florida State then claiming the program’s first ACC title with a victory over Wake in the title match.

   At the time, I speculated that the match might still happen with the stakes even higher.

   And that’s what we got after Stanford, the top seed after a record-setting 72-hole performance in qualifying for match play, claimed a 3.5-1.5 victory over another of its new ACC rivals, Virginia, No. 10 in the Scoreboard rankings, and Florida State pulled out a 3.5-1.5 victory over  Southern California, No. 9 in the Scoreboard rankings, in Tuesday morning’s quarterfinals at the Omni La Costa Resort & Spa’s North Course in Carlsbad, Calif.

   Stanford, winner of the national championship a year ago at La Costa, put a couple of points on the board against Florida State as Paula Martin Sampedro, a sophomore from Spain and No. 13 in the Women’s WAGR, claimed a 5 and 3 decision over Kaylah Williams, a senior from South Africa, and Kelly Xu, a junior from Claremont, Calif. and No. 29 in the Women’s WAGR, rolled to a 5 and 4 victory over Sophia Fullbrook, a freshman from England.

   But the other three matches were all in extra holes as Florida State, No. 4 in the Scoreboard rankings and the four seed in the match-play bracket, desperately fought back.

   Ganne and Load traded birdies all day and Ganne took a 1-up lead with a birdie at the short, par-3 16^th hole. But Woad answered with a birdie at the 17^th hole and when they halved the par-5 final hole with pars, they were off for extra holes.

   When they reached the 20^th hole of the match, the short, par-4 15^th, Ganne stuck her approach to 10 feet. Woad reached the putting surface, but was outside Ganne and on the same line.

   Woad’s birdie try slid by, but Ganne did not miss, burying her birdie putt to send Stanford to the NCAA Championship’s Final Match with what went into the books as a 3.5-1.5 victory.

   Watched Ganne play for the United States in the Curtis Cup Match in 2022 at Merion Golf Club’s iconic East Course the summer before she started at Stanford in what, ultimately, was a victory for the Red, White & Blue over Great Britain & Ireland.

   Woad played for GB&I as it wrested the Curtis Cup back from the United States for the first time since 2016 with a victory at Sunningdale Golf Club in Berkshire, England last summer.

   They are both such tough competitors, particularly in match play.

   Moments before Ganne’s birdie putt went in, the Seminoles earned a full point when Alexandra Gazzoli, a freshman from Palm Coast, Fla., edged Meja Ortengren, a freshman from Sweden and No. 15 in the Women’s WAGR, on the 19^th hole of their match.

   Another terrific match between Stanford’s Andrea Revuelta, a freshman from Spain and No. 4 in the Women’s WAGR, and Mirabel Ting, a junior from Malaysia and No. 2 in the Women’s WAGR, was called a draw after Ganne sealed the outcome right in front of them.

   Earlier in the day it was announced that Ting was the winner of the Annika Award, presented by Stifel, that goes to the top player in Division I women’s golf.

   Stanford’s opponent in Wednesday’s Final Match will be Northwestern, No. 11 in the Scoreboard rankings and seeded third in the match-play bracket, as the Wildcats edged new Big Ten rival Oregon, No. 5 in the Scoreboard rankings and the second seed in match play, 3-2, in the other semifinal match.

   While it wasn’t quite as dramatic as the Stanford-Florida State semi, the Northwestern-Oregon battle went to the final hole of the final match with the sun setting on Carlsbad before Dianna Lee, a junior from San Diego, Calif., pulled out a 2-up decision over Kiara Romero, a sophomore from San Jose, Calif. and No. 3 in the Women’s WAGR.

   Romero is an immensely talented player, capable of ripping off rounds like the sensational 10-under 62 she put up at Superstition Golf & Country Club in the second round of the Gold Canyon Regional on her way to the individual crown.

   But wins by Dianna Lee at the 11^th and 12^th holes gave her a 2-up advantage that she grimly held onto until a three-putt at the 17^th hole for a bogey cut Romero’s deficit to 1-up going to the par-5 18^th hole.

   The ending was somewhat anticlimactic, though, as Romero’s second shot into the green refused to draw and finished in a bunker right of the flag on a little bit of a downhill lie.

   Dianna Lee was in a deep swale left of the green, but she was able to get her third shot on the green.

   Needing to win the hole to stay alive, Romero left her shot in the bunker and left another in the bunker. She took one more swipe at it before conceding the match to Dianna Lee.

   Northwestern’s other points came from Ashley Yun, a sophomore from West Covina, Calif. and No. 67 in the Women’s WAGR who claimed a 2 and 1 victory over Savichaya Vinijchaitham, a freshman from Thailand and No. 26 in the Women’s WAGR, and Elise Lee, a freshman from Irvine, Calif. and No. 83 in the Women’s WAGR who earned a 2 and 1 decision over Ting-Hsuan Huang, a sophomore from Taiwan.

   Oregon got a point from Tong An, a freshman from China who took a 2 and 1 victory over Hsin Tai Lin, a freshman from Taiwan, and another from Karen Tsuru, a sophomore playing not far from her Carlsbad, Calif. home and No. 41 in the Women’s WAGR who captured a 3 and 2 win over Lauryn Nguyen, a senior from Seattle, Wash. and No. 34 in the Women’s WAGR.

   I speculated following Oregon’s victory in its debut in the Big Ten Championship last month that Bulle Rock Golf Course in Havre de Grace, Md., where the conference tournament was played, might prove to be the kind of test that would be good preparation for the NCAA postseason run to come and the Northwestern-Oregon match might have validated that thought.

   Earlier in the day, Stanford’s Martin Sampedro wiped out a 3-down deficit with five holes to play by ripping off four straight wins on her way to a 1-up decision over Virginia’s Kennedy Swedick, a freshman from Albany, N.Y., that sparked the Cardinal in their victory over the Cavaliers.

   Stanford’s other two full points came from its pair of fabulous freshmen as Ortengren picked up a 2 and 1 victory over Megan Propeck, a senior from Leawood, Kan., and Revuelta rolled to a 5 and 3 decision over Rebecca Skoler, a graduate student from Needham, Mass.. for what proved to be the clinching point.

   The match between Ganne and Amanda Sambach, Virginia’s terrific senior from Pinehurst, N.C. and No. 24 in the Women’s WAGR, was called a draw when the outcome of the overall match was no longer in doubt.

   Florida State’s 1-2 punch of Woad and Ting were typically formidable in the Seminoles’ 3.5-1.5 quarterfinal win over Southern California, like Oregon one of the members of the Big Ten’s new West Wing. The Trojans were No. 9 in the Scoreboard rankings and seeded fifth in the match-play bracket.

   Woad cruised to a 4 and 3 verdict over Jennifer Koo, a talented freshman from Cerritos, Calif. and No. 7 in the Women’s WAGR, and Ting claimed a 3 and 1 decision over Bailey Shoemaker, a sophomore from Dade City, Fla. and No. 64 in the Women’s WAGR.

   Williams put the first point on the board for the Seminoles as she rolled to a 5 and 4 win over Xin (Cindy) Kou, a senior from China.

   Gazzoli was tied with Southern Cal’s Catherine Park, a very talented junior from Irvine, Calif. and No. 6 in the Women’s WAGR, when Florida State clinched the ultimate outcome.

   Northwestern got by the Southeastern Conference’s Arkansas, No. 2 in the Scoreboard rankings and seeded sixth in the match-play bracket, 3-2, in its quarterfinal match behind a huge 3 and 2 victory for Tai Lin over Maria Jose Marin, a sophomore from Colombia and No. 10 in the Women’s WAGR.

   A day earlier, Jose Marin had been crowned the NCAA’s individual champion with a 12-under 276 total for 72 holes at La Costa’s North Course.

   The Wildcats also got full points from Elise Lee, a freshman from Irvine, Calif. – boy, they put out some players in Irvine – and No. 83 in the Women’s WAGR who pulled out a 1-up decision over Reagan Zibilski, a junior from Springfield, Mo., and Nguyen, who needed 19 holes to earn a victory over Clarisa Temelo, a freshman from Mexico, that sent Northwestern to the semifinals.

   Oregon reached the semifinals with a 3-2 victory over the SEC’s other representative in the match-play bracket, Texas, No. 6 in the Scoreboard rankings and seeded seventh.

   Romero put a point on the board for the Ducks with a 3 and 1 verdict over Bohyun Park, a senior from Farmers Branch, Texas and No. 89 in the Women’s WAGR, and Huang knocked off Angela Heo, a junior from Murrieta, Calif., 3 and 2.

   The outcome came down to An, who was facing a tough customer in Lauren Kim, a sophomore from Canada and No. 21 in the Women’s WAGR.

   Kim staged a furious rally from 4-down to send the match to extra holes, but a three-putt on the 20^th hole enabled An to send Oregon to its second straight appearance in the NCAA Championship semifinals with a par.

   Northwestern will be making its first appearance in the NCAA Championship’s Final Match since the Wildcats got there in 2017 at the weather-challenged Rich Harvest Farms in Sugar Grove, Ill., not all that far from Northwestern’s Evanston campus.

   Northwestern fell to Arizona State and the Wildcats know they will be facing a tall order Wednesday against Stanford. But they are the only team left with a chance to prevent Stanford from repeating as the national champion.