It hardly seems possible that this Stanford team would be better than the one that was stunned by Northwestern in the Final Match of last spring’s NCAA Championship at the Omni La Costa Resort & Spa in Carlsbad, Calif.
But when you look at the Cardinal shooting 23-under-par 269 in the final round of the Nanea Invitational at Nanea Golf Club in Kailua Kona, Hawaii to capture the team title by 19 shots over Arizona State, when you look at the top of Women’s World Amateur Golf Ranking (WAGR) and see Paula Martin Sampedro, a junior from Spain, at No. 2, Andrea Revuelta, a sophomore from Spain, at No. 3, Megha Ganne, a senior from Holmdel, N.J. at No. 4 and Meja Ortengren, a sophomore from Sweden, at No. 5, you’re thinking maybe they just are even better.
Stanford, No. 1 in the Scoreboard, powered by clippd rankings, is really good and really deep. And they are hardened by match-play losses last spring to Wake Forest in the semifinals of the Cardinal’s inaugural appearance in the Atlantic Coast Conference Championship and by Northwestern in that gut-punch of a national final.
As good as they are, this Stanford team knows nothing will be handed to it. They know that in match-play golf, there is no sure thing.
Stanford could have been in Atlanta playing in the East Lake Club with temperatures in the 50s and wind and rain. But the Cardinal turned down the invitation that was extended to last spring’s four NCAA semifinalists and played instead in Hawaii, where, I’m guessing, the weather was a little better.
It used to be the Nanea Pac-12 Preview and most of the members of what was the best conference in Division I women’s golf would show up. The Pac-12 has been scattered to the winds, but some of its once proud members have remained loyal to Nanea.
A couple of Southeastern Conference powers, Auburn and Texas, joined the party this year and finished third and fourth, respectively. But, in the end, it was two of the former Pac-12 teams, Stanford, now in the ACC, and Arizona State, which joined the Big 12 in the aftermath of the Pac-12’s implosion, battling it out for the team title.
But really it was just Stanford at the end when the Nanea Invitational wrapped up Oct. 29th. The Cardinal had trailed Arizona State, which jumped from No. 21 to No. 13 in the Scoreboard rankings on the strength of its showing at Nanea, by a shot going into the final round.
Stanford had opened with a 10-under 282 over the 6,449-yard, par-72 Nanea layout before adding an 11-under 281 in the second round. The Sun Devils, who lost in a playoff and settled for runnerup honors in its first year in the Big 12 Championship last spring, had blitzed the Nanea layout with a 17-under 275 in the opening round before adding a 5-under 287 in the second round.
But Stanford just went off in the final round with that sizzling 23-under finish that left the Cardinal with a 44-under 832 total, the third-best total in relation to par in the proud history of the program.
Arizona State closed with a 3-under 289 to earn runnerup honors with a 25-under 851 total. The Sun Devils finished one frustrating shot outside the top eight that qualified for match play in last spring’s NCAA Championship at La Costa.
Ortengren led the way for Stanford as she closed with a sizzling 7-under 66 to get a share of medalist honors with Texas’ Cindy Hsu, a senior from Taiwan, and Auburn’s Anna Davis, a junior from Spring Valley, Calif. and No. 13 in the Women’s WAGR, each ending up with a 10-under 209 total.
Ortengren had opened with a 2-under 71 before adding a 1-under 72 in the second round.
Revuelta was right on the heels of the top three as she closed with a sparkling 6-under 67 to finish alone in fourth place with a 9-under 210 total. Revuelta had matched Ortengren’s start, opening with a 2-under 71 and adding a 1-under 72 in the second round.
Ganne, winner of August’s U.S. Women’s Amateur Championship at the Bandon Dunes Resort in Oregon, Martin Sampedro and their teammate Kelly Xu, a senior from Claremont, Calif. and No. 21 in the Women’s WAGR, were part of a group of five players who finished in a tie for fifth place in the individual standings at 8-under 211.
After struggling a little in the opening round with a 2-over 75, Ganne posted a 4-under 69 in the second round before finishing strong, matching Revuelta’s 6-under 67 in the final round.
Martin Sampedro tallied back-to-back 2-under 71s in the first two rounds before closing with a 4-under 69.
For a lot of programs, Xu would be the star, but she is a steady presence amid all the talent around her. Xu signed for back-to-back 4-under 69s in the first two rounds before matching par in the final round with a 73.
Stanford was scheduled to tee it up in the Windy City Collegiate Challenge earlier this fall, but only sent a couple of individuals because its best players were in Singapore representing their various countries in the World Amateur Team Championship (WATC).
Ganne was a member of the U.S. team that lifted the Espirito Santo Trophy, her third-round 72 giving the Red, White & Blue the tiebreaker edge over Spain, with Martin Sampedro and Revuelta in the lineup, and South Korea for the title.
Ortengren represented Sweden, which finished in sixth place in Singapore.
Auburn, behind Davis, finished four shots behind Arizona State in third place in the team standings in the Nanea Invitational with a 21-under 855 total.
The Tigers, who improved three spots in the Scoreboard rankings from No. 16 to No. 13 in the aftermath of the Nanea Invitational, grabbed the lead with an opening round of 21-under 271. They struggled in the second round with a 6-over 298 before closing with a 6-under 286.
Davis sparked Auburn’s opening-round surge with a sizzling 7-under 66 and added a 3-under 70 in the second round before matching par in the final round to get her share of medalist honors at 10-under. It was her fourth collegiate title.
Davis was coming off an individual victory in the Ruth’s Chris Tar Heel Invitational at the Finley Golf Club in Chapel Hill, N.C. that led the Tigers to the team title. Davis fell to Ganne in a heavyweight matchup in the second round of the U.S. Women’s Amateur at Bandon Dunes in August.
It was a disappointing end to the season for Auburn last spring as the Tigers failed to advance to the NCAA Championship as a three seed in the Gold Canyon Regional.
Texas, behind Hsu, finished two shots behind Auburn in fourth place with a 19-under 857 total. After opening with a 5-under 287, the Longhorns added an 11-under 281 in the second round before closing with a 3-under 289.
Hsu carded back-to-back 4-under 69s in the first two rounds at Nanea, then birdied the last three holes of her final round for a 2-under 71 that got her a share of the individual crown, the first collegiate victory of her career.
Texas, in its first year in the SEC, earned a spot in the match-play bracket in the NCAA Championship last spring at La Costa and fell to Big Ten champion Oregon in the quarterfinals.
California, which joined Stanford in the ACC after the demise of the Pac-12, finished alone in fifth place in the team standings, 16 shots behind Texas with a 3-under 873 total.
The Golden Bears, who stood at No. 51 in the Scoreboard rankings following their solid showing in the Nanea Invitational, opened with a 5-under 287 and added a 2-over 294 in the second round before matching par in the final round with a 292.
California failed to advance to the NCAA Championship as a six seed in the Gold Canyon Regional last spring.
Two more Pac-12 ex-pats, UCLA, now in its second year in the Big Ten, and Colorado, which joined Arizona State in the Big 12, finished in a tie for sixth place in the 11-team field in the Nanea Invitational, each landing on even-par 876.
UCLA, which dropped six spots in the Scoreboard rankings from No. 17 to No. 23 following the Nanea Invitational, opened with a 4-under 288 and added a 1-over 293 in the second round before finishing up with a 3-over 295.
The Bruins advanced to the NCAA Championship at La Costa by finishing in fifth place as a five seed in the Charlottesville Regional last spring.
Colorado, which moved up two spots in the Scoreboard rankings from No. 44 to No. 42 following its showing in the Nanea Invitational, opened with a 4-under 288 before adding back-to-back 2-over 294s in the final two rounds.
Not completely sure all of the Stanford starters will be returning for the spring portion of the wraparound 2025-2026 season. Doesn’t look like Ortengren, Martin Sampedro or Revuelta participated in the qualifying process for the Ladies European Tour (LET).
Anne Walker, the Margo and Mitch Milias Director of Women’s Golf at Stanford, brought four other players to the Nanea Invitational to compete as individuals and that group would probably for a nice nucleus of starters for many college teams.
Anna Song, a freshman from Los Angeles, finished among the group tied for 16th place with a 3-under 216 total. After opening with a 1-over 74, Song recorded a 1-under 72 in the second round before closing with a 3-under 70.
Leigh Chien, a sophomore from Irvine, Calif., finished in the group tied for 26th place with an even-par 219 total as she opened with a 3-under 70 and added a 2-over 75 in the second round before closing with a 1-over 74.
Kaila Elsayegh, a freshman from Pacific Palisades, Calif., finished among the trio tied for 32nd place with a 2-over 221 total. Elsayegh got off to a solid start, adding a 3-under 70 in the second round to her opening round of 1-under 72 before struggling in the final round with a 6-over 79.
Rounding out the Stanford contingent was Nora Sundberg, a sophomore from Sweden who finished in the group tied for 35th place with a 3-over 222 total. After matching par in the opening round with a 73, Sundberg struggled in the second round with a 6-over 79 before bouncing back with a solid 3-under 70 in the final round.
Backing up Hsu for Texas was Farah O’Keefe, a junior home girl from Austin, Texas and No. 7 in the Women’s WAGR, as she joined the Stanford trio of Ganne, Martin Sampedro and Xu as well as Auburn’s Charlotte Cantonis, a freshman from Naples, Fla., in the tie for fifth place at 8-under.
O’Keefe, one of Ganne’s teammates on the winning U.S. Team in the Women’s WATC in Singapore, matched par in the opening round with a 73 and added a 5-under 68 in the second round before closing with a 3-under 70 to join the group at 8-under.
Backing up Davis for Auburn, Cantonis opened with a scintillating 8-under 65, the best individual round of the tournament. Cantonis backed off with a 2-over 75 in the second round before finishing up with a 2-under 71 to end up in the group at 8-under.
Rounding out the top 10 in the individual standings was Arizona State’s Patience Rhodes, a redshirt junior from England and No. 22 in the Women’s WAGR, as she finished alone in 10th placed with a 7-under 212 total.
Rhodes, a key figure in Great Britain & Ireland’s victory over the United States in the Curtis Cup Match in the summer of 2024 at Sunningdale Golf Club in Berkshire, England, opened with a 5-under 68, fell back with a 2-over 75 in the second round and finished up with a 4-under 69.
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