Stanford is right at home as it grabs the lead after opening round of Stanford Regional

    Stanford, and the rest of the Pac-12, sat out the fall portion of the wraparound 2020-2021 season, the conference’s decision-makers still uncertain about a coronavirus pandemic that was never really under control.

   Even when a lot of teams jumped back into action early in 2021, the Cardinal held back a little longer. Everyone knew Stanford would be young, but the talent of some of those youngsters was undeniable.

   Playing on its home course, the Stanford Golf Course in Stanford, Calif., the Cardinal jumped out to a 10-shot lead as the NCAA’s Stanford Regional teed off Monday. It looked like Stanford had started to find its groove when it was the runnerup to Southern California, again at the Stanford Golf Course, in last month’s Pac-12 Championship.

   The names have changed over the years, but Monday Stanford looked very much like all those Stanford teams that have earned a spot in the match-play bracket at every NCAA Championship since the match-play layer was added.

   The Stanford Regional was one of four regionals scheduled to tee off Monday around the country, the first regional championships in two years because last year’s college golf season came to an abrupt end in March with the sudden arrival of the coronavirus on our shores.

   That long wait will be a day longer in the Baton Rouge Regional as rain wiped out play at LSU’s University Club. They’ll be in catch-up mode for the rest of the week. It might be tough to get two full rounds in Tuesday, but I suspect they’ll give it a shot.

   The top six teams from each regional and the top three individuals not associated with one of those six teams will advance to the NCAA Championship later this month at Grayhawk Golf Club in Scottsdale, Ariz. College golf fans, and I count myself among them, missed this week terribly last May. I can’t imagine how disappointing it was for the players and coaches.

   Weather was not an issue in northern California Monday and Stanford, with Sadie Englemann, a freshman from Austin, Texas, getting a share of the opening-round lead with a sparkling 4-under 67, the Cardinal, seeded fifth and No. 20 in the latest Golfstat rankings, grabbed the team with a 12-under 272 total over the 6,291-yard, par-71 Stanford Golf Course layout.

   Virginia Tech, seeded fourth and No. 14 in the rankings, posted a solid 2-under 282 that left the Hokies in second place, 10 shots behind Stanford.

   Virginia Tech’s Atlantic Coast Conference rival, Wake Forest, the top seed in the Stanford Regional and ranked No. 3, was four shots behind Virginia Tech in third place with a 2-over 286 total. Newly minted Big 12 champion Oklahoma State, seeded second and ranked sixth, was a shot behind Wake Forest in fourth place with a 3-over 287 total.

   Southern California, seeded third and ranked 10^th, was another shot behind the Cowgirls in fifth place at 4-over 288. The Trojans were returning to the scene of their victory in the Pac-12 Championship last month.

  Another Pac-12 entry, Arizona, seeded sixth and ranked 22^nd, landed in a tie for sixth place with upstart Denver, seeded 10^th and ranked 40^th, at 5-over 289, a shot behind Southern Cal. Denver was the Summit League champion for a sixth time this spring.

   Pac-12 individual champion Rachel Heck, a freshman from Memphis, Tenn. and No. 25 in the Women’s World Amateur Golf Ranking (WAGR), and Brooke Seay, a sophomore from San Diego, backed up Englemann as they finished among the trio tied for fourth place, each recording a 3-under 68.

   Heck and Seay both arrived at Stanford after glittering junior careers. Heck made the cut and played four rounds in the 2017 U.S. Women’s Open at Trump National Golf Club in Bedminster, N.J. and was the American Junior Golf Association (AJGA) Rolex Player of the Year that same year.

   Angelina Ye, a sophomore from Bradenton, Fla. via China, gave Stanford four players among the top seven as she registered a 2-under 69 to finish among the group tied for seventh place. Ye captured the 2019 U.S. Girls’ Junior Championship at SentryWorld in Stevens Point, Wis.

   Rounding out the Stanford lineup was Aline Krauter, a junior from Germany who matched par with a 71 to join the group tied for 17^th place. All Krauter did last summer was win The Women’s Amateur Championship at West Lancashire.

   Joining Englemann atop the individual leaderboard at 4-under were Oklahoma State’s Maja Stark, a sophomore from Sweden and No. 6 in the Women’s WAGR, and Northwestern’s Irene Kim, a sophomore from La Palma, Calif. Both earned runnerup honors at their respective conference championships, Stark in the Big 12 Championship at The Club at Carlton Woods in The Woodlands, Texas and Kim in the Big Ten Championship at TPC River’s Bend in Maineville, Ohio.

   Joining Stanford’s Heck and Seay in the trio tied for fourth place at 3-under was Virginia Tech’s Alyssa Montgomery, a sophomore from Knoxville, Tenn.

   In the Columbus Regional, held at one of the most challenging on-campus courses in the country, The Ohio State University Golf Club’s Scarlet Course, another Big 12 representative, Oklahoma, seeded ninth and ranked No. 33, grabbed a one-shot lead over ACC champion Duke, the top seed in Columbus and No. 2 in the rankings.

   The Sooners, led by Kaitlin Milligan, a senior home girl from Norman, Okla. who matched par with a 72 and was part of a four-way logjam in second place, opened with a 2-under 286 over the 6,358-yard, par-72 Scarlet Course layout.

   It’s been a long two years before Duke got its chance to defend the title the Blue Devils won in 2019 with a 3-2 victory over ACC rival Wake Forest in the Final Match at The Blessings Golf Club in Fayetteville, Ark. Duke was the only other team under par at the Scarlet Course with a 1-under 287 that left it a shot behind Oklahoma.

   I’m sure it was chilly in Columbus and Michigan, out of the Big Ten, likely felt right at home as the Wolverines, seeded seventh and ranked 26^th, were a shot behind the Dookies in third place at even-par 288. Michigan was led by Hailey Bourja, a sophomore from Lake Forest, Calif. who grabbed the individual lead with a 3-under 69. Southeastern Conference power Georgia, seeded fifth and ranked 18^th, was a shot behind Michigan in fourth place with a 1-over 289.

   Pac-12 power Arizona State, seeded second and ranked seventh, and Kent State, seeded fourth and ranked 15^th, were in a tie for fifth place, each landing on 3-over 291. Kent State, under head coach Lisa Strom, the 1994 PIAA champion at Lansdale Catholic, is coming off its 22^nd straight victory in the Mid-American Conference.

   Backing up Milligan for the Sooners was Libby Winans, a junior from Richardson, Texas who landed in the group tied for seventh place with a 1-under 71. Hannah Screen, a junior from England, matched par with a 72 and was among the group tied for 15^th place.

   Mikhaela Fontana, a junior from the Philippines, added the final counter for Oklahoma as she carded a solid 1-over 73 to end up in the group tied for 23^rd place. Rounding out the Oklahoma lineup was Maria Fernanda Martinez, a redshirt sophomore from Mexico who was in the group tied for 40^th place after signing for a 3-over 75.

   Bourja’s Michigan teammate, Monet Chun, a freshman from Canada, was part of the four-way tie for second at 2-under that included Oklahoma’s Milligan, Kent State’s Carly McGinty, a sophomore from England, and Old Dominion’s Leah Onosato, a junior from Japan competing as an individual. McGinty was coming off an individual victory in the MAC Championship at Silver Lake Country Club in Silver Lake, Ohio.

   It was also the NCAA regional debut for a couple of players out of Wilmington, Del., Duke freshman Phoebe Brinker, an Archmere Academy product, and Virginia freshman Jennifer Cleary, who starred at Tower Hill. Both were throw-outs for their respective teams Monday, but obviously they have played well enough to earn a spot in the lineup at regionals for two of the top programs in the country.

   Brinker carded a solid 2-over 74 to land in the group tied for 33^rd place while Cleary struggled to an 81 and was among the group tied for 86^th place. Cleary and the Cavaliers, seeded third and ranked 11^th, are tied for seventh place with Washington after opening with an 8-over 296 that left them five shots behind Kent State.

   In the Louisville Regional, ACC runnerup Florida State, seeded second and ranked eighth, grabbed a five-shot lead following the opening round at the University of Louisville Golf Club in Simpsonville, Ky. The Seminoles were led by individual co-leader Amelia Williamson, a junior from England who opened with a sparkling 4-under 68 over the 6,289-yard, par-72 University of Louisville layout.

   Probably a little underrated, UCLA, seeded seventh and ranked 25^th, was in second place, five shots behind Florida State with a 3-over 291 total. The Bruins, out of the Pac-12, were led by Emilie Paltrinieri, a sophomore from Italy and No. 53 in the Women’s WAGR who got a share of the lead by matching Florida State’s Williamson with a 68.

   Big Ten champion Michigan State, getting little respect with its eighth seed and ranked 32^nd, was a shot behind UCLA in third place with a 4-over 292. Louisville, despite its 12 seed and No.-48 ranking, is a dangerous host and the Cardinals, another ACC representative, were a shot behind Michigan State in fourth place with a 5-over 293 total.

   It was two more shots back to the No. 1 team in the country and the top seed in the Louisville Regional, SEC power South Carolina, in fifth place at 7-over 295. SEC champion Auburn, seeded third and ranked ninth, was a shot behind the Gamecocks in sixth place after posting an 8-over 296.

   Backing up Williamson for Florida State was Beatrice Wallin, a junior from Sweden and No. 10 in the Women’s WAGR who posted a solid 3-under 69 to sit a shot behind the co-leaders in a tie for third place with Louisville’s Lauren Hartlage, a graduate student from Elizabethtown, Ky.

   The rest of the lineup for the youthful Seminoles was filled out with freshmen. Alice Hodge of Larchmont, N.Y. landed in the group tied for 25^th place with a 2-over 74, Charlotte Heath of England was among the group tied for 32^nd place after registering a 3-over 75, and Taylor Roberts of Parkland, Fla. was the throw-out for the Seminoles with a 6-over 78 that left her in the group tied for 71^st place.

   Louisville’s Hartlage is one of the many players around the country who took up the NCAA on its offer of a fifth year of eligibility to make up for the loss of the spring of their senior season to the pandemic. This is what she is here for, playing on her home course and trying to get the Cardinals to the NCAA Championship.