San Jose State holds off furious charge by Stanford to claim team title in Juli Inkster at Meadow Club Invitational

    Give San Jose State credit. For the second time in the spring portion of the wraparound 2021-2022 season, the Spartans figured out a way to do what no other college team has been able to do, beat Stanford.

   San Jose State, the co-host for the Juli Inkster at Meadow Club Invitational, named for the World Golf Hall of Fame member who played collegiately for the Spartans, held off a furious Stanford rally to edge the Cardinal by a shot for the team title.

   San Jose State had put together rounds of 7-under 281 and 5-under 283 in Monday’s double round over the 6,187-yard, par-72 Alister MacKenzie design at Meadow Creek to take a 14-shot lead over the Cardinal into Tuesday’s final round.

   But Stanford, behind a course-record 8-under 64 from Rose Zhang, a freshman from Irvine, Calif. and No. 1 in the Women’s World Amateur Golf Ranking (WAGR), rallied in the final round with a sparkling 11-under 277 that left the Cardinal a shot short of San Jose St. with a 9-under 855 total.

   Stanford had bounced back from an opening-round 295 with a 5-under 283 in Monday afternoon’s second round.

   San Jose State, behind Lucia Lopez-Ortega, a freshman from Spain who finished in fourth place in the individual standings, closed with a 2-over 290 to finish a shot ahead of Stanford with a 10-under 854 total.

   Stanford had won all four of the tournaments it teed up in during the fall portion of the season. But San Jose St. stopped the Cardinal winning streak by defeating Stanford by three shots in last month’s Lamkin San Diego Invitational at The Farms Golf Club in Rancho Santa Fe., Calif.

   In between the Lamkin and the Juli Inkster, Stanford ripped off an NCAA record 50-under 814 team score in winning The Gunrock Invitational at Del Paso Country Club in Sacramento, Calif. by 35 shots. Stanford lowered its program record by 22 shots with that performance.

   San Jose State, out of the Mountain West Conference, moved up a spot in the latest Golfstat rankings from No. 9 to No. 8 with its second victory of the spring over Stanford. The Cardinal remained No. 1 just as they were right from the outset last fall.

   Stanford’s Pac-12 rival Washington was 15 shots behind the Cardinal in third place with a 6-over 870 total. The Huskies, who moved up from No. 44 to No. 39 in the Golfstat rankings in the aftermath of the Juli Inkster, opened with a 4-over 292 and matched par in Monday afternoon’s second round with a 288 before closing with a 2-over 290.

   Washington was led by the individual champion as Camille Boyd, a sophomore from Yorba Linda, Calif., closed with a sparkling 7-under 65 to finish three shots clear of Zhang with a 14-under 202 total. Boyd was strong from the start as she opened with a 5-under 67 and added a 70 in Monday afternoon’s second round.

   Boyd started her final round at the fourth hole and birdied that one. She had four more birdies before making a bogey at the 18^th hole that dropped her back to 4-under for her round. But Boyd finished strong, making an eagle at the par-5 first hole and a birdie at her final hole, the third. It was Boyd’s first career win and she established a program record in relation to par with her 14-under total.

   No. 66 San Francisco, the Juli Inkster at Meadow Club Invitational’s other co-host out of the West Coast Conference, finished a shot behind Washington in fourth place with a 7-over 871 total. The Dons bounced back from an opening-round 298 with a 7-under 281 in Monday afternoon’s second round before finishing up with a 4-over 292.

   It was six shots back to another Pac-12 entry, No. 49 California, as the Bears finished with a 13-over 877 total. After opening with a 299, Cal bounced back with a solid 4-under 284 in Monday afternoon’s second round before closing with a 6-over 294.

   No. 71 San Diego State, like San Jose State, a Big West team, finished two shots behind California in sixth place in the 13-team field. The Aztecs were only eight shots behind San Jose State with their opening round of 1-over 289, but cooled off with a 299 in Monday afternoon’s second round before finishing up with a 3-over 291.

   Lopez-Ortega was steady in leading the way for San Jose State as she carded back-to-back 1-under 71s in Monday’s double round before closing with a 4-under 68 that left her alone in fourth place with a 6-under 210 total, eight shots behind Boyd.

   Backing up Lopez-Ortega for San Jose State was Kajsa Arwefjall, a junior from Sweden who finished among a trio of players tied for fifth place at 3-under 213. After opening with a 3-under 69, Arwefjall matched par in each of the final two rounds with a pair of 72s.

   Arwefjall represented San Jose State in last spring’s NCAA Championship as an individual, earning a trip to Grayhawk Golf Club in Scottsdale, Ariz. by finishing in fifth place in the Stanford Regional at the Stanford Golf Course.

   Natasha Andrea Oon, a sophomore for Malaysia and No. 18 in the Women’s WAGR, gave San Jose State a third finisher in the top 10 as she ended up in a tie for 10^th place at 1-under 215. Oon struggled in the opening round with a 76, but bounced back with a 4-under 68 before closing with a 75.

   Antonia Malate, a senior from Seaside, Calif., finished among the group tied for 16^th place at 2-over 218 for the Spartans as she matched par in Monday afternoon’s second round with a 72 after opening with a 1-under 71 before closing with a 75. All three rounds were counters for San Jose State.

   Rounding out the San Jose State lineup was Louisa Carlbom, a sophomore from Sweden who finished among the group tied for 25^th place with a 6-over 222. Carlbom opened with a solid 2-over 70 and added a 75 in Monday afternoon’s second round before finishing up with a 77.

   Zhang was relatively quiet in Monday’s double round as she matched par in the opening round with a 72 and added a 3-under 69 in the afternoon. Then she went all Rose Zhang in Tuesday’s final round with eight birdies and nary a bogey in establishing a new course record with her scintillating 8-under 64.

   It wasn’t enough to catch Boyd, but it did give Zhang a runnerup finish with an 11-under 205 total. Zhang added a U.S. Girls’ Junior Championship last summer at Columbia Country Club in Chevy Chase, Md. to the 2020 U.S. Women’s Amateur Championship she won at Westmont Country Club in Rockville, Md., among her many accomplishments.

   I’ll get to the Curtis Cup stuff when we get to Zhang’s Stanford teammate, Rachel Heck, a sophomore from Memphis, Tenn. and No. 2 in the Women’s WAGR.

   San Francisco’s Riana Mission, a freshman from Las Vegas, Nev., finished alone in third place, three shots behind Zhang with an 8-under 208 total. After opening with a 71, Mission registered a sparkling 5-under 67 in Monday afternoon’s second round before closing with a 2-under 70.

   Joining San Jose State’s Anwefjall in the trio tied for fifth place were Stanford’s Brooke Seay, a junior from San Diego and No. 68 in the Women’s WAGR, and San Diego State’s Sara Kjellker, a senior from Sweden.

   After opening with a 74, Seay matched par in Monday afternoon’s second round with a 72 before contributing a 5-under 67 to the Cardinal’s final-round surge. Kjellker opened with a solid 3-under 69, struggled with a 76 in Monday afternoon’s second round, but closed with a 4-under 68.

   Oregon State’s Danique Stokmans, a redshirt freshman from The Netherlands, and San Francisco’s Hannah Zeman, a sophomore from Ontario, Calif., finished in a tie for eighth place, each landing on 2-under 214.

   Stokmans sandwiched a 2-under 70 in Monday afternoon’s second round with a pair of even-par 72s. Zeman matched par in the opening round with a 72 and then went off with a sizzling 6-under 66 in Monday afternoon’s second round before struggling to a final-round 76.

   Joining San Jose State’s Oon in the tie for 10^th place at 1-under 215 was Brigham Young’s Allysha Mae Mateo, a senior from Honolulu, Hawaii who was only two shots out of the lead entering the final round after adding a 70 to her opening round of 3-under 69 in Monday’s double round. Mateo cooled off in the final round with a 76.

   Mateo finished in a tie for fourth place in last spring’s WCC Championship at Reflection Bay Golf Club in Henderson, Nev.

   It is a formidable lineup that Stanford sends out there.

   Behind Zhang and Seay was Aline Krauter, a senior from Germany and No. 29 in the Women’s WAGR who finished alone in 15^th place at the Meadow Club with a 1-over 217 total. Krauter, winner of The Women’s Amateur Championship in 2020 at West Lancashire, added a 2-under 70 in Monday afternoon’s second round to her opening-round 73 before closing with a 74.

   Sadie Englemann, a sophomore from Austin, Texas, finished among the group tied for 29^th place with a 7-over 223 total. After struggling with a 78 in the opening round, Englemann matched par in Monday afternoon’s second round with a 72 before finishing up with a 73.

   And then there is Heck. She was off her game in the Juli Inkster, adding a 75 in Monday afternoon’s second round to her opening-round 76 before closing with a 1-over 73 that left her among the group tied for 33^rd place at 8-over 224.

   But Heck was the individual champion when Stanford was the runnerup to San Jose State in the Lumkin San Diego Invitational at The Farms last month and she won the individual crown with a program record 18-under 198 total in the Cardinal’s record romp in the Gunrock Invitational at Del Paso a couple of weeks ago. They were the seventh and eighth individual victories of a career that only began a little over a year ago.

   Heck had a breathtaking postseason run last spring, winning the Pac-12 and Stanford Regional individual crowns, both at the Stanford Golf Course, and then claiming the individual title in the NCAA Championship at Grayhawk.

   Yeah, I’ll go out on a sturdy limb here and make Stanford the favorite when the NCAA Championship returns to Grayhawk in May. Is Stanford a lock to win a national championship? Come on, it’s golf and it’s match play if the Cardinal earn a spot among the final eight in qualifying for match play. I like their chances, though.

   Zhang has a guaranteed spot on the U.S. team in the Curtis Cup Match, which tees off June 10^th – 89 days by my count – at Merion Golf Club’s historic East Course because she was awarded the Mark H. McCormack Medal, which goes to the No. 1 player in the Women’s WAGR when all the major amateur events are over, in this case for 2021.

   Heck’s No. 2 spot in the current Women’s WAGR makes her nearly a lock to join Zhang on the U.S. team.

   They were teammates on captain Sarah LaBrun Ingram’s U.S. team last August at Conwy Golf Club in Caernarvonshire, Wales when the Stars & Stripes rallied from a Day 1 deficit to pull out a 12.5-7.5 victory over Great Britain & Ireland and retain the Curtis Cup. Zhang went 4-0-1 and Heck went 2-2-1.

   I know the people who care about golf in the Philadelphia area are looking forward to watching Zhang and Heck representing their country in the Curtis Cup Match on the spectacular backdrop that is Merion in June.