Stanford has been the No. 1 team in the country ever since Rose Zhang arrived on campus in the fall of 2021.
The Cardinal maintained that ranking throughout the 2021-2022 season that culminated with the Cardinal claiming a national title at the NCAA Championship at Grayhawk Golf Club in Scottsdale, Ariz.
And Stanford has continued to sit atop the Golfstat rankings in the 2022-’23 season. The Cardinal put their depth on display as they overcame injuries that took two of their best players out of the lineup to claim their fifth title of the season, a five-shot victory over Pac-12 rival Southern California and a strong field in the Juli Inkster Meadow Club Invitational, which wrapped up Tuesday at the Meadow Club in Fairfax, Calif.
Zhang, a sophomore from Irvine, Calif., was the No. 1 player in the Women’s World Amateur Golf Ranking (WAGR) before she got to Stanford and she remains the No. 1 women’s amateur player in the world.
A final round of 5-under-par 67 over the 6,157-yard, par-72 Meadow Club layout in Tuesday’s final round gave Zhang a two-shot victory. It was her ninth career individual title, tying her with Andrea Lee, a winner on the LPGA Tour last year, for the most in the storied history of the Stanford’s women’s golf program.
Southern Cal had opened with a 1-under 287 and added a 10-under 278, the low team round of the tournament, in the rain-delayed second round, which gave the Trojans a six-shot lead over Stanford when the round was finally completed Tuesday morning.
Stanford had opened with a 5-under 283 before matching par with a 288 in the rain-delayed second round. But with Zhang leading the way, the Cardinal closed with a 1-under 287 that gave them a 6-under 858 total.
Southern Cal couldn’t carry any momentum into the final round, the Trojans closing with a 10-over 298 that left them in second place with a 1-under 863 total. Somehow Southern Cal fell two spots in the Golfstat rankings from No. 11 to No. 13 with its runnerup showing.
Southern Cal was the team champion in the NCAA Stanford Regional last spring, beating the host Cardinal, among others, and finished just three shots out of the final spot in the match-play bracket in the NCAA Championship at Grayhawk.
Zhang had opened with a 4-under 68 and added a 2-under 70 in the second round. By the time the rain-delayed second round was completed Tuesday morning, San Jose State’s Kajsa Arwefjall, a senior from Sweden and No. 44 in the Women’s WAGR, had caught Zhang in the individual chase as Arwefjall also opened with a 4-under 68 and added a 2-under 70 in the second round.
But Zhang pulled away with her final-round 67 for an 11-under 205 total. Arwefjall closed with a solid 3-under 69 to finish two shots behind Zhang and eight shots clear of the rest of the field with a 9-under 207 total.
Stanford played without Rachel Heck, a junior from Memphis, Tenn. who is No. 12 in the Women’s WAGR, and Brooke Seay, a senior from San Diego who is No. 36 in the Women’s WAGR. Heck, the NCAA individual champion as a freshman at Grayhawk in 2021, has a shoulder injury and may miss the rest of the season. Seay is recovering from a concussion.
Tournament co-host San Jose State, the reigning Mountain West champion, emerged as a player on the national scene a year ago. The Spartans captured the team crown in the NCAA’s Ann Arbor Regional and earned a spot in the match-play bracket in the NCAA Championship at bracket before falling to eventual runnerup Oregon in the quarterfinals.
After opening with a 5-over 293, San Jose State, behind Arwefjall, carded a solid 4-under 284 in the rain-delayed second round before closing with a 2-over 290 to finish in third place with a 3-over 867 total. The Spartans dropped a notch in the Golfstat rankings from No. 5 to No. 6, but they’re poised for another long postseason run.
Perennial West Coast Conference power Pepperdine was 11 shots behind San Jose State in fourth place with a 14-over 878 total. After opening with a 6-over 294, the Waves added a 1-over 289 in the second round before closing with a 7-over 295.
Pepperdine, which failed to advance out of the Ann Arbor Regional as a 10 seed last spring, dropped a couple of spots in the Golfstat rankings, from No. 23 to No. 25 following its showing in the Juli Inkster Meadow Club Invitational.
A third Pac-12 entry, California, rounded out the top five in the 13-team field as the Golden Bears ended up six shots behind Pepperdine in fifth place with a 20-over 884 total. Cal got a little better in each round, adding a 7-over 295 in the second round to its opening-round 299 before closing with a 2-over 290.
California, which failed to advance out of the Stillwater Regional as a 10 seed last spring, maintained its No. 40 ranking in the aftermath of the Juli Inkster Meadow Club Invitational.
Backing up Zhang for Stanford was Sadie Englemann, a junior from Austin, Texas who finished among a trio of players tied for third place in the individual standings at 1-under 215, eight shots behind San Jose State’s Arwefjall
Englemann matched par in each of the first two rounds with a pair of 72s before closing with a solid 1-under 71.
Megha Ganne, a freshman from Holmdel, N.J. and No. 54 in the Women’s WAGR, gave Stanford a third finisher inside the top 10 as she ended up in a tie for ninth place at 1-over 217. Like Englemann, Ganne was steady, matching par in the first two rounds with a pair of 72s before closing with a 1-over 73.
Angelina Ye, a senior from China, opened with a 1-under 71, but struggled a little in the final two rounds with back-to-back 4-over 76s to finish in the group tied for 27th place with a 7-over 223 total.
Rounding out the Stanford lineup was Kelly Xu, a freshman from Claremont, Calif. who finished among the group tied for 34th place with an 8-over 224 total. Xu matched par in the opening round with a 72 and added a 2-over 74 in the rain-delayed second round before struggling a little with a 78 in Tuesday’s final round.
It’s easy to forget that Englemann and Ye were in the lineup, along with Heck and Seay, when Stanford emerged from qualifying for match play in the 2021 NCAA Championship at Grayhawk as the top seed before getting knocked off by Pac-12 rival Arizona in the quarterfinals. And that was before Zhang was part of the program.
Even if Heck can’t make it back for the postseason, Stanford will boast a battle-tested lineup if it makes a return trip to Grayhawk.
Joining Stanford’s Englemann in the trio tied for third place at 1-under were Southern California’s Amari Avery, a sophomore from Riverside, Calif. and No. 9 in the Women’s WAGR, and Pepperdine’s Jeneath Wong, a freshman from Australia and No. 50 in the Women’s WAGR.
Avery outdueled Zhang on Zhang’s home course to win the individual title by a shot in the Stanford Regional last spring.
Avery teamed with Stanford’s Ganne in an inspired pairing of her two youngest players by U.S. captain Sarah Ingram in a couple of four-ball matches in the 42nd Curtis Cup Match at Merion Golf Club’s historic East Course last June and they proved to be a dynamic duo, winning both matches.
Avery finished with a 4-1 record at Merion to lead the U.S. to a 15.5-4.5 victory over Great Britain & Ireland. Some people wilt when the lights get brighter. Not Avery. She thrives in the spotlight.
After matching par in the opening round with a 72 at the Meadow Club, Avery carded a 2-under 70 in the rain-delayed second round before closing with a 1-over 73.
Wong opened with a 2-under 70 and added a 1-over 73 in the rain-delayed second round before matching par with a 72 in Tuesday’s final round.
Texas Tech’s Shannon Tan, a freshman from Singapore and No. 71 in the Women’s WAGR, headed a group of three players tied for sixth place at even-par 216 that also included California’s Cristina Ochoa, a junior from Colombia, and Avery’s Southern Cal teammate, Catherine Park, a freshman from Irvine, Calif.
After matching par in the opening round with a 72, Tan matched the low individual round of the tournament with a 5-under 67 in the rain-delayed second round before struggling to a final-round 77.
Ochoa bounced back from an opening round of 3-over 75 with a solid 4-under 68 in the rain-delayed second round before closing with a 1-over 73. Park added a 2-under 70 in the rain-delayed second round to her opening-round 71 before finishing up with a 3-over 75.
Brianna Navarossa, a junior from San Diego, Calif., gave Southern Cal a third finisher inside the top 10 as she joined Stanford’s Ganne in the tie for ninth place at 1-over. Navarossa matched par in the rain-delayed second round with a 72 after opening with a 1-under 71 before closing with a 2-over 74.
Navarossa finished in third place behind her teammate Avery and Stanford’s Zhang in the individual standings in last spring’s Stanford Regional.
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