Stanford preparing for takeofff with a victory in Juli Inkster Meadow Club Invitational

 

   Stanford only has one national championship to show for it, but the Cardinal have been the dominant power in Division I women’s college golf the last three seasons.

   Each year the NCAA Championship was held at Grayhawk Golf Club in Scottsdale, Ariz., Stanford was the top seed going into the match-play bracket. Each year it was a Cardinal hoisting the individual championship trophy, Rachel Heck as a freshman in 2021, Rose Zhang as a freshman in 2022 and then Zhang again a year ago, putting an exclamation point on arguably the greatest career in women’s college golf, brief though it might have been.

   In 2021, Stanford was stunned in the quarterfinals by Pac-12 rival Arizona, there was no stopping the Cardinal on their way to the national championship in 2022 and a year ago another Pac-12 rival, Southern California, halted Stanford in a semifinal stunner.

   Zhang is gone, a winner in her LPGA Tour debut a few weeks after she repeated as the NCAA’s individual champion at Grayhawk. Heck, a senior from Memphis, Tenn. and still No. 66 in the Women’s World Amateur Golf Ranking (WAGR), is still on the roster, but hasn’t been in the lineup.

   Heck was desperately trying to recover from shoulder surgery last spring in time to help Stanford in the postseason and didn’t really make it. A fully healthy Heck might have made a difference in the semifinals against Southern Cal last spring.

   Heck has a lot going on. Maybe you’ve seen her doing some pretty serious field training as part of the Air Force ROTC program she’s been involved with at Stanford. Her sights may be set even higher than the LPGA Tour, but we’ll see.

   I watched Heck partner with Zhang for the United States in a foursome match in the Curtis Cup Match at Merion Golf Club’s East Course two years ago. Tremendous player, tremendous competitor, tremendous team player.

   Still, Stanford, as always, is a force to be reckoned with in the spring of 2024.

   Stanford claimed its second team crown of the wraparound 2023-’24 season Tuesday when relentless rains forced the final round of the Juli Inkster Meadow Club Invitational in Fairfax, Calif. to be cancelled and the results reverted back to the standings at the end of Monday’s double round.

   Behind a third-place finish in the individual standings by Paula Martin Sampedro, a freshman from Spain and No. 25 in the Women’s WAGR, the Cardinal claimed the top spot in the team standings with a 13-under-par 563 total over the 6,157-yard, par-72 Meadow Club layout, a classic design fashioned by Alister MacKenzie and Robert Hunter completed nearly a century ago.

   Stanford opened with a 2-under 286 before surging in Monday afternoon’s second round with an 11-under 277.

   Martin Sampedro matched the low round of the day with a 5-under 67 to fuel Stanford’s second-round surge. Combined with her opening round of 1-under 71 Martin Sampedro’s strong finish gave her a 6-under 138 total that left her two shots behind the co-medalists, Washington’s Camille Boyd, a senior from Yorba Linda, Calif., and Oregon State’s Kyra Ly, a sophomore from Portland, Ore.

   Boyd registered back-to-back 4-under 68s in Monday’s double round for an 8-under 136 total. The Meadow Club clearly fits Boyd’s eye as it was her second career collegiate victory, the other coming in the Juli Inkster Meadow Club Invitational two years ago.

   Ky opened with a 5-under 67 and added a 69 in the second round to match Boyd at 8-under and get a share of the individual title, her first collegiate individual win.

   Stanford had three Pac-12 rivals on its heels at the Meadow Club.

   Washington, behind Boyd, opened with a 2-under 286 and added a solid 8-under 280 in the second round to finish three shots behind Stanford in second place with a 10-under 566 total.

   Southern California, the reigning Pac-12 champion which lost to Wake Forest in the NCAA Championship’s Final Match after knocking off Stanford in the semifinals last spring at Grayhawk, was another four shots behind Washington in third place with a 6-under 570 total.

   The Trojans, behind Catherine Park, a sophomore from Irvine, Calif. and No. 38 in the Women’s WAGR who finished in fourth place in the individual standings with a 5-under 139, had the lead with their opening round of 7-under 281 before adding a 1-over 289 in Monday afternoon’s second round.

   Park was the runnerup in the NCAA individual chase at Grayhawk last spring to her fellow Irvine native Zhang. Park added a 3-under 69 in Monday afternoon’s second round to her opening round of 2-under 70.

   Oregon State, behind Ly, finished five shots behind Southern Cal in fourth place with a 1-under 575 total to complete the sweep of the top four spots in the team standings by Pac-12 schools. The Beavers opened with a 2-under 286 before adding a 1-over 289 in Monday afternoon’s second round.

   Oregon State overachieved last spring with a runnerup finish in the NCAA’s Westfield Regional as a nine seed that earned them a trip to the NCAA Championship for just the second time in the history of the program. The Beavers failed to advance to the match-play bracket at Grayhawk.

   Four-time reigning Summit League champion Denver and West Coast Conference representative San Francisco finished in a tie for fifth place, each landing on 7-over 583, eight shots behind Oregon State.

   The Pioneers bounced back from an opening round of 8-over 296 with a solid 1-under 287 in Monday afternoon’s second round. Denver failed to advance to the NCAA Championship as an eight seed in the San Antonio Regional last spring.

   The Dons matched Denver’s splits, opening with an 8-over 296 and adding a 1-under 287 in Monday afternoon’s second round to get their share of fifth place.

   Host San Jose State, a Mountain West Conference power, finished a shot behind Denver and San Francisco in seventh place with an 8-over 584 total. The Spartans added a 6-over 294 in Monday afternoon’s second round to their opening-round 290.

   San Jose State earned a trip to the NCAA Championship by finishing in third place as a two seed in the Athens Regional last spring. The Spartans were unable to earn a spot in the match-play bracket at Grayhawk.

   San Jose State’s Mountain West rival San Diego State finished a shot behind the Spartans in eighth place with a 9-over 585 total. The Aztecs bounced back from an opening round of 9-over 297 by matching par in Monday afternoon’s second round with a 288.

   It was a tough West Coast trip for Penn State as the Big Ten representative, coming off a runnerup finish in its last outing in the Columbia Classic last month in Melbourne, Fla., finished last of 14 teams with a 29-over 605 total. After opening with an 8-over 296, Penn State struggled to a 309 in Monday afternoon’s second round.

   It was a bit of ambitious scheduling for the Nittany Lions, but playing up against some tough competition on a great golf course is never a bad thing.

   Backing up Martin Sampedro for Stanford was the pair of Sadie Englemann, a senior from Austin, Texas and No. 37 in the Women’s WAGR, and Megha Ganne, a sophomore from Holmdel, N.J. and No. 53 in the Women’s WAGR, as they finished in a tie for fifth place, each landing on 4-under 140, a shot behind Southern Cal’s Park.

   Englemann and Ganne each posted back-to-back 2-under 70s in Monday’s double round.

   The Stanford website’s roundup of the tournament indicated that Ganne, the low amateur in the 2021 U.S. Women’s Open at the Olympic Club in San Francisco as a 17-year-old, had moved to the top of the leaderboard in the individual standings when rain halted play in Tuesday’s third round that was ultimately washed out.

   Kelly Xu, a sophomore from Claremont, Calif. and No. 88 in the Women’s WAGR, finished in the group tied for 27^th place with a 3-over 147 total for Stanford. Xu matched par in Monday afternoon’s second round with a 72 after opening with a 3-over 75.

   Rounding out the Stanford lineup was Caroline Sturdza, a junior from Switzerland who finished among the group tied for 33^rd place with a 4-over 220 total as she bounced back from an opening-round 78 with a crucial 2-under 70 in Monday afternoon’s second round.

   Denver’s Anna Zanusso, a graduate student from Italy, finished a shot behind Englemann and Ganne in seventh place with a 3-under 141 total. After matching par in the opening round with a 72, Zanusso signed for a 3-under 69 in Monday afternoon’s second round.

   Rounding out the top 10 in the individual standings were four players tied for eighth place at 2-under 142 headed by Amari Avery, a junior from Riverside, Calif. and No. 16 in the Women’s WAGR who gave Southern Cal a second finisher inside the top eight. Avery recorded a pair of 1-under 71s at the Meadow Club.

   Avery and Stanford’s Ganne teamed up to win a pair of four-ball matches for the U.S. in the Curtis Cup at Merion in 2022 and won over a lot of young golf fans who watched them in the process.

   Joining Avery in the tie for eighth place at 2-under were Vivian Lu, a freshman from New Zealand who gave Washington a second finisher in the top eight, San Jose State’s Kajsa Arwefjall, a fifth-year player from Sweden and No. 46 in the Women’s WAGR, and Washington State’s Madelyn Gamble, a junior from Pleasant Hill, Calif.

   Lu carded a solid 3-under 69 in Monday afternoon’s second round after opening with a 1-over 73. Arwefjall and Gamble had the same splits, each recording a 2-under 70 in Monday’s second round after matching par in the opening round with a 72.

   Mathilde Delavallade, a senior from France, led the way for Penn State as she finished in the group tied for 27^th place with a 3-over 147 total. Delavallade, who represented the Nittany Lions as an individual in the Athens Regional last spring, opened with a solid 2-under 70 before adding a 5-over 77 in Monday afternoon’s second round.

   Drew Nienhaus, a junior from St. Louis, Mo., backed up Delavallade for the Nittany Lions as she finished among the trio tied for 59^th place with a 154 total. Nienhaus opened with a 2-over 74 before struggling to an 80 in Monday afternoon’s second round.

   Carlota Garcia, a graduate student from Spain who transferred to Penn State from South Alabama, and Victoria Tip-Aucha, a senior from Vienna, Va. via Thailand, finished in the group tied for 62^nd place, each landing on 156.

   Garcia added a 79 in Monday afternoon’s second round after opening with a 5-over 77. Tip-Aucha bounced backed from an opening-round 83 with a 1-over 73 in Monday afternoon’s second round.

   It was a disappointing day for Penn State junior Michelle Cox, a three-time PIAA Class AAA qualifier at Emmaus who finished in the group tied for 71^st place with a 158.

   Coming off her first collegiate victory in last month’s Columbia Classic, Cox opened with a 3-over 75 before struggling to an 83 in Monday afternoon’s second round.