As the spring portion of the wraparound 2025-2026 college golf season wore on, a Stanford-Southern California confrontation in the Final Match of the NCAA Championship at the Omni La Costa Resort & Spa’s North Course in Carlsbad, Calif. seemed almost inevitable.
But golf, particularly match-play golf, is way too unpredictable for any kind of inevitability to creep into the conversation.
The old Pac-12 rivals, Atlantic Coast Conference champion Stanford, No. 1 in the Scoreboard, powered by clippd, rankings, and Big Ten champion Southern California, No. 2 in the Scoreboard rankings, will meet Wednesday in the NCAA Championship’s Final Match at La Costa, but only because neither team ever, for one second, let its guard down on quarterfinal/semifinal day Tuesday.
Stanford reached the final with a deceptive 5-0 victory over Eastern Michigan in one semifinal.
The Mid-American Conference runnerup Eagles, No. 27 in the Scoreboard rankings, were playing in their first NCAA Championship. But Eastern Michigan never looked overwhelmed.
To the contrary, the Eagles booked their semifinal date with one of the great teams in the history of women’s college golf when one of their Leovao twins, Jasmine Leovao, a senior from Oceanside, Calif., calmly rolled in a 20-foot birdie putt on the North Course’s par-5 finishing hole to complete a 1-up victory over Cindy Hsu, a senior from Taiwan, and deliver a 3.5-1.5 victory for Eastern Michigan over Southeastern Conference power Texas, No. 5 in the Scoreboard rankings.
All the other Leovao twin, Janae Leovao, did was hand Farah O’Keefe, Texas’ junior home girl from Austin, Texas and less than 24 hours removed from capturing the NCAA individual crown, a stunning 5 and 3 setback. O’Keefe was No. 4 in the Women’s World Amateur Golf Ranking (WAGR).
Stanford approached Eastern Michigan exactly as it should have, as a really, really scary opponent.
Meja Ortengren, a sophomore from Sweden and No. 6 in the Women’s WAGR, got Stanford off to a great start by rolling to a 4 and 3 victory over Erina Tan, a senior from Australia.
But the Leovao twins, who transferred to Eastern Michigan for their final season of college golf from Long Beach State, were proving to be stubborn.
Andrea Revuelta, a sophomore from Spain and No. 3 in the Women’s WAGR, ultimately subdued Jasmine Leovao with a hard-fought 2 and 1 victory.
Paula Martin Sampedro, a junior from Spain and No. 2 in the Women’s WAGR, never did quite put away Jenae Leovao, although Martin Sampedro, winner of last summer’s Royal & Ancient Women’s Amateur Championship at Nairn Golf Club in Scotland, had a 1-up lead with two holes to play when it was no longer necessary to play out the match.
It went into the books as a full point for the Cardinal, but it was hardly over.
Stanford got its clinching point from one of its senior leaders, Megha Ganne, a senior from Holmdel, N.J. and No. 10 in the Women’s WAGR, as Ganne, the reigning U.S. Women’s Amateur champion, earned a 4 and 3 verdict over Baiyok Sukterm, a junior from Thailand.
Stanford’s other standout senior, Kelly Xu of Claremont, Calif. and No. 17 in the Women’s WAGR, was taken to the 18th hole before claiming a 2-up victory over Savannah de Bock, a senior from Belgium.
Southern Cal earned its spot in the Final Match by earning a 3-2 victory over a really good Arkansas team, another SEC power that was No. 7 in the Scoreboard rankings.
Jasmine Koo, the Trojans’ talented sophomore from Cerritos, Calif. and No. 13 in the Women’s WAGR, got a quick point on the board for Southern Cal with a 3 and 2 victory over Reagan Zibilski, a senior from Springfield, Mo. and No. 49 in the Women’s WAGR.
Koo had faced a formidable opponent earlier in the day and took one for the team in a 5 and 4 setback at the hands of Duke’s fabulous freshman, Rianne Malixi of the Philippines and No. 14 in the Women’s WAGR, in a quarterfinal match.
But Koo’s teammates picked her up as Southern Cal got past the Blue Devils, winners of seven national championships, 3-2, to reach the semifinals.
Catherine Park, Southern Cal’s steady senior from Irvine, Calif. and No. 11 in the Women’s WAGR, pulled out a 3 and 2 victory over Arkansas’ Abbey Schutte, a junior from Goodyear, Ariz.
But Arkansas got a point from its stud, Maria Jose Marin, a junior from Colombia and No. 5 in the Women’s WAGR who rolled to a 4 and 3 decision over Kylie Chong, a sophomore from Torrance, Calif. and No. 61 in the Women’s WAGR.
Jose Marin, who came up just short in defense of the NCAA individual title she won a year ago, captured the crown in the prestigious Augusta National Women’s Amateur Championship earlier this spring.
Southern Cal’s Elise Lee, a sophomore from Irvine, Calif. and No. 53 in the Women’s WAGR, delivered the clinching point for the Trojans with a 5 and 3 victory over Natalie Blonien, a sophomore from Altus, Okla.
Southern Cal’s Bailey Shoemaker, a junior from Dade City, Fla. and No. 54 in the Women’s WAGR, was trailing a tough opponent in Sara Brentcheneff, a freshman from France and No. 50 in the Women’s WAGR, 1-down through 17 holes when the Trojans clinched the match, so that went into the books as a point for the Razorbacks.
Stanford had started a little slowly in its morning quarterfinal against West Coast Conference champion Pepperdine, No. 11 in the Scoreboard rankings, before earning what went into the books as a 5-0 victory.
Ortengren had her hands full with the Waves’ Grace Anderson, a sophomore from Canada, but the talented Ortengren rallied from 3-down with six holes to play to pull out a 1-up victory and that seemed to open the floodgates for the Cardinal.
Revuelta kept the momentum going with a 5 and 4 decision over Kylee Choi, a freshman from Murrieta, Calif. and No. 93 in the Women’s WAGR, and Martin Sampedro, the other half of Stanford’s Spanish Connection, earned the clinching point with a 3 and 2 victory over Yingzhi Zhu, a senior from China.
Anne Walker, the Margot and Mitch Malias director of women’s golf at Stanford, went with her seniors, Xu and Ganne, in the final two spots in the Cardinal lineup and both were ahead when the outcome was assured.
Xu led Janeath Wong, a senior from Australia and No. 73 in the Women’s WAGR, 1-up, through 15 holes while Ganne held a 3-up lead over Eunseo Choi, a sophomore from New Zealand No. 58 in the Women’s WAGR, through 15 holes.
Meanwhile, Eastern Michigan was extending its magical run to the NCAA Championship’s final four with its stunning victory over Texas.
In addition to the two full points put up by the Leovao twins, the Eagles got another full point from Savannah de Bock, a senior from Belgium who claimed a 5 and 3 decision over the Longhorns’ Angela Heo, a senior from Murrieta, Calif.
The marquee matchup of the morning quarterfinals pitted Southern California against one of the most decorated programs in women’s college golf in Duke.
Park set the tone for the Trojans with a 5 and 3 victory over Andie Smith, a graduate student from Hobe Sound, Fla. and No. 84 in the Women’s WAGR.
Shoemaker rolled to a 6 and 4 victory over Duke freshman Avery McCrery, the Wilmington, Del. native who began her scholastic career at the Tower Hill School.
Southern Cal got the clincher as Chong cruised to a 4 and 3 win over Anna Canado Espinal, a sophomore from Spain.
In addition to Malixi’s victory over Koo, Duke picked up another full point as Katie Li, a junior from Basking Ridge, N.J., earned a 5 and 3 victory over Elise Lee, who was in the starting lineup for Northwestern in its epic upset of Stanford in the Final Match a year ago at La Costa.
Arkansas had begun its day with a surprisingly easy 5-0 victory over Big 12 representative Oklahoma State, No. 21 in the Scoreboard rankings, in its quarterfinal match.
The Razorbacks had clinched the victory with Jose Marin holding a 2-up lead over the Cowgirls’ Marta Livchenko, a junior from Latvia and No. 47 in the Women’s WAGR, through 15 holes in a battle of top-10 finishers in the NCAA Championship’s 72 holes of stroke play.
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