Southern California leads Stanford by one following opening round of NCAA Championship at La Costa

 

   They play in different conferences these days, but it doesn’t really matter.

   The women’s college golf rivalry between Southern California and Stanford transcends the bounds of conference affiliation.

   Their rosters have been populated by the very best amateur players in the world for a while now, so the fact that the Women of Troy claimed the Big Ten championship this spring and the Cardinal captured the title in the Atlantic Coast Conference this spring means little now.

   They arrived for the opening round of the NCAA Championship Friday at the Omni La Costa Resort & Spa in Carlsbad, Calif. with Stanford, having obliterated the field in winning the team title in the Stanford Regional on its home course, ranked No. 1 in the Scoreboard, powered by clippd, rankings, and Southern Cal, having beaten several of its Big Ten rivals in a May chill in the Ann Arbor Regional, ranked No. 2.

   It would be an understatement to say these two teams are on a collision course in Carlsbad, but a lot will depend on how the match-play bracket plays out when 72 holes of stroke play concludes on a Memorial Day Monday with The Golf Channel cameras rolling.

   Southern Cal struck the first blow Friday as the Trojans grabbed the team lead with a 7-under-par 281 over the 6,330-yard, par-72 La Costa layout, but Stanford was right on the Trojans’ heels in second place with a 6-under 282 total.

   They met in the semifinals in 2023 with Southern Cal stunning the Cardinal in the semifinals at Grayhawk Golf Club in Scottsdale, Ariz. in the final act of the brief, but spectacular Rose Zhang era at Stanford. Southern Cal fell in the final to Wake Forest.

   The following year, with Stanford’s Rachel Heck, fully recovered from a bout with thoracic outlet syndrome, leading the way, the Cardinal got some revenge, defeating Southern Cal in the semifinals on their way to a third national championship with the NCAA Championship relocating to La Costa, where it returns for a third straight year this spring.

   Stanford was led Friday by one of its senior leaders, Megha Ganne, the Holmdel, N.J. native who is putting the finishing touches on one of the great women’s amateur careers ever.

   The reigning U.S. Women’s Amateur champion and No. 10 in the Women’s World Amateur Golf Ranking (WAGR), Ganne posted an opening round of 4-under 68 over a La Costa layout that’s probably pretty familiar to her by now to get a share of first place in the individual standings with Oklahoma State’s Ellie Bushnell, a junior from Granite Bay, Calif.

   Capturing the NCAA’s individual crown would be gravy for Ganne. She’s got her sights set on finishing out her career at The Farm with a third NCAA team crown for the Cardinal.

   Southern Cal’s victory in the Ann Arbor Regional was its eighth team title in the wraparound 2025-2026 season and its seventh straight in a magical spring run.

   The large group tied for 13^th place at 2-under 70 included three Trojans, Bailey Shoemaker, a junior from Dade City, Fla. and No. 54 in the Women’s WAGR, Kylie Chong, a sophomore from Torrance, Calif. and No. 61 in the Women’s WAGR, and Catharine Park, a senior from Irvine, Calif. and No. 11 in the Women’s WAGR.

   It seems like a long time ago when Park, then a freshman, finished in a tie for second place behind her fellow Irvineite Zhang in the individual chase of the 2023 NCAA Championship at Grayhawk.

   Big 12 representative Oklahoma State, No. 21 in the Scoreboard rankings and with Bushnell leading the way, was a shot behind Stanford in third place in the team standings with a 5-under 283.

   Big 12 champion Iowa State, No. 17 in the Scoreboard rankings, was another shot behind Oklahoma State in fourth place with a 4-under 284 total.

   The Cyclones were led by Karisa Chul-Ak-Sorn, a senior from Thailand who was part of a nine-player logjam tied for third place at 3-under 69, a shot behind the co-leaders Ganne and Bushnell.

   Southeastern Conference power Texas A&M, No. 7 in the Scoreboard rankings, and upstart Eastern Michigan, the Mid-American Conference runnerup and No. 27 in the Scoreboard rankings, were tied for fifth place, each landing on 2-under 286.

   Another SEC representative, Missouri, No. 32 in the Scoreboard rankings and making just the second appearance in the NCAA Championship in program history, was a shot behind Texas A&M and Eastern Michigan in seventh place with a 1-under 287.

   Rounding out the top 10 in the team standings following the opening round was a trio tied for eighth place at even-par 288 that included a couple of SEC entries in Texas, No. 5 in the Scoreboard rankings, and LSU, No. 34 in the Scoreboard rankings, and SMU, the ruunnerup to Stanford in the ACC’s match-play final and No. 16 in the Scoreboard rankings.

   Texas was led by Farah O’Keefe, a junior home girl from Austin, Texas and No. 4 in the Women’s WAGR, as she was among the large group tied for third place at 3-under.

   Backing up the trio of Shoemaker, Chong and Park for Southern California was Jasmine Koo, a sophomore from Cerritos, Calif. and No. 13 in the Women’s WAGR, as she landed among the group tied for 24th place with a 1-under 71.

   Rounding out the Southern Cal lineup was Elise Lee, a sophomore from Irvine, Calif. and No. 53 in the Women’s WAGR who was in the group tied for 134^th place with a 6-over 78.

   A year ago, Lee was in the lineup for Northwestern when the Wildcats stunned top-ranked and top-seeded Stanford in the Final Match at La Costa.

   Really nice effort by Princeton’s Thanana Kotchasanmanee, a freshman from Thailand who broke into the top 100 in the Women’s WAGR at No. 99 after she got a share of medalist honors in the Chapel Hill Regional.

   Kotchasanmanee opened with a 3-under 69 to join the large group tied for third place.

   Northwestern’s Ashley Yun, a junior from West Covina, Calif. and No. 32 in the Women’s WAGR, was also in the group at 3-under as the Wildcats opened defense of their national championship.

   Rounding out the group tied for third place at 3-under were Mississippi’s Kajsolatta Svarvar, a sophomore from Sweden and No. 66 in the Women’s WAGR, Florida’s Elaine Widjaja, a sophomore from Indonesia, Baylor’s Yurang Li, a junior from Fullerton, Calif., Arizona State’s Beth Coulter, a senior from Ireland, and Tennessee’s Kyra Van Kan, a sophomore from South Africa and one of the heroes of the Volunteers’ run to the SEC team crown.

   Nice start for Duke freshman Avery McCrery, the Wilmington, Del. native who began her scholastic career at the Tower Hill School and was making her debut at nationals. McCrery opened with a 1-under 71 that left her among the group tied for 24^th place.

   McCrery’s teammate, Katie Li, a junior from Basking Ridge, N.J., opened with a 1-over 73 and was in the group tied for 60^th place.

   Another Jersey girl, sophomore Megan Meng, who starred scholastically at Hopewell Valley Central in Pennington, N.J., was in the lineup for Northwestern and matched par with a 72 that left her among the group tied for 41^st place.