No. 14 Stanford men’s and No. 7 women’s golf were in different parts of the country last weekend, with the women flying to Hawaii to participate in the Pac-12 Preview on Oct. 23-24, and the men in Alpharetta Georgia for the Golf Club of Georgia Collegiate Oct. 20-22.
In the end, Stanford women’s golf finished second behind No. 2 UCLA, and Stanford men’s golf finished tied for sixth with Clemson.
The Pac-12 Preview, hosted by Nanea Golf Club, ended early due to heavy rain and lighting on Tuesday, forcing the cancellation of the last round, leaving Monday’s 36-hole scores as the final tally.
With these scores, UCLA finished 20-under 564, followed by the Cardinal with 9-under 575. That score placed four players in the top 15.
Sophomore Andrea Lee was one of these players, continuing her strong season with her third individual crown in four starts, her second-straight of the season, after a two-round total of 9-under 137.
She is now tied for the second most victories in program history with six. Two more, and she’ll tie the record set by Stanford’s Mhairi McKay, who went on to win the LPGA.
Associate head coach Lauren Dobashi commented on the team’s play and its effect on Lee, saying, “We’re lucky we have a lot of depth because they all push each other. Everyone is working hard and trying to get into the lineup, which is making everyone better, including Andrea.”
Lee agreed, commenting, “We have such a great team and it’s so much fun to be part of [it].”
Rounding out the top 15, Stanford senior Shannon Aubert tied for fifth with 2-under 144, freshman Mika Liu tied for ninth, shooting par on 146 and sophomore Ziyi Wang went 2-over 148 to tie for 15th. Sophomore Albane Valenzuela tied for 32nd with a 5-over finish.
The team rounds out its season next week, Oct. 30 through Nov. 1, at the East Lake Cup in Atlanta, Georgia, an event for the semifinalists from the 2017 NCAA Championships.
This is the third consecutive year that Stanford will get to participate. Fans can watch all rounds on the Golf Channel.
Speaking of Georgia, on the men’s side, the Cardinal finished 11 strokes behind the winner, No. 3 Oklahoma State, at 16-under 848 at the Golf Club of Georgia. The team was lead by junior Brandon Wu, who tied for 12th with 5-under 211.
He was followed by senior Franklin Huang, who tied for 23rd, senior Jeffrey Swegle and sophomore Henry Shimp, who tied for 44th and junior Isaiah Salinda, who tied for 54th.
Like the women’s team, Stanford’s men’s lineup this season speaks to the depth of their team after three events, where eight different players have competed in the starting five. Given that two were freshmen, the future of the team should be good as the players continue to grow and improve.
The near future for the men’s team will be at the St. Mary’s Invitational, its final tournament of the fall at Poppy Hills Golf Club in Pebble Beach, CA, from Nov. 6-8.
Contact Ariana Rollins at arianar ‘at’ stanford.edu.