Swinging into action for the first time this season, Stanford women’s golf dominated the links in Portland, Ore. and came away from the Molly Intercollegiate on Tuesday with the team title as well as the individual title, courtesy of senior Andrea Lee. Meanwhile, men’s golf finished ninth at the Nike College Invitational.
Lee’s first-place finish was her ninth collegiate victory with the Cardinal, topping Mhairi McKay (1994-97) for the individual title school record.
“No words can describe Andrea’s impact on the Stanford Golf program,” head coach Anne Walker told Stanford Athletics. “She has broken almost every record in the book and it’s hard to ever imagine another player coming close to matching her feat anytime soon.”
Lee was equally enthused by the team victory, honored to become the record-holder but focused on the season ahead.
“This is such a special start to the season, clinching both the individual and team victories,” Lee told Stanford Athletics. “I can’t wait to see what’s in store for us the rest of the season.”
Through three rounds of competition, women’s golf lorded over its competition, posting the first, second and fourth-lowest team scores — 3-over 291, even 288, 7-under 281 from rounds one through three — of the tournament.
Stanford’s steady improvement from round to round spelled doom for the remaining ten teams as by the end of play, the Cardinal sat at 4-under-par and owned a staggering 26-point lead over the next closest team, Oregon.
Besides Lee, freshman Angelina Ye made an impressive debut, placing second with a final score of 4-under-par in her first career collegiate tournament.
2019 Pac-12 Women’s Golfer of the Year Albane Valenzuela rounded out the top three for both the Cardinal and overall, recording the best individual round in the competition with a 5-under 67 and finishing 2-under.
Several miles west, in North Plains, Ore., men’s golf struggled in its first competition since the key losses of seniors Isaiah Salinda and Brandon Wu last season.
Stanford placed ninth in a 15-team field with only two of its five starters — senior David Snyder at 8-under for a fourth-place tie and sophomore Ethan Ng at 3-under for 18th — shooting under par.
As a team, Stanford was miles off the pace set by tournament winner Oklahoma, who shot 32 strokes better than the Cardinal’s 3-over 855 over three rounds. It was a shaky start for a men’s team looking to defend its 2019 NCAA title.
Up next, both the women’s and men’s teams will take on Cal for the Big Match on Wednesday
Contact Andrew Tan at tandrew ‘at’ stanford.edu.