Stanford women’s golf will tee it up Wednesday, competing in the Olympic Club Collegiate on the famed Lake Course in San Francisco.
The Cardinal’s starting lineup will consist of junior Aline Krauter, sophomores Brooke Seay and Angelina Ye and freshmen Rachel Heck and Sadie Englemann. Fifth-year Ziyi Wang, junior Calista Reyes and freshman Rebecca Becht will play in the tournament as individuals.
While the Olympic Club Collegiate will not affect the outcome of the Cardinal’s season, it is still a great opportunity for the team. The Olympic Club is set to host the U.S. Women’s Open, a professional major championship, in June. This week’s event will give the Cardinal invaluable experience on a major championship golf course and will help them prepare for NCAA Regionals.
The tournament will be particularly valuable for Krauter and Heck, who have both qualified for the U.S. Women’s Open.
Krauter earned her spot in the U.S. Women’s Open last summer through the British Women’s Amateur. She shot 76 and 72 in the stroke play qualifying rounds to advance to match play as the 48th-seeded golfer. She then won five straight matches to reach the final against England’s Annabell Fuller. After a rocky start, Krauter rebounded from a three-hole deficit to beat Fuller one-up. With her win, Krauter not only joined an illustrious group of amateur champions dating back to 1893, but she also qualified for four major championships.
Heck more recently entered the field for the U.S. Women’s Open, advancing through sectional qualifying out of Marin Country Club. After making bogey on her second hole in the morning, she did not register an over-par score for the rest of the day. In the end, her eight-under-par total for the two rounds earned her medalist honors and a trip to her second U.S. Women’s Open.
At 6,610 yards, the Olympic Club Lake Course is easily the longest golf course Stanford has faced all year. However, the yardage is not the only difficult aspect of the venue. The Olympic Club sits on a famously hilly piece of property, requiring players to hit approach shots off of uneven lies to severely sloped greens. The key for the Cardinal will be to avoid big numbers; even-par will be a great score.
The tournament field is small, with only local teams competing. Stanford will face off against Cal, UC Davis and the University of San Francisco.
The Cardinal are set to tee off in the one-round tournament Wednesday afternoon in San Francisco.