CARLSBAD, Calif. – Stanford University’s womens golf team beat the University of Southern California (USC) 4-1 to earn their fourth national championship title in program history. The Cardinal and Trojans were the top two teams going into the NCAA Division I Women’s Golf Championship tournament. They eventually faced off in the final round of the tournament on Wednesday afternoon. For the last three years, the tournament has been held at the Omni La Costa Resort & Spa.
How does the tournament keep score?
The tournament began on May 22 with the nation’s top 30 Division I women’s golf teams. For the first four days of the tournament, teams competed in stroke play on an 18-hole course. Each school had a lineup of five golfers that competed in stroke play. In stroke play, the golfer with the lowest number of strokes wins, so each day, teams with the highest stroke counts were eliminated until there were eight teams left in the quarterfinal.
On May 26 and 27, the final eight schools competed in a bracket-style tournament to determine the national champion. However, instead of stroke play, teams competed in singles match play on the same course.
In singles match play, two golfers on opposing teams play head-to-head with each hole counting as an individual contest. Players beat their opponent by winning more holes than their opponent. For all rounds of singles match play, each school has five golfers compete. This means that at least three out of the five players have to beat their opponent to win that round. Once three golfers from the same team have won their singles matches, the remaining matches end whether or not the players have finished playing the round. For those remaining matches, whichever player is winning at that time gets credit for winning that round.
Final Round Recap
After breezing through stroke play and beating their opponents in singles match play, top-seeded Stanford and No. 2 seed USC faced off on Wednesday afternoon to decide the next national champion.
The competition began with Stanford’s Paula Martín Sampedro and USC’s Catherine Park. While Sampedro went into the tournament ranked higher, Park played significantly better in the stroke-play rounds, placing her fourth on the Player Leaderboard. Sampedro and Park kept it close for the first eight holes as both players led by at most one. However, Sampedro did not lose a single hole after Hole 8 which eventually led to Stanford’s first victory.
USC’s Kylie Chong and Stanford’s Andrea Revuelta were the second pair to tee off. Both Chong and Revuelta struggled in stroke play, but redeemed themselves as their teams advanced to match play. Revuelta and Chong started the match with a tie but Revuelta took the lead from Holes 3 to 9.
“Unfortunately, we got off to a slow start,” said USC head coach Justin Silverstein to Golf Channel. “Against a team like this, you can’t give them that many holes.”
Despite lacking momentum throughout the first few holes, Chong found her footing on the back half of the course. Although the pair ended their play after Stanford clinched, Chong was able to put USC on the board for its sole singles win.
Stanford’s Meja Örtengren prepares to putt at the third hole. Soleil Dam/@mediabysoleil
The third pair to compete were Stanford’s Meja Örtengren and USC’s Jasmine Koo. Örtengren and Koo went into the tournament with similar rankings and stayed the same throughout stroke play. However, Örtengren dominated on Wednesday afternoon and secured Stanford’s second win of the afternoon. She did not lose a single hole and led by as many as six.
USC’s Elise Lee gets ready to tee off. Soleil Dam/@mediabysoleil
Stanford’s Kelly Xu and USC’s Elise Lee were the fourth pair to tee off and had arguably the most competitive matchup. They were tied nine times throughout the course and had one of the longer matches of the afternoon. Xu and Lee were tied through Hole 15 and playing Hole 16, but midway through the hole, Stanford’s Megha Ganne won her match, the third for Stanford, to clinch the title.
“It was really special for Megha,” said Stanford head coach Anne Walker to Golf Channel. “She could have this moment after all she’s done for Stanford.”
Ganne and USC’s Bailey Shoemaker were the final pair to compete, but Ganne had momentum from the start. She led throughout the whole course and sealed the national title for the Cardinal.
The Omni La Costa Resort & Spa is scheduled to host the tournament through 2028, so be sure to get your tickets for next year’s tournament.
Top photo via Soleil Dam/@mediabysoleil.
