Photo By James. S. Wood
TUCSON, Ariz. – Saving its best for last, the No. 3 Stanford women's golf team posted a 2-over score of 290 on Wednesday to finish third at the Pac-12 Championships at Sewailo Golf Club.
Playing in its final regular season event, the Cardinal completed the 54-hole tournament with a score of 20-over 884. No. 5 UCLA scored a wire-to-wire win by recording a 2-under score of 862, followed by Colorado at 19-over 883.
"Pretty pleased overall," said Anne Walker, the Margot and Mitch Milias Director of Women's Golf. "We had a good battle today with Arizona and happy to come out on top."
Individually, freshman Andrea Lee led Stanford by tying for third, registering rounds of 72-70-75 to finish at 1-over 217. Sophomore Lilia Vu of UCLA won her fourth consecutive start by shooting 71-66-72 to wind up at 7-under 209.
Lee now has seven top 3 showings in nine starts this season, including three wins.
Freshman Albane Valenzuela, energized by an eagle at the par-5 fifth, closed with an even-par 72 and tied for 11th at 6-over 222. Junior Shannon Aubert produced the team's best round of the day, carding four birdies and a 1-under 71 to tie for 17th at 9-over 225.
Senior Casey Danielson also contributed her lowest score of the tournament with a 72, but saw her streak of eight straight top 10 finishes snapped. Danielson ended at 12-over 228 and tied for 22nd.
Freshman Madie Chou shot 80 and tied for 30th at 14-over 230.
"The frosh continue to learn and grow and that remains the goal," Walker said. "Get a little better each day."
On Thursday, the 72-team field for the NCAA Regional Championships, May 8-10, will be announced at 8 a.m. PT on the Golf Channel. Walker will be interviewed live.
The four sites are the Scarlet Course at Ohio State in Columbus, Ohio; The Rawls Course in Lubbock, Texas; the University of Georgia Course in Athens, Georgia; and the University of New Mexico Championship Course in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
"Looking forward to see where we will compete," she said.
Eighteen teams and six individuals will play at each site. The low six teams and three individuals not on those teams advance to the NCAA Championships, May 19-24 at Rich Harvest Farms in Sugar Grove, Illinois.
