ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – Sparked by individual winner Albane Valenzuela, the top-ranked Stanford women's golf team captured the school's first outright NCAA Regional title Wednesday by posting a seven-stroke victory over Duke at the University of New Mexico South Championship Course.
The Cardinal shared the crown in 2016 and 2007.
Playing in breezy conditions, Stanford closed with a final-round 5-over 293 and finished the 54-hole, 18-team tournament at 2-over 866. Duke was second at 873, followed by Pepperdine (879), USC (884), Cal and Miami (888). All six advance to the NCAA Championship, May 19-24 at Rich Harvest Farms in Sugar Grove, Illinois.
The victory was the Cardinal's fifth of the season, establishing a new program record.
"We expected the conditions (Wednesday) to be more mellow, but it was the hardest of the three days," Anne Walker, the Margot and Mitch Milias Director of Women's Golf said afterward.
Valenzuela, a freshman from Geneva, Switzerland, posted a brilliant 2-under 70 in the final round to wind up at 6-under 210, three strokes ahead of Tatiana Wijaya of Pepperdine. It was the first career triumph for Valenzuela, sidelined earlier this spring by injury.
"It has definitely been an up and down year," Valenzuela said. "Coming to college, I expected more from myself, and after my bike accident, I really wanted to get back and get this win."
Valenzuela started the last round with a one-shot advantage and never surrendered it. She birdied the first two holes, reeled off 10 consecutive pars, then birdied the par-4 14th hole. Her only blemish was a bogey at the par-3 16th.
Despite the challenging conditions all week, Valenzuela was a model of consistency, sustaining only four bogeys.
The Cardinal depth showed, as four players placed in the top 11.
Freshman Andrea Lee, a three-time winner this season and ranked No. 2 in the country, gamely finished her final round with 12-straight pars. She shot 73 and tied for eighth at 2-over 218, her eighth top 10 showing of the campaign.
Senior Casey Danielson (74) and junior Shannon Aubert (76) finished at 3-over 219 and tied for 11th. Sophomore Sierra Kersten (77) tied for 66th at 15-over 231.
Stanford began the final round with a four-stroke cushion and was never challenged. All five Cardinal players birdied the par-5 first hole.
Walker's lone team goal this week was to advance to Illinois.
"It was just about getting one of those six spots," she said. "That's the business of it. But now that it's done, I can say this was really hard, but also really satisfying."
The Cardinal led the field in par-3 (3.03) and par-5 (4.77) scoring, finished first in pars (181) and third in birdies (37). Valenzuela tied for first in par-4 scoring (-2), and tied for fourth in pars (40) and birdies (10). Lee tied for first in par-5 scoring (-6).
The NCAA Championship, hosted by Northern Illinois University, will feature 24 teams and 12 individuals. Following 54 holes of stroke play, the field will be cut to the top 15 teams and nine individuals not on an advancing team to play one more round of stroke play to determine the top eight teams for match play. Golf Channel will provide live coverage May 22, 23 and 24.
Stanford secured its first NCAA title in 2015 and finished second last year.
Top individual finishes by a Cardinal in NCAA Regional competition:
Albane Valenzuela, first, 2017
Andrea Baxter, second, 1995
Andrea Baxter, t-second, 1997
Mari Chung, t-third, 2007
Mhairi McKay, t-third, 1994
Martha Richards, t-third, 1993
Mhairi McKay, fourth, 1995
Sally Watson, fourth, 2012
Casey Danielson, t-fourth, 2016
Kim Rowton, fifth, 2001