ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – With three players taming par, the top-ranked Stanford women's golf team combined for a tournament-best 5-under score of 283 on Tuesday to take a four-stroke into the final round of the NCAA Albuquerque Regional at the UNM Championship Course.
The Cardinal improved seven shots from Monday's opening round and has a 36-hole total of 3-under 573 in the 54-hole tournament. Pepperdine is second (577), followed by USC (580), Duke (585) and Cal (586).
Following play Wednesday, the top six teams and three individuals who are not members of the qualifying schools advance to next week's NCAA Championship at Rich Harvest Farms in Sugar Grove, Illinois.
For the second consecutive day, Stanford was sparked by freshman Albane Valenzuela from Geneva, Switzerland. She made four birdies and one bogey, touring the front nine in 3-under 33, to post a 3-under 69. Coupled with Monday's 71, Valenzuela has a two-round score of 4-under 140, good for a one-stroke advantage over Julianne Alvarez of Washington and Martina Edberg of CSU Fullerton.
Freshman Andrea Lee and junior Shannon Aubert also recorded sub-par scores. Lee fired a bounce back 2-under 70, making five birdies and two bogeys, while Aubert tallied four birdies en route to a 71. Aubert is tied for seventh at 1-under 143, while Lee is knotted for 13th with senior teammate Casey Danielson (73) at 1-over 145.
Sophomore Sierra Kersten (76) is tied for 66th at 10-over 154.
Through two rounds, Stanford ranks first in the 18-team field in par-3 (-1) and par-5 (-11) scoring, second in birdies (28) and third in pars (119).
The Cardinal tee off Wednesday from 8:09 a.m. to 8:45 a.m. PT and are paired with Pepperdine and USC.
Live scoring can be found on GoStanford.com.
