2019 NCAA Championships
Friday, May 17 – Wednesday, May 22
Blessings Golf Club (Fayetteville, Ark.)
Par 73 (6,473 yards)
Live Results
No. 4 Stanford begins play in the NCAA Championships on Friday at Blessings Golf Club in Fayetteville, Arkansas. The Cardinal advanced out of the East Lansing Regional by virtue of their fourth-place finish.
"We're just excited to be going," Margot and Mitch Milias Director of Women's Golf Anne Walker said. "Once you get to the national championship, all 24 teams have a chance to get hot and we're preparing like it's going to be us. Hopefully it will be.
"We haven't seen the course, but I've heard many people say it's really challenging. We're prepared for that as the Stanford Golf Course is really challenging. It demands off the tee, it demands on the second shot. We're used to playing that type of course."
Stanford is looking for its second national championship in program history. The Cardinal has finished in the Top 5 10 times in program history at NCAA Championships and has 16 Top 10 finishes.
"It's a long week, but luckily we have some players with that experience," Walker continued. "Last week we struggled on the first day of Regionals, but that was a good reminder for us. If you have that same round at NCAAs, you can't come back from it. No matter what is happening on the course, we have to keep grinding through every shot.
"Usually at this event you're going to have one great day and one day where you struggle, but it's the teams that keep their struggle day to a minimum that are going to make it to match play."
First Round Tee Times (Off 10th Tee) w/ Vanderbilt, Florida State
1:01 p.m. CT/11:01 a.m. PT -- #5 Mika Liu
1:12 p.m. CT/11:12 a.m. PT -- #4 Ziyi Wang
1:23 p.m. CT/11:23 a.m. PT -- #3 Aline Krauter
1:34 p.m. CT/11:34 a.m. PT -- #2 Albane Valenzuela
1:45 p.m. CT/11:45 a.m. PT -- #1 Andrea Lee
Cardinal at NCAA Championships: Stanford makes its 10th straight appearance at the NCAA Championships in 2019 and the program's 28th all-time appearance. The Cardinal have made it to the semifinals in four straight years, winning Stanford's only national title in 2015.
The Format: All 24 teams and 12 individuals will play 18 holes on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. The field will be cut to 15 teams and nine individuals for the fourth round on Monday. Following Monday's round, the individual medalist will be honored, and the field will be cut to eight teams for match play. The quarterfinal and semifinal matches will take place on Tuesday and the national championship match will be held on Wednesday.
ANNIKA Award Watch List: Two Cardinal golfers – Andrea Lee and Albane Valenzuela – are on the ANNIKA Award final watch list, which consists of the top 10 players in the country. Stanford, Wake Forest and USC are the only three schools with two golfers on the final list.
PING WGCA Player of the Year Watch List: Lee and Valenzuela are also on the watch list for the PING WGCA Player of the Year Award. The Cardinal is one of just two schools with two golfers on the 10-person watch list. Only the top 60 players from the Golfstat and Golfweek/Sagarin Rankings are considered, and players must have played at least 15 competitive rounds to have been considered.
Lee chasing history: Junior Andrea Lee looks to become the program's leader in career wins. She has eight career wins in 32 starts, tied with Mhairi McKay (1994-97) for the most in school history. In her 32 career starts, she has posted eight wins, 26 top-10 and 20 top-5 finishes. This season, Lee has two victories with six Top 10s. Eleven of her 22 rounds have been under par with 13 rounds at even or better. Her scoring average is 71.86 while playing the toughest schedule in college golf with a 461-52-15 record.
Valenzuela vaulting Card: Junior Albane Valenzuela has continued her standout career for Stanford this season and is a finalist for the ANNIKA Award. She posted a win at the East Lake Cup in October and tied for first at the Pac-12 Championship. She has four Top 10 finished with eight rounds under par and 11 rounds out of 22 at even par or better. She has a scoring average of 72.23 this season.
Card at The Regionals: Stanford advanced to its 10th straight NCAA Championships with its fourth-place finish at the East Lansing Regional. The Cardinal shot a 14-over 878 and were led by Albane Valenzuela's and Aline Krauter's 5-over 221. Andrea Lee shot 6-over 222, Ziyi Wang shot a 9-over 225 and Mike Liu was also 9-over to help the Card advance.
Card at Pac-12 Championships: The Cardinal finished fourth at Pac-12 Championships, led by Albane Valenzuela's 4-under 209 to tie for first. Valenzuela lost in a playoff to Arizona State's Olivia Mehaffey. Andrea Lee also finished Top 10 at Pac-12 Championships with an eighth-place finish.
Academic Leaders: Women's Golf was one of 11 Cardinal programs with a perfect Academic Progress Rate (APR) score from the NCAA and one of 12 Stanford programs with a multi-year score in the top 10 percent of their respective sports.
The Forecast: Friday's first round calls for a high of 83 degrees and partly cloudy skies … Saturday calls for an 80% chance of thunderstorms with a high of 73 … Sunday calls for partly cloudy skies and also a high of 73 … Monday's final round of stroke plays calls for PM Thunderstorms and a high of 79 … Tuesday currently calls for 74 degrees with a 50% chance of scattered storms … Wednesday's championship day match calls for a high of 79 with partly cloudy skies.
