Three months from the day it began, it ended. But the abbreviated 2021 campaign for Stanford women's golf was one of the most successful in program history. In nine full-field events, the Cardinal racked up six wins and two more runner-up finishes.
Stanford's NCAA run was arguably the most dominant in the sport's recent history, as the Cardinal won the Stanford Regional by 30 strokes and then dominated stroke play at the NCAA Championships, besting runner-up Duke by 13 strokes. However, the NCAA Champion is determined through match play, and the Cardinal was bested by Arizona in the quarterfinals to end the season.
Wins
- Stanford Dual
- The Gunrock Invitational
- Fresno State Classic
- U.S. Open Collegiate Invitational
- NCAA Stanford Regional
- NCAA Championships Stroke Play
Historic Heck
A full list of Rachel Heck's accomplishments, to date, are below.
- NCAA Individual Champion, the first in school history
- Ping/WGCA Player of the Year, the first in school history
- ANNIKA Award winner, the first in school history
- Honda Sport Award for Golf winner, the first in program history
- Pac-12 Golfer of the Year, the second in school history (Albane Valenzuela, 2019)
- Ping/WGCA Freshman of the Year, the second in school history (Andrea Lee, 2017)
- Pac-12 Newcomer of the Year, the second in school history (Andrea Lee, 2017)
- WGCA First Team All-American
- All-Pac-12 First Team
- Pac-12 Golfer of the Month (April)
- Became the third woman to sweep the postseason in NCAA history (conference, regionals, nationals)
- Scoring average: 69.72 (NCAA Record)
- Wins: 6 (school record for single season)
Ye's Outstanding Campaign
While Rachel Heck stole the spotlight, Angelina Ye quietly put together one of the best season's in program history. She became the fifth woman in school history to finish Top 3 at NCAA Championships, while turning in the third-best scoring average in program history. She finished in the Top 11 at all nine events, tallying four Top-5 finishes.
- WGCA First Team All-American
- All-Pac-12 First Team
- Finalist for the Class of 2021 Honda Sport Award for Golf
- Scoring average: 71.36 (third-best in school history)
Other Notables
- Stanford was the only program in the country with two WGCA First Team All-Americans (Heck, Ye). Anne Walker has now produced a first team All-American in all nine seasons as head coach.
- Stanford qualified for NCAA Match Play for the sixth straight time and is the only program who has made the cut to the final eight at all six national championships since the format was introduced in 2015.
- The Cardinal tallied seven team rounds at 10-under or better, including setting a new school record for 18 (-13, NCAA Stanford Regional 2nd Round), 36 (-25, NCAA Stanford Regional) and 54 holes (-28, 2021 NCAA Stanford Regional) this season.
- In addition to Heck's NCAA single-season scoring average, fellow classmate Sadie Englemann's 72.92 scoring average ws the fourth best in program history for a freshman.
- Ye's 71.36 scoring average was second-best by a sophomore in program history and third-best overall, behind Heck and Andrea Lee's 2017-18 (71.16). Fellow sophomore Brooke Seay's 73.08 average was sixth-best by a second-year player in program history.
- Junior Aline Krauter's 73.40 scoring average was the fourth-best by a third-year player in program history.
- Rachel Heck set the program's new 54-hole school record with a 16-under 200 at the Fresno State Classic.
- Anne Walker was named Pac-12 and WGCA West Region Coach of the Year.