Freshman Rose Zhang added another accomplishment to a long list of them on Tuesday, as she was named the Honda Sport Award winner for Golf. Zhang is the second Stanford women's golfer in program history to earn the award for golf, joining Rachel Heck who won in 2021.
"I am proud to represent Stanford and be named the Honda Sport Award for Golf winner," Zhang said. "The three other finalists are all incredible golfers and women, and that makes it even more special to be selected. The winners from the other 11 sports all accomplished amazing things this year and it's truly an honor to be mentioned alongside each and every one of them. Thank you to my coaches, teammates and family who have supported me and made this year so special."
A native of Irvine, Calif., Zhang looks to become Stanford's fifth woman to be named the Honda Cup Collegiate Woman Athlete of the year. If she wins, she'd join Simone Manuel (2018), Katie Ledecky (2017) and Tara Kirk (2004) from swimming & diving, as well as volleyball's Ogonna Nnamani (2005).
"We are all thrilled for Rose," Margot and Mitch Milias Director of Women's Golf Anne Walker said. "She's a deserving winner in every sense of the word. The most impressive thing about this year though was Rose's humility and team-first mentality at every moment. She's a first-class person, world-class golfer and excels as a student. She is a fantastic representative of Stanford University."
Zhang was chosen by a vote of administrators from over 1,000 NCAA member schools. Finalists included Alexandra Forsterling (Arizona State), Ingrid Lindblad (LSU) and Natasha Andrea Oon (San José State).
While Zhang was just the program's second winner of the award, four other Cardinal have been finalists for the Honda Sport Award for Golf – Heck (2021), Angelina Ye (2021), Albane Valenzuela (2019) and Andrea Lee (2017, 2018).
Zhang was the 2022 NCAA individual national champion, the second in program history, and helped the Cardinal to the 2022 NCAA team national championship. She became the first Stanford golfer – man or woman – to win her first three collegiate starts and tallied four total wins during her freshman campaign. In 10 starts, she had eight Top-2 finishes, a tie for fourth and a tie for 10th.
She was named the ANNIKA Award winner, the WGCA Player and Freshman of the Year, a first team All-American, the Pac-12 Golfer and Freshman of the Year and first team All-Pac-12. Zhang set the new NCAA single-season scoring record with a 69.68 average in 31 rounds.
The Honda Sport Award has been presented annually by the CWSA for the past 46 years to the top women athletes in 12 NCAA- sanctioned sports and signifies "the best of the best in collegiate athletics". The winner of the sport award becomes a finalist for the Collegiate Woman Athlete of the Year and the prestigious 2022 Honda Cup, which will be presented on a live telecast on CBS Sports Network on June 27th at 9 pm ET/6 pm PT
The CWSA, entering its 46th year, has honored the nation's top NCAA women athletes for their superior athletic skills, leadership, academic excellence and eagerness to participate in community service. Since commencing its partnership in 1986, Honda has provided more than $3.4 million in institutional grants to the universities of the award winners and nominees to support women's athletics programs.