No. 1 Stanford women's golf heads back to Grayhawk Golf Club looking to defend its NCAA title from 2022. The NCAA Championships begin Friday, May 19 with the championship match set for Wednesday, May 24. Grayhawk will play as a 6,384-yard, par 72.
Thirty teams will take the course for three rounds of stroke play on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. The field will be cut to 15 teams after Sunday's round, with the final round of stroke play taking place Monday. The individual national champion will be crowned on Monday and the top eight teams will advance to match play. The quarterfinals and semifinals of match play take place Tuesday with the championship match on Wednesday.
GOLF Channel will have live broadcasts on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday.
Back To Defend Its Title: No. 1 Stanford won the 2022 National Championship, defeating No. 2 Oregon, 3-2 in the national championship match. The Cardinal has won two national titles in its history, also winning in 2015.\
Back-To-Back: Stanford individuals have won back-to-back national titles. Rachel Heck won the 2021 national title while Rose Zhang earned medalist honors in 2022.
NCAA Championships Appearances: No. 1 Stanford women’s golf will make its 31st NCAA Championships appearance and 13th straight, the second-longest active streak in the country. The Cardinal has qualified in 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2021, 2022 and 2023
The Season To Date: Stanford has won six times in 2022-23, including a perfect fall campaign. The Cardinal won the Carmel Cup (Sept. 2-4, Pebble Beach Golf Links), Stephens Cup (Oct. 10-12, Seminole Golf Club), Stanford Intercollegiate (Oct. 21-23, Stanford Golf Course), Pac-12 Preview (Oct. 31-Nov. 2, Nanea Golf Club), Juli Inkster Invitational (March 6-7, Meadow Club), Silicon Valley Showcase (April 10-11, Green Hills Country Club) and the NCAA Pullman Regional (May 8-10, Palouse Ridge Golf Club).
NCAA Regionals History: Stanford women’s golf made NCAA Regional history, winning the Pullman Regional with a cumulative, 54-hole score of 50-under 814. That mark, which tied a school record, was the lowest score ever at a Regional site by 17 strokes. Additionally, Rose Zhang finished at 19-under 197, three strokes better than any individual has ever finished at an NCAA Regional.
Zhang’s Historic Sophomore Season: Rose Zhang enters NCAA Championships having won seven of nine events thus far, not inclusive of her 2023 Augusta National Women’s Amateur championship in early April. She has claimed individual wins at the Carmel Cup, Stanford Intercollegiate, Pac-12 Preview, Therese Hession Regional Challenge, Juli Inkster Invitational, Pac-12 Championship and NCAA Pullman Regional. Her scoring average in 2022-23 is 68.70 through 27 rounds, almost a stroke ahead of her NCAA record 69.68 scoring average from her freshman season. Her career scoring average (through 58 events) is 69.22, better than Lorena Ochoa’s NCAA record (60 rounds) of 70.85. Zhang has 11 career wins in 19 events played. Only Tiger Woods (26 events), Patrick Rodgers (35 events) and Maverick McNealy (45 events) have won 11 times in Stanford golf history. Andrea Lee (9 wins in 32 events) previously owned the women’s golf career wins record. Zhang is a finalist for the Annika Award, which she won in 2022. Among her career victories are the U.S. Women’s Amateur (2020), U.S. Girls Junior (2021), NCAA Championship (2022) and Augusta National Women’s Amateur (2023). If Zhang wins the 2023 NCAA Championship, she will tie Ochoa (12 wins) for the most wins in Pac-12 women’s golf history, set the Stanford all-gender record and be the first woman to ever win back-to-back individual titles.
EngleBombs Enjoying Strong Junior Season: While Stanford has missed Rachel Heck and Brooke Seay due to injury for the entirety of the spring, junior Sadie Englemann (Austin, Texas) has stepped up to fill the void. The junior has a 71.33 scoring average over 30 rounds. The All-Pac-12 performer has eight Top-13 finishes in 10 events with six Top 10s. Her best finish of the season came at the NCAA Pullman Regional, where her 15-under 201 was the fifth-best score in program history over 54 holes. She finished second there and also tied for second at the Silicon Valley Showcase. Englemann also has tied for third (Juli Inkster Invitational), finished fourth at the Anuenue Classic, tied for fourth at the Carmel Cup, and has a tie for eighth at the Stephens Cup on her resume.
Freshmen Standouts: Megha Ganne and Kelly Xu will occupy Stanford’s third and fourth spots in the lineup. Ganne, who earned All-Pac-12, had seven Top-20 finishes on the year and owns a 72.15 scoring average. Xu, who has a 72.81 average, has finished inside the Top 10 in two of the last three events and has played six of her last nine rounds under par.
A Heck Of A Surprise: Junior Rachel Heck returns from injury to occupy Stanford’s fifth spot in the lineup. She played just three events in the fall and had surgery in early March. The 2021 national champion and Annika Award winner owns a 71.67 scoring average in nine rounds this season and a 71.21 career scoring average in 57 rounds. Her last collegiate round was Oct. 23 at the Stanford Intercollegiate.
Seay What?: Senior Brooke Seay also returns from injury and will be Stanford’s alternate at NCAA Championships. She last competed collegiately at the Pac-12 Preview in the fall. Six of her 12 events in the fall were played at even par or better. The 2022 Elite 90 Award winner and first team All-American, Seay was named the Pac-12 Scholar-Athlete of the Year in 2023.
