PULLMAN, Wash. – No. 1 Stanford women's golf fired the second-best round in program history to open play at the NCAA Pullman Regional at Palouse Ridge Golf Club on Monday. The Cardinal, with its 21-under 267, leads the Regional by five strokes over USC and sits 16 shots ahead of the cut line.
Rose Zhang and Sadie Englemann are the co-leaders following 8-under 64s. They own a one-shot lead over UC Riverside's Tiffany Le.
The only round in program history that was better that Monday's was a 23-under 265 in the first round of the 2022 Gunrock Invitational. The Cardinal's best Regional round in program history was 13-under previously.
Making their first NCAA Regional appearances, both Kelly Xu (4-under 68) and Megha Ganne (1-under 71) tallied counting scores for Stanford during Monday's opening round. Not to be outdone, senior Angelina Ye fired an even-par round of 72.
For Zhang, the 8-under 64 was her second-best round of the season and of her career, bested only by her 9-under 63 at Pebble Beach in September, a mark that set the women's course record. Zhang was 5-under on the Par 5s to lead the field, while tallying a 4-under on the Par 4s to tie for the best mark in the tournament. She had eight birdies, tied for most in the field, and an eagle on the par-5 18th hole to finish her day.
Zhang shot a 2-under 34 on her opening nine Monday, picking up birdies on Nos. 1, 5 and 8. She was 2-under after a bogey at No. 13, but finished a scorching 6-under over the final five holes to close the day tied for the lead.
For Englemann, the 8-under 64 marked her best round of her career by three shots. She played the Par 4s at 4-under, tied with Zhang for the best mark in the field, and was also 4-under on the Par 5s. Her eight birdies were tied with Zhang for the most in the field, but more impressively, she had 10 pars and no bogeys on the day.
Englemann tallied a clean scorecard, beginning her day with seven straight pars before three straight birdies on Nos. 8, 9 and 10. Over her final 11 holes, she registered eight birdies and three pars to notch her career-best card.
As a team, Stanford led the field on the Par 5s at 14-under and was six shots better than any other school on the Par 4s (8-under). The Cardinal had a tournament-best 30 birdies during the opening 18 holes.
Stanford will begin its second round on Tuesday at 9:06 a.m. and play with 3-seed USC (No. 2 on leaderboard, 16-under) and 6-seed Texas Tech (No. 3, 11-under). The top five teams after 54 holes will advance to NCAA Championships at Grayhawk Golf Club (May 19-25). That cut line currently sits at 5-under, as Baylor and Sacramento State are tied for fourth following one round.
NCAA Pullman Regional (Palouse Ridge Golf Club, par 72)
| Name | Round 1 | Round 2 | Round 3 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Stanford | 267 (-21) | -- | -- | 267 (-21) |
| 1T. Rose Zhang | 64 (-8) | -- | -- | 64 (-8) |
| T1. Sadie Englemann | 64 (-8) | -- | -- | 64 (-8) |
| T9. Kelly Xu | 68 (-4) | -- | -- | 68 (-4) |
| T24. Megha Ganne | 71 (-1) | -- | -- | 71 (-1) |
| T29. Angelina Ye | 72 (E) | -- | -- | 72 (E) |