AFTER OPENING the season in style with a Carmel Cup win, Stanford women's golf brought the clubs overseas as the team spent a week in Scotland on a foreign tour. Not only was there time for a lot of rounds of golf, but the team also had plenty of time for sightseeing while taking in one of the most memorable trips of their lives.
The team departed on September 10 and made its way back to the United States one week later. During a week abroad, the itinerary was jam-packed as can be. Despite only being on the ground in Scotland for six days, the Cardinal played seven rounds of golf, including two rounds on their second day in the "Home of Golf."
"It was definitely a little bit tiring, but it was so fun," Rachel Heck explained. Heck is one of the senior leaders on this team, looking to rebound into the top spot in Stanford's lineup after being limited to just 10 rounds last season. "It's nice to be able to train before the season in a place like Scotland so worked out well. We were still pretty jet lagged at first, but we were of course really happy."
A trip like this was a great opportunity for Heck to fine-tune herself in advance of the continuation of the regular season. Heck noted that she did not feel like she was up to par during the season-opening Carmel Cup, but that getting back into the swing of it on a daily basis was refreshing.
"Being able to play rounds competitively against each other is super important," Heck continued. "I feel a lot better after playing all of those rounds in Scotland."
There is so much history behind golf in Scotland, making it the perfect spot for a foreign tour. So much so, that this is the second time the team has gone to Scotland under Margot and Mitch Milias Director of Women's Golf Anne Walker, with 2019 being the team's previous trip. Origins of the sport date back to the early 1500s, and golf has grown to see nearly 600 courses in Scotland, easily the most per capita in the world.
That history is something that Walker was hoping the team would appreciate during the time abroad, and is part of the reason why she helped craft the itinerary of the trip around so many historical locations.
"It brings you back to really a joy and love of the game because it's not precision play anymore as much as it is more creative," said Walker about the decision to choose Scotland for the foreign tour. "Really anchoring into the history of the game, where the game came from, and how fortunate we are to be part of such a long history game.
"Also, for the players to really remember why they play and really rekindle that love of the game that you have when you're a kid where all you're really trying to do is just get the ball in the hole."
Seeing as there is such a rich history of golf in Scotland, that leads to differences in the numerous courses located there versus here in the United States. Walker alluded to those differences relating to precision versus creativity, and that was echoed by Heck as well.
"Some of us had played links courses before, but I hadn't until I went to Scotland for the Solheim Cup," Heck said. Links courses must be located along coastline and the soil is particularly sandy, making it ideal for golf and nothing else. "One day the wind was blowing so hard that one hole I made a pitching wedge [go 190 yards] and the next hole, coming back into the wind, I hit a five iron about 110 yards. It was crazy."
Coach Walker continued about the differences between golfing in the U.S. versus in Scotland: "The perfect golf swing doesn't always work versus the ability to hit different shots, so your attention becomes less centered on golf swing and your attention becomes more centered on getting the golf ball in the hole in a variety different ways."
Being overseas for a week leads to so many memories both on the course and off of it, and those moments help bring teams together. Stanford holds the top ranking in the Golfweek Preseason rankings and the expectation is that this team will compete for another national championship. Not only does competition need to be fierce to achieve that goal, but the team culture must be strong. Stanford feels it is in a good place heading into a season that should see continued success into late May.
In the case of Heck, who has been around the team for three years and is going into a fourth, she knows how important that is to the success of a program. All three years that she has been with the Cardinal, the team has either won the national championship (2022) or had an individual national champion (including Heck in 2021).
"One of the most important things for us is fostering a good culture. We know how vital that is for success on the golf course," Heck mentioned. "Getting to spend that time together with [freshman] Paula Martin Sampedro…after this trip, we feel are like we've known her forever. We're already so close when we are a team. They are my best friends."
Going one step further, Walker had two key takeaways that she hoped the team would have following their week-long excursion to Scotland.
"I hope it's a shared experience that they have forever. You create and develop friendships for life, people that will be by you up, down, and all around. That's an important part of the college experience. The other part is, yes, we are trying to win championships, but we are trying to create terrific student-athlete experiences. It's a shared experience that will help them this year and moving forward, but it's also a life experience. And that's part of the commitment of being part of this program is that you will have a full student-athlete experience."
The Big Match against California on September 28 marks a resumption to the fall schedule for the Cardinal. It will compete in three more tournaments in the fall before entering the heart of the schedule in the spring, gearing up towards another NCAA Championship run in May.
