ATLANTA — From her first season on The Farm, there was no doubt that Sadie Englemann would be a star at Stanford for years to come. After earning a win as a freshman and eventually helping the Cardinal to a national championship in 2022, Englemann is back on top. In the stroke play portion of the 2023 East Lake Cup, Englemann rose to the top of the leaderboard and claimed her second career victory, helping Stanford earn the top seed in the field for match play, which begins on Tuesday.
Englemann was consistently in the picture in what turned out to be a tough day at Atlanta Athletic Club. She was even on the front nine, but it was how she started the back nine that put her in contention. She birdied on three straight holes (10-12) to take the lead, and then hit par the rest of the way to finish with a 3-under 69. Englemann was one of just five golfers in the field to finish under par.
The win for Englemann is the third by a Cardinal in the history of the East Lake Cup. She joins Andrea Lee (2016) and Albane Valenzuela (2018) as individual champions for Stanford.
One of the other individuals to finish under par was Megha Ganne, who finished with a 1-under 71 on Monday. Ganne nearly finished the day with a clean round, where she entered the 18th hole just one stroke back of Englemann for the lead. She bogeyed on the final hole to finish tied for second with Jennie Park of Texas A&M and Cindy Kou of USC.
Another Card near the top of the leaderboard on Monday was Paula Martin Sampedro, who continues to show a lot of confidence in her freshman season. Martin Sampedro shot an even-72 in stroke play but tied for the tournament high in birdies with four. She was the only Cardinal to birdie on the ninth hole and she hit at least one birdie on a par-3, par-4, and par-5.
With those three finishing inside the top-six, Stanford (288) was able to earn the top seed for match play by three strokes over Wake Forest (291) and USC (292). They will take on Texas A&M (301) on Wednesday morning with a spot in the championship match on the line. Stanford has never won the East Lake Cup, finishing no better than second in the event (2017 and 2018).
East Lake Cup (Atlanta Athletic Club, par 72)
| Name | Round 1 | Match Play | Match Play | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Stanford | 288 (E) | -- | -- | 288 (E) |
| 1. Sadie Englemann | 69 (-3) | -- | -- | 69 (-3) |
| T2. Megha Ganne | 71 (-1) | -- | -- | 71 (-1) |
| T6. Paula Martín Sampedro | 72 (E) | -- | -- | 72 (E) |
| T15. Kelly Xu | 76 (+4) | -- | -- | 76 (+4) |
| T19. Caroline Sturdza | 79 (+7) | -- | -- | 79 (+7) |