CARLSBAD, Calif. — After spending the last two weeks of competition in colder weather up north, Stanford women's golf make the trek south to Carlsbad for the 2024 NCAA Championship. Hosted at the Omni La Costa Resort & Spa, a change from recent championships hosted at Grayhawk in Scottsdale, most in the field found it difficult to adjust to the new course. While the Cardinal got out to a rocky start, it rebounded nicely, finishing the day with a 3-under 285 as a team, positioning themselves tied for third after the first round of stroke play.
Stanford was a team that got better as the round went on, that was evident by the amount of red on their scorecards. Cardinal golfers had just five total birdies during the first nine holes but racked up 11 on the final nine holes of the round. That took them from three strokes over par as a team to three strokes under par by the end of the day.
Paula Martin Sampedro bogeyed her first NCAA Championship hole, and then played clean golf the rest of the afternoon. The ANNIKA Award finalist is sitting in a tie for 13th at 2-under with a 70 during her first round of the tournament. She was the only Cardinal to have just one bogey on the day, but that has been expected with how her season has gone. Martin Sampedro sits just one stroke behind Anna Davis of Auburn for the best score among WGCA Freshmen of the Year finalists in the field.
After winning the Cle Elum Regional, Rachel Heck delivered a steady start to her NCAA Championship run. She finished the day with a 1-under 71, with four birdies to her credit. She was in a precarious position after 10 holes, having double-bogeyed on one right after the turn, but then bounced back with birdies on three and six to cap off her round. She sits in a tie for 18th, not a bad position to be after the first day.
Kelly Xu caught fire near the end of her round to finish even at par with a 72 on Monday. Much like her teammates, it was not the smoothest of starts, with a pair of bogeys during the first nine holes, and she found herself 2-over with just five holes remaining. She then birdied on three of her next four holes, rocketing herself up the leaderboard before nestling into middle of the pack, in regard to her teammates. Xu enters the championship on a hot streak, with second place finishes at both the Pac-12 Championship and Cle Elum Regional.
Megha Ganne climbed back to finish even at par after the first round, and it was another great finish to the round that got her there. She was two strokes over par with just four holes remaining before she birdied on six and nine to close out her round. Ganne finds herself just two strokes back of a top-10 placement heading into the second round.
It was a rocky start for Sadie Englemann, but her finish was able to get her back into tight competition with her teammates. She began the day with three bogeys in her first 11 holes, but she battled back to birdie on four and six to salvage a 1-over 73 in the opening round. Despite finishing over par, it is the best opening round score for Englemann since the Juli Inkster Invitational during the first week of March, which means her best golf is ahead.
By virtue of holding the top overall seed, Stanford will tee off on Saturday morning at 6:40 am for the second round of the NCAA Championship. The Cardinal will once again be paired with Wake Forest and South Carolina. Following the second round, teams will have their tee times for the third round determined based on the first 36 holes of stroke play.
NCAA Championship (Omni La Costa Resort & Spa, par 72)
| Name | Round 1 | Round 2 | Round 3 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| T4. Stanford | 285 (-3) | -- | -- | 285 (-3) |
| T13. Paula Martín Sampedro | 70 (-2) | -- | -- | 70 (-2) |
| T18. Rachel Heck | 71 (-1) | -- | -- | 71 (-1) |
| T38. Kelly Xu | 72 (E) | -- | -- | 72 (E) |
| T38. Megha Ganne | 72 (E) | -- | -- | 72 (E) |
| T58. Sadie Englemann | 73 (+1) | -- | -- | 73 (+1) |