ALBUQUERQUE, N. Mex. — Taking part in a brand new, unique event, No. 1 Stanford women’s golf made its way to the desert and Twin Warriors Golf Club for the first NB3 Collegiate Match Play. The Cardinal took on both New Mexico schools in the field and won both matches, taking down the Lobos 3.5-1.5 and the Aggies 4-1. It puts Stanford in a great position to win at least one title on Wednesday afternoon in the final match.
No. 1 Stanford 3.5, New Mexico 1.5
The Cardinal was able to get past New Mexico in the morning match, taking control early and never letting go. Paula Martin Sampedro, coming off her first collegiate win, caught fire after an early deficit. She lost three of the first four holes, but then rattled off four-straight birdies on 11-14, turning what was a deficit into a two-stroke advantage. She capped it off with a birdie putt on five to win 3&1 over Chelsea Truong of New Mexico.
Freshman Leigh Chien started out front and never trailed against Annie Saechueng, eventually winning 2&1. She piled up five birdies during her round, including three on her final six holes to turn a tied match into a Stanford victory. Another freshman ended her match early when Meja Ortengren took care of business against Ciara Rushmer 4&2. It was a bit of an up-and-down round for Ortengren, who finished inside the top-10 at The Molly Invitational last week. Still, she never trailed after the fourth hole, which is when she won three-straight holes (12-14) to take a 2up lead.
No. 1 Stanford 4, New Mexico State 1
One of the stars of the afternoon round was Leigh Chien, who rolled past Marley Moncada of New Mexico State for her second win of the day. The freshman from Irvine birdied on the first hole and pushed the lead up to five strokes through the front nine. She only needed to play five more holes on the back nine, which she stacked up with two birdies and won 5&4.
Another strong final round of the day came from Kelly Xu, who was rock-solid in the middle of her round to pull away from Kaylee Chen. Xu won the fourth, sixth, and 11th holes to pull ahead by three strokes through 11, and never looked back. A highlight of her round was an eagle on the par-4 11, gaining a crucial stroke on the hole when Chen birdied. She then birdied on two of the next three holes to close it out with a 5&4 win.
The third and final win for the Card came from Meja Ortengren, who came out of the gates with a birdie on the first hole and never relinquished even a share of the lead against Emma Thompson. Though she only had three birdies, Ortengren was as consistent as any on the day and pulled out a 4&3 win to help clinch a team win for Stanford. Andrea Revuelta and Paula Martin Sampedro each tied to help secure the 4-1 team win.
The final day of the inaugural NB3 Collegiate Match Play at Twin Warriors gets underway Wednesday morning at 10:00 am PT with a heavyweight battle. Top-ranked Stanford women’s golf battles second-ranked Texas in what could be a national championship preview. Golf Channel will pick up coverage at 1:30 pm PT. Once the dust settles, three champions will be crowned: men’s & women’s champions plus a combined team title.