Meja Ortengren at the San Diego State Classic from 2-10-25Meja Ortengren at the San Diego State Classic from 2-10-25
Darren Reese
Women's Golf

Historic Monday in San Diego

Meja Ortengren tied a 13-year program record during the second round

SAN DIEGO — Spring got off to as good a start as possible on Monday for top-ranked Stanford women’s golf. The Cardinal made its return to the San Diego State Classic, a tournament it has never won, and made program history during the first two rounds. Stanford leads the field by an impressive 25 strokes, and freshman standout Meja Ortengren tied a 12-year program record with her second-round performance.

The headliner during the second round was the play of Ortengren, who took over the individual lead and put the rest of the field in a stranglehold. She was great in the first round, shooting a 4-under 68, but began her second round of the day with a birdie and kept adding on from there. She began the round with four birdies in her first five holes and then finished her round with four straight birdies. The last of those birdies ended her round with a 10-under 62, joining Mariah Stackhouse as the only other Cardinal in program history to go ten strokes under par in a round. Stackhouse did so during the second round of the 2013 Peg Barnard Invitational.

On a national level, Ortengren’s 62 is tied for the eighth-best round in NCAA history, and the best since 2023. Through 36 holes, Ortengren sits at 14-under with her 130, which is the most strokes under par any Stanford women’s golfer has been through 36 holes. 

With her record-setting second round, Ortengren now sits with a six-stroke lead over the field entering the final round. She helped Stanford 18-under as a team in the second round, the third-best team round in program history. Only Stanford’s first rounds at the 2022 Gunrock Invitational (-23) and 2023 NCAA Pullman Regional (-21) were better. 

There was no shortage of great performances during Monday’s first round of the spring. Four other Stanford golfers sit inside the top seven, with Paula Martin Sampedro and Kelly Xu tied for fifth and Megha Ganne and Nora Sundberg tied for seventh. Martin Sampedro endured an up-and-down first round that included six bogeys but also had six birdies and an eagle to enter the second round at a 2-under 70. She then shot a clean second round and was three-under-par. Xu was excellent in the first round, contending for the lead with a 4-under 68 before finishing her day with a 1-under 71.

Ganne posted the second-best Stanford round during the second round, with a 4-under 68. She bogeyed on her second hole but was clean the rest of the way, with five birdies on the scorecard. Competing as an individual and not factoring into team scoring, Sundberg matched Ganne in both rounds, with a 72 in the first round and a 4-under 68 in the second.

Stanford owns a 25-stroke lead over UNLV for first place, but it wasn’t always that large of a lead. After one round, the Cardinal led by just five strokes, and actually trailed by four strokes midway through the opening round. The largest tournament win in program history came at the 2022 Gunrock Invitational when the Cardinal won by 35 strokes over Washington. 

Tuesday’s final round at Bernardo Heights Country Club begins at 8 am with a shotgun start.

San Diego State Classic (Bernardo Heights Country Club, par 72)

Name Round 1 Round 2 Round 3 Total
1. Stanford 278 (-10) 270 (-18) -- 548 (-28)
1. Meja Ortengren 68 (-4) 62 (-10) -- 130 (-14)
T5. Kelly Xu 68 (-4) 71 (-1) -- 139 (-5)
T5. Paula Martin Sampedro 70 (-2) 69 (-3) -- 139 (-5)
T7. Megha Ganne 72 (E) 68 (-4) -- 140 (-4)
T17. Leigh Chien 74 (+4) 72 (E) -- 146 (+2)
T7. Nora Sundberg* 72 (E) 68 (-4) -- 140 (-4)

 * - competing as an individual