CARLSBAD, Calif. — The defending national champions made their return to Omni La Costa Resort & Spa in Carlsbad on the North Course for the 2025 NCAA Championship. Stanford women’s golf began play on Friday afternoon for the first of at least three rounds of stroke play. Fast starts have been a staple of the team all season long, but they were slowed down by high winds and tall rough. Stanford is at the bottom of the projected cut through one round, shooting 5-over as a team.
High coastal winds made playing conditions tricky on Friday, particularly on the back nine. Hole 13 played as the toughest hole of the day, and Stanford saw that doglegged hole shortly after it teed off on the back nine. That’s where scores started going up, as only Paula Martín Sampedro was able to record a par on 13.
The two leaders through one round, Vanderbilt at 6-under and Oklahoma State at 4-under, both had morning tee times. They are the only teams in the entire field under par through 18 holes, with the projected cut line currently sitting at +6.
Stanford’s top golfer on Friday was Kelly Xu, who was the first Card to tee off at 11:50 am. Her card was nearly clean, except for the difficulty on hole 13. She finished her back nine with birdies on 16 and 18 and then went even during the front nine to close out a 72, the only Cardinal golfer to finish at par. It is Xu’s best opening round score since the Charles Schwab Women’s Collegiate on March 24, putting her in a great position to capitalize over the remaining rounds.
Paula Martín Sampedro compiled three birdies on Friday, tied with Megha Ganne for the most by a Cardinal in round one. She finished with a 1-over 73 in the first round, the most strokes she’s taken in a first round all season. It seemed that she was on track to finish strong after she birdied on 5 with just four holes remaining, which put her at 1-under for the day. But then consecutive bogeys on the following holes knocked her onto the other side of par.
Andrea Revuelta and Ganne each shot 2-over 74s on Friday. Ganne endured three bogeys in a row on the back nine before she steadied the ship and finished even through her final 12 holes of golf. Revuelta, winner of the last two postseason tournaments, finished 1-under over the last 10 holes after shaking off a double bogey on 17.
With Stanford ending Friday’s action tied for 11th overall, the Cardinal sits as far down the leaderboard as it’s been after the opening round of the NCAA Championship since 2018 in Stillwater, Okla. That year, the Cardinal finished stroke play fifth overall before making it to the semifinals of match play. Friday was just the fourth time this season Stanford has shot over par as a team.
Stanford will have a quick turnaround to round two, with the Cardinal teeing off at 6:30 am on the first tee Saturday morning. Third round action also begins at 6:30 am on Sunday, with the field being re-seeded based on scores through 36 holes of golf. The field will get cut from 30 to 15 teams for the final round of stroke play on Monday.
NCAA Championship (Omni La Costa Resort & Spa North Course, par 72)
| Name | Round 1 | Round 2 | Round 3 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| T11. Stanford | 293 (+5) | -- | -- | 293 (+5) |
| T27. Kelly Xu | 72 (E) | -- | -- | 72 (E) |
| T46. Paula Martín Sampedro | 73 (+1) | -- | -- | 73 (+1) |
| T64. Andrea Revuelta | 74 (+2) | -- | -- | 74 (+2) |
| T64. Megha Ganne | 74 (+2) | -- | -- | 74 (+2) |
| T111. Meja Örtengren | 77 (+5) | -- | -- | 77 (+5) |