GOLF Big Match winners used 9-23-26GOLF Big Match winners used 9-23-26
Matthew Huang / ISI Photos
Women's Golf

Looking to Defend Big Match Title

Cardinal golf programs team up for annual Big Match

FOLLOW THE ACTION

Live Results Opens in a new window
  • Stanford men’s and women’s golf team up to take on California in the annual Big Match, pitting both Bay Area rivals head-to-head.
  • The 2026 Big Match takes place on Thursday, Sept. 24, at Menlo Country Club in Woodside. Matches begin at 12 p.m., with tee times taking place every ten minutes on the first tee box. This event features a seven-match, mixed-gender, best-ball match play format.
  • 2026 marks the seventh year of the event, with Stanford winning in 2025 in a playoff hole. The Cardinal also won in 2022 and 2024, holding a 3-3 record against California.
  • Women’s golf began its season at the 2026 Jackson T. Stephens Cup, finishing sixth in stroke play. Meja Örtengren finished one stroke back of individual medalist honors, resulting in a tie for third (73-72-68-213, -3).
  • After dropping a match play event to San Jose State on March 2, Stanford did not suffer a loss the rest of the 2025-26 season. The Cardinal won the Charles Schwab Women’s Collegiate, ACC Championship, NCAA Stanford Regional, and both the stroke play and match play portions of the NCAA Championship.
  • Stanford’s NCAA Championship was the program’s third in five years and its fourth overall. The Cardinal trails only Arizona State (8) and Duke (7) for the most in NCAA history.
  • Over the summer, both Paula Martín Sampedro and Andrea Revuelta moved into the top spot of the World Amateur Golf Rankings. Martín Sampedro took over first in the rankings on Aug. 26 before Revuelta overtook her on Sept. 2. Both Spaniards occupy the top two spots currently, marking the second time in WAGR history that one school has held the top two positions.
  • Heading into the season, three Cardinal were named Preseason All-Americans: Martín Sampedro, Örtengren, and Revuelta. All three are also on the ANNIKA Award Preseason Watchlist.
  • The return of Jay Leng into the lineup and a near-career round for Edan Cui highlighted a successful two-day outing at the OFCC/Fighting Illini Invitational last weekend for the Cardinal as Stanford placed seventh in its annual trip to Olympia Fields Country Club.
  • Daniel Zou led the way for the Cardinal in his Stanford debut, placing tied for fourth at the Bombs Darts Birds Collegiate in early September. Zou, who rattled off three straight sub-70 rounds, earned his best collegiate performance at 14-under (202), finishing as Stanford’s highest scorer.
  • Leng reeled in the preseason accolades as the San Diego native was tabbed a Golf Channel and Golfweek First Team Preseason All-American heading into the 2026-27 campaign.  Leng was also tabbed to the 2026-27 Haskins Award presented by Stifel Preseason Watch List, becoming the first Cardinal to be named to the watch list since Michael Thorbjornsen and Karl Vilips were named to the list before the 2023-24 season.
  • Having secured the win at The Western Amateur, Leng accrued enough points with a runner-up finish at the Northeast Amateur, and a fifth-place outing at the Southern Amateur to grab the 2026 Elite Amateur Cup Title, a series that combines WAGR performance points through the seven men’s amateur championships into a standings-based race. With the win, Leng secured multiple PGA TOUR and 2027 U.S. Open Championship Final Qualifying exemptions.
  • Pairings for the 2026 Big Match are below: