Stanford has done it again. Their second national title in three years at Omni La Costa and their third in five years.
The match with Southern California kicked off with what you’d expect from the top two teams in the country: birdie-birdie to stay all square.
The first match between Paula Martín Sampedro and Catherine Park was in the Trojans’ favor as Park garnered a second birdie in a row, but disaster soon struck with a bogey on Hole 5 followed by a double bogey. Despite making two more birdies, Park was never able to regain the momentum and lost to Martín Sampedro, 3&2.
The next point from Stanford came for the third match between Meja Örtengren and Jasmine Koo. Despite being all square after the second hole, Örtengren quickly took charge and never swayed. With 5 birdies and no bogey, Örtengren swiftly defeated Koo 6&5. This was Örtengren’s second dominant match and third win, ending her season on a high note after losing the individual lead during the fourth round of stroke play.
By this point, Andrea Revuelta of Stanford was battling back against Kylie Chong’s lead with a birdie on the 17th hole. With the match called before they could play the 18th hole, Chong won the match and the only point for Southern California this afternoon.
Kelly Xu, who we’ve anointed as the “Match Play Queen,” had just regained her momentum heading into the 17th hole when the match was called. She had just gone 1UP on the difficult par 3, Hole 16. Xu graduates with the best match play record in NCAA Championship history – completely undefeated.
After the first two points were secured for Stanford, everyone gathered on the 15th green to await Megha Ganne’s finish. She was 4Up and needed to at least tie the hole to win the final match point. She hit it to about 10 feet to the loud cheers of the crowd, and Bailey Shoemaker answered with a shot inside Ganne’s for a chance to birdie and keep herself alive. Ganne putted first and left herself a three-footer for par, a putt Shoemaker was not going to give her. Shoemaker edged her putt and immediately knew she was in trouble. Ganne sunk her par putt to finish the match and was immediately surrounded by her teammates to celebrate.
Xu was already on her way back via cart to celebrate and Revuelta was seen running the length of Hole 16 to join her on the cart as it drove toward the 15th green. After the crowd yelled loud enough for Xu to notice Revuelta, the cart stopped just long enough for her to hop on. The two jumped off and ran hand-in-hand straight into their teammates’ arms. It’s really difficult to find such a talented team that truly cares and supports one another, but Coach Walker and Stanford seem to have done it.
Fairway to Green’s Kelly Okun had the opportunity to ask Coach Walker what her farewell letter would be to her two seniors – Xu and Ganne – who have been such steadfast leaders for their program. The seniors replied in turn, thanking Coach Walker for their chance to join her team and form lifelong friendships.
What a special way to end the NCAA Championships – with a team dominant in both stroke and match play (they went 14-1-0 in matches the last two days) – and seniors able to graduate knowing they won back the trophy they had lost the year prior. It wasn’t a bad birthday present for Xu, either – in addition to everyone singing her “Happy Birthday” on the 15th green.
And Ganne and Xu? You haven’t seen the last of them. They’re #1 and #3, respectively, on the LCAP list, which means they’ve earned Epson Tour status for the rest of this season and all of next, plus an exemption into Final Qualifying and the Qualifying Stage, respectively, for a chance to earn their LPGA Tour cards as soon as this fall. And #2 on the LCAP list? That’d be Southern California’s Catherine Park.
Congratulations to both the Cards and Trojans on an incredible season!
