After a long day of matches in the morning, it was time for the Semifinals in the afternoon: Stanford vs. Florida State and Oregon vs. Northwestern.
There’s no other way to describe the Stanford (#1) vs. Florida State (#4) match other than a battle. Three of the matches were tied and went onto extra holes. Stanford’s Paula Martín Sampedro was the first to finish her match, winning 5&3 against Kaylah Williams. Stanford’s Kelly Xu finished soon after, defeating Sophia Fullbrook 5&4.
The most followed match – Florida State’s Lottie Woad and Stanford’s Megha Ganne – was constantly in flux with no one taking the lead beyond one up. There were 13 birdies between the two of them with only one hole overlapping where they both birdied to remain all square. Ganne ultimately sunk the final birdie putt on the second extra hole to advance Stanford to the Championship Match. At the same time, Florida State’s Alexandra Gazzoli made par on her first extra hole to defeat Meja Örtengren, but it wasn’t enough points to change anything. The ANNIKA Award winner Mirabel Ting’s match ended in a tie with Andrea Revuelta once Ganne sunk her putt.
Despite the end of Florida State’s season, they have much to be proud of from the last year. They finished the season ranked No. 4 in the nation, the highest ranking in program history. The Seminoles also won their first ACC Championship in school history, their third for the NCAA regional title in school history, and No. 1 seed in a NCAA regional championship. They also boast the world’s two top amateur golfers, Lottie Woad (#1) and Mirabel Ting (#2).
In the Semifinals match between Oregon (#5) and Northwestern (#11), similar tensions were apparent. All the matches were very close, with the majority of them being tied till the very end. The Wildcats brought Oregon’s season to a close, with the Ducks being just one point short in a 3-2 loss. This was Oregon’s second year in a row to reach the Semifinals, but sophomore Kiara Romero conceded the match to Dianna Lee on hole 18 after some issues in the back greenside bunker. This was not the outcome that the Ducks wanted, but they earned an invite to the East Lake Cup in the fall for making it to the Semifinals.
The Northwestern Wildcats earned the 3-2 win over Oregon to advance them to the championship round against the defending champions, Stanford. Northwestern’s Dianna Lee had an outstanding performance against Oregon’s Romero, keeping hope alive for the Wildcats and winning 2 up after Romero’s concession. Northwestern’s Ashley Yun and Elise Lee both won their matches 2&1 while Oregon’s Tong An won 2&1 and Karen Tsuru won 3&2. It was a close day that really came down to the final match.
No. 1 Stanford and No. 3 Northwestern both advanced to the finals, which will kick off at 2:25 p.m. (PST) with Stanford’s Megha Ganne vs. Northwestern’s Ashley Yun teeing off on hole one.
- Megha Ganne (Stanford) vs. Ashley Yun (Northwestern): 2:25 p.m. (PST)
- Paula Martín Sampedro (Stanford) vs. Lauryn Nguyen (Northwestern): 2:35 p.m. (PST)
- Meja Örtengren (Stanford) vs. Hsin Tai Lin (Northwestern): 2:45 p.m. (PST)
- Kelly Xu (Stanford) vs. Elise Lee (Northwestern):2:55 p.m. (PST)
- Andrea Revuelta (Stanford) vs. Dianna Lee (Northwestern): 3:05 p.m. (PST)
Will Stanford come out victorious and be crowned back-to-back national champions?
