Stanford came from behind in the final round to win the NCAA Women’s San Francisco Regional Championship by four strokes over top-ranked UCLA at TPC Harding Park.
The fifth-ranked Cardinal, which captured the 2015 national championship, claimed a regional title for the third straight year with a score of 287-287- 282—856, 8-under-par, while the Bruins and individual champion Patty Tavanakit were second at 280-295-285—860.
Mississippi was third at 290-287-286—863, followed by Louisville at 287- 294-283—864, Kent State at 284-290-291—865 and Colorado at 284-298- 287—869.
The top six teams earned a trip to the NCAA Women’s Championships on May 18-23 at Karsten Creek Golf Club in Stillwater, Okla.
“We’ve known all year that this team had the ability to come in and compete with a great field such as this, and a great top-seed in UCLA,” said Stanford Coach Anne Walker, whose team picked a perfect time for its first victory of the season.
“To see that all come together has been great. We’ve had some close calls this season, and we’re glad we were able to earn a victory. Now we’re excited about giving it a run at the NCAA Championships.”
San Diego State totaled 289-294-287—870 to tie for seventh with Oklahoma State, which finished at 291-289-290—870, while North Carolina was ninth at 289-292-290—871, followed by South Carolina at 296-289-288—873.
Pepperdine was 11th at 297-285-294—876, followed by California at 297-292-290—879, and Long Beach State was 16th at 304-304-297—905.
Tavatanakit, a freshman from Thailand, collected her third straight victory and fourth of the season with a score of 68-73-67—208, 8-under, while Emily Want of Stanford was second at 71-69-69—209, while Marthe Wold of Cal totaled 71-70-69—210 to tie for third with Mariel Galdiano of UCLA, who finished at 66-75-69—210, and Julia Johnson of Mississippi, who wound up at 71-72-67—210.
Hira Naveed of Pepperdine carded a score of 72-67-72—211 to tie for sixth with Brittany Fan of Colorado, who shot 66-75-70—211.
Andrea Lee of Stanford shot Stanford 66-74-73—213 to tie for eighth with Pimnipa Panthong of Kent State, who finished at 71-73-69—213, Laura Kowohl of North Carolina State, who wound up at 71-71-71—213 and Emma Broze of Oklahoma State, who came in at 72-69-72—213.
Milagros Chaves led San Diego State in solo 12th at 71-70-73—214, Abegail Arevalo of San Jose State tied for 27th at 73-72-73—218, Jennifer Yu of Long Beach State tied for 33rd at 77-73-69—219, and Samantha Hutchison of UC Davis tied for 68th at 76-74-77—227.
Rounding out the scoring for regional champion Stanford were Mika Liu at 75-72-69—216, Albane Valenzuela in a tie for 27th at 75-72-71—218, and Shannon Aubert in a tie for 60th at 76-74-75—225.
For complete results, visit http://results.golfstat.com//public/leaderboards/gsnav.cfm?pg=team&tid=14122.
