For as dominant as the Stanford women’s golf team has been this season, Monday proved again that the top-ranked Cardinal aren’t invincible.
Stanford entered its annual match against San Jose State having won four of its five stroke-play events while compiling a 58-2 head-to-head record, one of those losses coming to Wake Forest in the match-play final of the Stephens Cup last fall. But the 56th-ranked Spartans, carrying a 23-35-2 record, toppled the overwhelming NCAA-title favorites, 4-2, in the Battle of the Bay at Los Altos Golf and Country Club.
“We have so much respect for Stanford and what kind of team they are, so to have this happen was just a huge confidence boost,” San Jose State coach Dana Dorman said.
The Cardinal had its full complement of players in the lineup, including Nos. 2-5 in the World Amateur Golf Ranking. Reigning U.S. Women’s Amateur champion Megha Ganne returned after missing last week’s Bruin Wave Invitational with an ankle injury, but Ganne was routed by Lotte Schuhr, who rode a hot putter to a 6-and-4 victory.
San Jose State’s other three wins came from Kleopatra Kozakiewicz (def. Andrea Revuelta, 1 up), Ting-Yu Chang (def. Anna Song, 2 up) and Isabella Cioe (def. Paula Martin Sampedro, 2 and 1). This was Cioe’s first time playing match play.
Stanford received its two points from Meja Ortengren (def. Regina Roldan, 4 and 2) and Kelly Xu (def. Moa Andersson, 4 and 3).
“It’s match play, right? But it wasn’t a fluke,” Dorman said. “We made some tough putts down the stretch. And so did Stanford, so there were a lot of birdies being made and a lot of clutch putts happening. It was fun to be part of. ... We’re grateful for Stanford, a longterm ally, to come down and play on our home turf.”
As one top-10 coach at this week’s Darius Rucker Intercollegiate said prior to Monday’s result, “Stanford is probably going to win stroke play at NCAAs by 40, but you just have to get three points against them in match play.”
Dorman echoed as much: “We saw it last year. They are far and away the best team in the country, but match play gives you an opportunity to do something like this. But they are some excellent match players, too; they have the U.S. Am champ and the British Am champ (Sampedro).”
The Cardinal resume action at the Charles Schwab Women’s Collegiate, set for March 23-24 at Colonial Country Club in Fort Worth, Texas. San Jose State, meanwhile, plays again next week at the Juli Inkster Invitational at TPC Harding Park in San Francisco.
“We have to win the next two tournaments to get back to .500, but we’re also the top-ranked team in the Mountain West, so it’s most likely going to take winning our conference championship to make the postseason,” Dorman said. “This confidence boost will go a long way toward our team knowing what they’re capable of.”