Graduation season is upon us, including for Stanford University senior Megha Ganne.
This time of year comes with an undeniable energy, as graduates stand on the precipice, bittersweet nostalgia collides with an intoxicating hope for the future, as they prepare to leave one world and enter another. For athletes like Ganne, leaving school also includes saying goodbye to your team and your college career.
“I think the moments with the teammates are irreplaceable,” Ganne said. “Moments in the locker room, I found myself lingering after practice for 30 more minutes or trying to get more meals together... Spending time with people is the thing you try to take in more, but I think we do a good job of that.”
The New Jersey native will don a cap and gown next week and bid farewell to Stanford, on the heels of leading her team to the school’s fourth NCAA Championship in women’s golf last week. But unlike most graduates, Ganne’s post-grad career will begin before she ever walks across the stage to receive her diploma. This week, she’s making her professional golf debut about six hours south at the Riviera Country Club in Pacific Palisades for the U.S. Women’s Open.
“It’s a little bit hectic,” Ganne said on Monday at Riviera. “At the very least I can stay in California, which is really nice. And the weather is beautiful and I’m playing golf, so I don’t have that many complaints. I have pretty much not that many classes left, so I am still in school but not that crazy.”
This will be Ganne’s fourth time teeing it up at the U.S. Women’s Open, but the first as a pro with Epson Tour status. Her most successful major was five years ago at The Olympic Club in 2021 as a high school junior. The 17-year-old shocked the golf world by securing a share of the lead after the first round and went on to finish T-14 with low amateur honors — not far from where she eventually went to college. It was a high she said feels like a lifetime ago.
“I am hopefully drastically different than I was then in some ways, and in some ways, I still feel like I maintained a lot of good parts of myself that I love looking back on when I was 17 at Olympic,” Ganne said. “I have definitely grown as a golfer, as a person, and teammate, and four years at Stanford will definitely change you, so I feel like for the better.”
And that change, while not always easy, is something she’d tell her younger self was on the horizon, along with the brightest days. “This journey is long and there are ups and downs, but like your best days are still ahead. So, probably tell myself that right now, too,” she added.
One of the best days has nearly arrived for Ganne as she prepares to tee off on Thursday in the first round of the U.S. Women’s Open, alongside the likes of Michelle Wie West and Lydia Ko, who Ganne has been leaning on recently as a resource as she takes the next step in her career.
“I think just being comfortable being uncomfortable is going to be my goal for the next 12 to 18 months,” Ganne said.
Ganne, 22, said it felt great to be back playing at a U.S. Women’s Open and admitted this one “feels extra special.”
“This course is absolutely stunning. I’ve never been here. I’m super excited to get to know it better,” she added.
Despite graduation for Ganne, she’s clearly always a student of the game.
