The No. 6 Stanford women’s golf team was unable to hold on to their second-round lead, finishing fourth at the Stanford Intercollegiate last weekend on the par-71 Stanford Golf Course.

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Senior Lauren Todd completes a swing on the Stanford Golf Course last weekend. Todd tied for third at the Stanford Invitational, with the Cardinal ending up in fourth after a second-round lead. #gallery http://daily.stanford.edu/image/full/6390
John Laxson

Senior Lauren Todd completes a swing on the Stanford Golf Course last weekend. Todd tied for third at the Stanford Invitational, with the Cardinal ending up in fourth after a second-round lead.

Entering the final round with a five-stroke lead over No. 12 Arizona, the Cardinal fired a 15-over-par 299 (863 total after rounds of 286 and 278). Meanwhile, No. 9 Vanderbilt shot a nine-under-par 275 (288-292-275 — 855), the lowest team round of the tournament, catapulting them to victory over 12th-ranked Arizona (277-292-291 — 860). No. 1 Georgia (284-286-292 — 862) and San Jose State (297-300-280 — 877) round off the top five teams.

The best finishers, Vanderbilt, Arizona, Georgia and Stanford, finished in the top slots after each round. Most of the four ended a round in first place, but Vanderbilt came out on top. Following the second round, fourth-place Vanderbilt swapped places with first-place Stanford to take the tourney. Second-ranked Duke (292-293-297 — 882) finished notably in seventh and third-ranked UCLA (298-296-290 — 884) ended in eighth.

Playing in a tough field did not seem to rattle the Cardinal women.

“It’s always great to play with the teams that are playing the best,” senior Lauren Todd said. “I feel it brings out the best in our games.”

Among the individuals, Arkansas’ Stacy Lewis (71-67-69 — 207) and Arizona’s Alison Walshe (67-71-69 — 207) tied for first. Stanford’s Todd (70-68-70 — 208) and Arizona’s Adriana Zwanck (68-71-69 — 208) tied for third. In the third round, Georgia’s Whitney Wade (67-69-73 — 209) fell from first to fifth in a tight finish. The top five women were separated by only two strokes.

Behind Todd were sophomore Mari Chun (71-70-76 — 217) at 17th, senior Jennifer Tangtiphaiboontana (72-71-76 — 219) at 23rd, freshman Catherina Wang (73-69-78—220) at 26th, and sophomore Ki-Shui Liao (83-77-77 — 237) at 63rd. As individual participants, freshman Angela King (74-73-71 — 218) tied for 21st in her first collegiate tournament. Seniors Saana Rapakko (77-79-78 — 234) and Jenna Seki (79-85-76 — 240) finished 59th and 66th, respectively.

Despite their third-round collapse, Todd was optimistic about the team’s potential.

“If we can [beat the No. 1 team] for two days, we can do it for four [rounds of NCAA tournaments],” she said. “We proved to ourselves we can take it deep. Our second round was a great performance and this team is capable of much more.

“However, we were really disappointed about not winning. Our goal is to finish strong and to play at least as well as, if not better, than our previous two rounds. Clearly, this week we were unable to do that and everyone was disappointed,” Todd continued.

The Stanford Intercollegiate was the Cardinal’s last tourney of the year, as they prepare for the Northrop Grumman Regional Challenge in February 2007. Their fourth-place finish at this weekend and their victory at the Edean Ihlanfeldt Invitational end their year on an optimistic note.

“In the spring, I fully expect this team to shoot some more low numbers,” Todd said. “I have so much faith in this team. We can win NCAAs, and if we all play well the week of nationals, I would fully expect us to be in contention. I do not see any limitations in this team; everyone works really hard and we all are really competitive.”