Going head-to-head yesterday with the par-71, 6,234-yard Entrada golf course in St. George, Utah seemed to greatly benefit the No. 14 Stanford women’s golf team. With a new frame of mind, the Cardinal finished the first round leading all 21 teams at the 2007 NCAA West Regional.

Stanford’s first-round tally of 287 (three over par) gave it a four-stroke edge over the host, No. 15 Brigham Young, as well as No. 11 Oklahoma State (291). Rounding out the top eight are No. 4 Pepperdine (292), No. 1 Arizona State (294), UC-Irvine (295), No. 18 New Mexico (298) and No. 20 Denver (299).

Of the eight west-regional teams ranked among the nation’s top 25, only No. 7 Florida (309) is in danger of not advancing to the NCAA Championships. Florida is currently nine strokes back of the final advancing spot.

Among individual scores, Stanford senior Jennifer Tangitphaiboontana is currently in sole possession of second place with a two-under 69. Tangitphaiboontana currently trails Oklahoma State’s Pernilla Lindberg (68) by just one stroke.

Fellow senior Lauren Todd ended the first round tied for 10th with a one-over 72, while sophomore Mari Chun and freshman Catherina Wang each trail Todd by a stroke (73). This slim margin dropped both into a tie for 18th.

Rounding off the Cardinal lineup is freshman Angela King, who scored an eight-over-par 79 to tie for 73rd.

At the other two NCAA Regional competitions, the rest of the Pacific-10 Conference is dominating, as expected. In the Central, Southern California holds a six-stroke lead over Indiana University and Texas Christian. Meanwhile, in the East, UCLA is maintaining a three-stroke advantage over the rest of the pack.

Though Stanford’s four-stroke lead is encouraging, the Cardinal now faces the burden of maintaining it over the next two days of competition. Nonetheless, it appears as though Stanford is hitting on all cylinders at just the right time.