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NewsvineThe women’s golf team will hit the links today for the first round of the NCAA West Regional. Stanford is ranked No. 8 in their bracket, and will have to hold or improve that position in order to make it to the NCAA Championships — the top eight teams from each of the four regionals will advance to the finals.
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The Cardinal tied for first in the 2007 West Regional, and will face a difficult field as it tries to repeat that result this year. Stanford will face a slew of Pac-10 foes, such as conference champion and No. 1 seed USC, No. 2 Arizona State, No. 4 Arizona, No. 6 Cal and No. 15 Oregon. No. 3 Arkansas and Big 12 title winner No. 5 Oklahoma State headline the out-of-conference competition.
Stanford is coming off a sixth-place finish at the Pac-10 Tournament and, just before that, its first win of the year, at the Peg Barnard Invitational.
The Cardinal is led by junior Mari Chun, the second team All-Pac 10 performer who was Stanford’s most consistent golfer throughout the season — she finished in the top ten in four tournaments.
But whereas Chun was normally the Cardinal’s lone star during the fall season, her teammates have begun to join her at the top of the leader board. Sophomores Angela King and Catherina Wang have both played well recently. Wang, an All-Pac 10 honorable mention, was Stanford’s top finisher at the Pac-10 Tournament, placing tenth.
Stanford will need such contributions from all of its players if it hopes to compete with some of the best golfers in the country.
USC boasts an impressive fivesome. All placed in the top ten at the Pac-10 Tournament, including individual first place finisher Paola Moreno. She and teammates Belen Mozo and Dewi Claire Schreefel comprised a third of the All-Pac 10 team, and Lizette Salas was named the conference’s Freshman of the Year.
But there is little drop-off after the Trojans. Arizona State and Arizona have star golfers of their own, and Oregon, despite its lower seeding, still has good and productive talent on its squad.
And that’s just the in-conference competition. Oklahoma State had four players named to the All-Big 12 team, and Pernilla Lindberg won the conference’s Player of the Year award. Her teammate, Jaclyn Sweeny, was named Newcomer of the Year after winning the Big 12 individual championship.
But while the Cardinal is ranked under the Cowgirls, it is slotted higher than a number of other elite teams, such as Tulsa. The Golden Hurricanes, the Conference USA champions, have three players who have placed within the top two in a tournament this year, including Leisl Hasbrouck, who is one of only two amateur players who will compete in this year’s LPGA SemGroup Championship.
It all leads to a tough road to the NCAAs for the Cardinal, but if the women hold their ground, they’ll be able to advance to the Championship, where they finished fifth last year.
The West Regional is hosted by Sacramento State at the Lincoln Hills Golf Club. Play will start today and last through Saturday.