Despite receiving stellar performances from seniors Mariah Stackhouse and Lauren Kim, No. 6 Stanford women’s golf couldn’t do better than 10th at the Allstate Sugar Bowl Intercollegiate in New Orleans last Sunday through Tuesday.
The Cardinal finished +24 after shooting +11 on the final day in their second event of the spring season. Though the team saw a series of strong individual performances over the course of the tournament, it couldn’t string them together well enough to seriously compete for the title against a tough list of opponents that included six teams nationally ranked in the top 15.
Kim, the sixth-ranked golfer in the country, finished in sixth overall after shooting -3, while No. 32 Stackhouse was just a place and a stroke behind with a -2. Kim led the field with a -6 through two rounds while Stackhouse sat in fourth at -3, but a difficult back nine on the final day for Kim and a triple-bogey on the 17th hole for Stackhouse interrupted what would have been an even stronger event for Stanford’s veterans.
“Coach [Anne Walker] and I have been working on my attitude, outlook and overall mental game,” Kim said. “I think I have a better grasp than I normally do.”
Sophomore Shannon Aubert’s +11 landed her in 55th place overall in the deep field after a decent final two days helped make up for a tough first round, while junior Casey Danielson came in 78th with her +20. Junior Quirine Eijkenboom rounded out the team’s entrants with a +26 that put her in 84th.
Though Aubert and Danielson will be a bit disappointed with their performances after they had seemed to find consistency in recent events, Stanford should be excited to see Stackhouse reestablish herself amongst the best players in the country. The senior was the difference-maker when the team earned its first national championship last season, and she will be looked upon again to continue leading the team as the Pac-12 Championship on April 18 begins to loom on the team’s horizon.
“I’m excited to see [Stackhouse and Kim’s] names at the top of the leaderboard, that’s where they belong,” Walker remarked. “The rest of the team isn’t far behind and is working hard to get back to form.”
The Cardinal will get to stay a little closer to home in their next events, heading to San Luis Obispo next Monday for the Bruin Wave Invitational. At the event, the team will get a chance to earn some revenge against at least a few of the teams that topped it in the Big Easy, with No. 2 finisher Oklahoma State and No. 6 finisher UCLA also planning to enter the event.
Stanford will tee off at the San Luis Obispo Country Club at 8 a.m. on February 29.
Contact Andrew Mather at [email protected].