Achieving its third straight team victory, the No.1 Stanford women’s golf team edged host UCLA by one shot to come out on top at the Bruin Wave Invitational on Monday and Tuesday at San Luis Obispo Country Club. The Cardinal were led by senior Casey Danielson and freshman Alabane Valenzuela, who both tied for third at four-over-par in the 54-hole event.
Stanford’s perfect three-for-three mark in February started off with a home victory Feb. 11-12 in the Peg Barnard Invitational, where the Cardinal lapped the competition and won by 10 strokes over second-place Oregon in the two round tournament. In a field where only two players went under par, freshman Andrea Lee took home medalist honors at eight-under, six shots ahead of the runner-up.
The Cardinal then went on the road to New Orleans for the Allstate Sugar Bowl Intercollegiate Championship at English Turn Golf & Country Club Feb. 19-20. There, the Cardinal again handled the opposition, turning in a team score of one-under-par over three rounds. The then-No. 3 Florida took second place with 11 shots back at 10-over, while Oklahoma State and Arizona tied for third at 11-over. Lee again turned in an impressive performance, bouncing back in rounds two and three after a four-over first round to take second place individually at four-under. Danielson tied for third place at three-under.
At the Bruin Wave Invitational, the Cardinal’s play was characterized by steadiness. Stanford boasted three of the five players with the most pars in the 79 person field, with Lee, freshman Madie Chou and Danielson ranking third, fourth and fifth in pars with 42, 41 and 40 pars, respectively. As a team, Stanford had 11 more pars than the next highest team, which was Cal Berkeley.
Meanwhile, Valenzuela tied for the most birdies out of all contestants with 10 over the three rounds en route to her T-3 finish.
Stanford’s depth at the top of their lineup has been a strength all season long, with Lee, Danielson and Valenzuela consistently playing at a high level. Between these three in the most recent victories, the lowest individual finish has been T-11. The three are now ranked second, eighth and 34th in the nation individually, respectively.
That steadiness helped Stanford overcome ninth-ranked UCLA’s leading duo of sophomore Lilia Vu, who earned medalist honors with her even-par score, and freshman Mariel Galdiano, who tied for third.
Second-ranked USC came in third with a team score of 37-over-par.
Looking forward, the team has a brief break in competition before looking to extend their winning streak to four in the Anuenue Spring Break Classic in Hawaii, which takes place March 27-29.
Contact Jamie Macfarlane at [email protected].