Friday, November 29, 2013

Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving to you and your family! The Stanford Women's Golf team has much to be thankful for this day. We just completed a terrific fall schedule that included five events in five different states - Oklahoma, Illinois, Washington, California and Hawaii!

The highlight of the fall season was our 27 shot victory over #3 ranked Univ. of Washington at the prestigious Sahalee Country Club in October. We finished the team event under par and we had two individuals compete for the individual title. Mariah Stackhouse finally took home the trophy with a three day total of (-7) but junior Mariko Tumangan was right on her heels after posting a second round 66!!



We are currently ranked #5 (Golfweek/Sagarin) in the country and we have three individuals ranked in the top 50 - Mariah Stackhouse #5, Mariko Tumangan #35 and Lauren Kim #44.

Our next team practice will be in mid-January. Until then, the team is home celebrating the holidays, preparing for finals and taking some time to rest before our spring campaign begins at home with the Peg Barnard in February.

Thank you for your continued support,
GO CARD!!
Anne, Lauren and the Stanford Women's Golf Team

Saturday, July 6, 2013

Summer Update

Hello Stanford Golf Fans:

Has it really been four months since I last updated everyone on the women's team? I think that says it all - we have been BUSY!

The season ended back in late May with a trip to Georgia for the NCAA Finals. After qualifying in fifth place at the NCAA Regionals, which were held right here at Stanford Golf Course, we made the trek back to Athens with 23 other teams from around the country. Univ. of Georgia hosted a wonderful Championship and the course proved to be tough for all the teams. We finished in 13th place, accomplishing our final goal for the season - a top-15 showing at NCAA's! We had a strong chance to finish top-10 but the final nine holes of competition, in tough conditions, proved to be too much for our young team this year and we let a few shots slip which ultimately moved us into 13th.

Overall, it was a terrific year and we are all excited to return next year. In summary, we had three team victories, two individual championships, an NCAA Scoring Record and Stanford Golf Course record, a 4th place finish at Pac-12's (best since 2001), three All-Conference Players and a First Team All-American. Mariah Stackhouse was the first freshman to be named to the All-American First Team since Mhairi McKay in 1994. It was an incredible year for Mariah Stackhouse; we are very proud of her accomplishments.

Sally Watson was named the Pac-12 Scholar Athlete in the sport of women's golf. This award is given to the graduating senior with the highest combined athletic and academic success in their given sport. It is a great honor and Sally is a very deserving recipient.

I recently returned from a quick trip to the US Women's Open in Sebonack, N.Y. Both Sally Watson and Mariah Stackhouse qualified to play in the nation's top professional event. Neither player made the cut but they handled themselves with a professionalism and grace that made me very proud. They sported their Stanford gear all week and even earned our program a shout-out on ESPN live coverage on Thursday!

The past month has been filled with Stanford Golf Camps. We have had a terrific amount of juniors come through our program this year. Many have never touched a club before and others are competing at the highest level in junior golf. It has been so fun sharing the game of golf with them and the same time, exposing them to Stanford University. Our staff includes other collegiate coaches and current college players, so the level of experience is high. We appreciate the opportunity to grow the game and share our enthusiasm.

The rest of the summer months will be spent recruiting and preparing for the teams return in September. No doubt, fall will come fast!

Thanks for what has been a terrific first year at Stanford. I look forward to what the future has in store. Have a great summer and Go Card!
Anne

Thursday, February 28, 2013

Back to Back Wins and a NCAA Record!

Hello Stanford Golf Fans,

It has been an exciting 10 days for the women's golf program and it all began with our home tournament last weekend. We opened the tournament with a five over par round and found ourselves four shots back of our long-time rival, The California Golden Bears! However, 24 hours later the Bears were a distant memory and my cell phone was ringing constantly as word of Mariah Stackhouse's NCAA record round of 61 travelled around the country.

I am sure most of you have seen Mariah's card on the Stanford Golf Course website, it is full of red circles and records her remarkable 26 on the front nine! She has received all sorts of publicity and support from both the Stanford community and the national golf community. We are grateful to everyone who has offered their congratulations and continued well wishes.

With the help of Mariah and a strong team effort, we were able to win the 2013 Peg Barnard by a margin of 14 shots over some very high ranked teams.  The confidence gained from this event was huge and propelled us into the Cal Classic which was hosted by Ruby Hill Golf Club in Pleasanton. After an unusually slow start (we were +9 through the first three holes of the event), we rallied back and finished the tournament with a +10 total and a six shot victory over Pac-12 rival, Arizona State University.

Although it seems like we won the Cal Classic by a healthy margin, it was a day that saw the lead change over five times!  It was nerve racking to say the least and I know there were a lot of folks watching Golfstat anxiously as we continued to move between first and second. Through 15 holes, we were four shots behind ASU and I felt like it would take a small miracle to pull off a victory. As it turned out, we logged four birdies in the final three holes and ASU logged four bogeys leading to a quick and decisive lead change in the final moments! Mariko Tumangan led our team on the final day with a four-under par 68 and her best career finish!

This weekend we compete in our last event of the Nor-Cal swing, as we are fondly calling it! We will tee-off on Monday at Almaden C.C. in San Jose for our first 36-18 hole event. It will be an 8:15am shot-gun both days and we would love to see you there!

We have been fortunate to have had many weeks of perfect golf weather.  The golf course is in SUPERB condition and we are extremely grateful to Ken and his staff for working hard to showcase the Stanford Golf Course for our home event. In addition, we had a tremendous showing of volunteer support.  As always, we value your time and commitment to the program.

All the Best and GO CARD!
Anne



Thursday, February 7, 2013

Spring Season is Right Around the Corner!

Hello Stanford Golf Fans,

The past month of sunshine has been unusual to say the least.  The women's golf team has made the most of this rare January/February weather playing two or three times a week and practicing on the other days in preparation for the Peg Barnard, which is right around the corner.

We will have 12 teams here on campus for our season opener.  The #1 ranked team in the country, Univ. of Washington will be competing as well as they #8 ranked UC Davis Aggies.  There will be a 9am shot-gun start on Saturday, February 16 and a 8:30am shot-gun start on Sunday the 17th. We would love to see as many members and fans as possible out on the course!

We have been qualifying for the upcoming tournament and there have been a few highlight moments.  Sophomore Mariko Tumangan opened qualifying with a 7-under, 64!  That included birdies on 1, 4, 7, 8, 9, 12 and 15. She had three chances inside 10 feet on 16, 17 and 18!  As a coach, it was fun to watch and I couldn't have been more proud of Mariko. Freshman Mariah Stackhouse also gave us something to get excited about, she shot three straight round in the 60's - 69, 69, 67! Again, fun to watch.....I NEVER get tired of watching birdies!

The first part of our spring season will be contested in Northern California. After the Peg Barnard at Stanford, we will head over to the Cal Classic at Ruby Hill CC in Pleasanton and then onto the Juli Inkster Invitational at San Jose State. It is nice to be competing so close to home because the players miss very little school and in addition, they get to a chance to maintain their strength and conditioning schedule. Again, we welcome all of you to come out and watch us play at any of these events.

Peg Barnard @ Stanford G.C. - February 16 and 17
Cal Classic @ Ruby Hill C.C. - February 25 and 26
Juli Inkster @ Almaden C.C. - March 4 and 5

All tee-times and pairings can be found on www.golfstat.com at the time of the event.

We hope that you are all enjoying the good golf weather and hitting plenty of fairways and greens!
Go Card!!

Anne Walker