San Jose State alone at the top of Juli Inkster Collegiate

March 7, 2022 | by Jim Young of AmateurGolf.com

Natasha Andrea Oon (San Jose State photo)

Spartans take 14 shot lead over top-ranked Stanford into Tuesday's final round at the Meadow Club

The San Jose State Spartans are at it again.

Less than a month removed from winning the Lamkin Invitational in San Diego where they handed top-ranked Stanford its first setback of the season, the seventh-ranked Spartans posted rounds of 281 (-7) and 283 (-5) on Monday to open a 14-stroke lead over the Cardinal after two rounds of play at the Juli Inkster Collegiate.

Natasha Andrea Oon (-4), Kajsa Arwefjall (-3), Lucia Lopez-Ortega (-2) and Antonia Malate (-1) led the Spartans surge on Monday at the Meadow Club, an Alister Makenzie designed gem in Fairfax, Calif.

"It was a great day," said San Jose State head coach Dana Dormann. "Everyone contributed and our depth has really been a strength of ours this year. We have a lot of strong players and our length really helped us on the par 5s today."

All four Spartans are in the top-10 and within striking distance of Washington's Camille Boyd, who leads the field at 7-under 137 after two brilliant rounds of 67 and 70. Hannah Zeman and Riana Mission of a rapidly-improving San Francisco program are tied for second at 6-under.

Stanford's Rose Zhang, the world's top-ranked female amateur, is dangerously lurking at 3-under 141 after rounds of 72-69 while Rachel Heck, fresh off her eighth career collegiate victory last week at the Gunrock Invitational, struggled to rounds of 76 and 75 and finds herself tied for 41st place at 151.

Camille Boyd

Boyd, a sophomore from Yorba Linda, Calif., had six birdies and just one bogey on her morning card en route to a 5-under 67. Her second round was a little more eventful but a four consecutive birdies on holes 13-16 led to a second round 70.

Behind Arwefjall's 3-under first round 69, San Jose State shot a 7-under 281 in the morning to open an eight-shot lead over San Diego State. Louisa Carlbom contributed a 2-under 70 while the Spartans also counted sub-par rounds by Malate (71) and Lopez-Ortega, who aced the par-3 11th hole en route to a 1-under 71. After opening with a even-par round of 72, Oon shot 4-under 68 in the afternoon and sits in fifth place, just three shots off the lead.

Stanford got off to a slow start, shooting 7-over over its first 18 holes, but shaved 12 strokes off its morning score to move into second place at 2-over 578 at the end of the day.

If any team can erase a 14-stroke deficit, it's Stanford, but the math clearly favors San Jose State and armed with newfound confidence from its win in San Diego three weeks ago, the Spartans don't look like a team that is going to beat themselves.

"It definitely gives us some confidence," said Dormann. "We love playing alongside them. Our programs are really close and it helps us compete."

Whether the Spartans sleep on - or toss and turn over - their overnight lead is anybody's guess. They may hear some footsteps on Tuesday, but it's nothing they haven't heard before.

Results: Juli Inkster

Place	Player	Location	Pts	Scores
1	Camille Boyd	Yorba Linda, CA	600	67-70-65=202
2	Rose Zhang	Irvine, CA	400	72-69-64=205
3	Riana Mission	Las Vegas, NV	300	71-67-70=208
4	Lucia Lopez-Ortega	, Spain	300	71-71-68=210
T5	Brooke Seay	Rancho Santa Fe, CA	300	74-72-67=213