Stanford, Zhang take early leads at Stanford Intercollegiate

October 21, 2022 | by Jim Young of AmateurGolf.com

Rose Zhang (Stanford Athletics photo)

World's top female amateur enjoys one-stroke lead while San Jose State is in hot pursuit of the Cardinal

It was business as usual on Friday for the top-ranked Stanford women's team, as the Cardinal shot an 8-under 276 to take the first-round lead of the Stanford Intercollegiate.

Sophomore Rose Zhang leads the individual field after firing a bogey-free, 5-under 66 while junior Sadie Englemann also turned in a clean card with a 4-under 67. Freshman Megha Ganne was also in red numbers, finishing with a 1-under 70 in her first tournament at Stanford Golf Course.

At 5-under, Zhang is nursing a one-stroke lead over Englemann, Taglao Jeeravivitaporn of Iowa State, Anna Zanusso of Denver and Lucia Lopez-Ortega of San Jose State. A total of 21 players managed to break par at the venerable Stanford Golf Course, which is playing at 6269 yards this week.

With her opening round 66, Zhang is 21-under in her last four rounds at the Stanford Intercollegiate, after winning last year's tournament with a 16-under score of 197.

Stanford's 8-under 276 on Friday gave the Cardinal a three-stroke lead over San Jose State, a team that defeated its neighbor to the north twice last season at the Lampkin Invitational and Juli Inkster Intercollegiate.

The Spartan's 5-under 279 was led by Lopez-Ortega's 4-under 67 and a 3-under 68 by Antonia Malate, who was tied with Zhang for the individual lead until she made bogeys on her final two holes and had to settle for a 68. The Spartans also benefitted from an even par 71 by senior Kajsa Arwefjall.

Denver (-3), Northwestern (-2) and Virginia (-1) round out the top-five.

Zanusso (-4) and Clara Gestsdottir (-2) did the heavy lifting for Denver, as Martha Richards' team more than held their own against some of the top programs in the nation on Friday.

Neither seventh-ranked Texas, No. 11 USC or Georgia could find a hot hand on Friday and are tied for sixth at even par.

The Stanford Intercollegiate continues with second-round action on Saturday with the final 18 holes slated for Sunday.

Results: Condoleezza Rice Intercollegiate

Place	Player	Location	Pts	Scores
1	Rose Zhang	Irvine, CA	800	66-65-69=200
T2	Anna Backman	, Finland	500	68-72-67=207
T2	Antonia Malate	Seaside, CA	500	68-70-69=207
T4	Jenny Bae	Suwanee, GA	400	69-73-66=208
T4	Karisa Chul-Ak-Sorn	, Thailand	400	72-66-70=208