Stanford and Texas Tech's Shannon Tan leading Juli Inkster Meadow Club Collegiate

March 6, 2023 | by Jim Young of AmateurGolf.com

Shannon Tan (Texas Tech Athletics photo)

Top-ranked Cardinal being chased by USC and San Jose State when play was suspended at the Meadow Club

Mother Nature topped the leaderboard on the first day of the Juli Inkster Meadow Club Collegiate but Stanford, USC and San Jose State are right on her heels.

On-and-off rain that forced two delays along with unseasonably cold temperatures in the Bay Area made for a trying day at the Alister Mackenzie-designed gem in Fairfax, Calif., but the three top teams in the field were in red numbers when play was suspended midway through the second round.

At 8-under par, Stanford holds a two-stroke lead over Pac-12 rival USC, while defending Inkster champions San Jose State is seven back at 1-under par.

Playing without the services of Rachel Heck and Brooke Seay who are both sidelined with injuries, Stanford's mantra of "next Card up" seemed to have served the nation's top-ranked team well on Monday. Paced by a 4-under 68, Stanford carded a 5-under 283 in its first round to build a four-stroke lead over the Trojans and was 3-under midway through its second round when play was suspended.

While teams scurried to the warmth of the clubhouse, San Jose State, USC and Texas Tech were probably the only three teams disappointed to see play called for the day, as the Red Raiders and Spartans were 6-under midway through their second rounds, while USC was sailing along at 5-under when the teams were called off the course.

With darkness setting in and temperatures rapidly dropping, Texas Tech's Shannon Tan was doing her part to light up the Meadow Club. The freshman from Singapore was riding a heater of five consecutive birdies and was 7-under through 12 holes which vaulted her to the top of the individual leaderboard.

It didn't take long for Tan to figure out the Meadow Club. After carding an even-par 72 in her first round and opening with three straight pars to start her second, Tan preceded to birdie seven of her next 10 holes, including her last five of the day. At 7-under for the tournament, Tan currently holds a one-stroke lead over Zhang and San Jose State's Kajsa Arwefjall, who were 6-under when play was suspended.

Teams will return to the Meadow Club early Tuesday morning to complete their second rounds in cold but drier conditions followed by final round action.

Results: Juli Inkster

Place	Player	Location	Pts	Scores
1	Rose Zhang	Irvine, CA	600	68-70-67=205
2	Kajsa Arwefjall	, Sweden	400	68-70-69=207
T3	Sadie Englemann	Austin, TX	300	72-72-71=215
T3	Jeneath Wong	, Australia	300	70-73-72=215
T3	Amari Avery	Riverside, CA	300	72-70-73=215