Stanford and Rose Zhang sweep Juli Inkster Meadow Club Invitational titles

March 7, 2023 | by Jim Young of AmateurGolf.com

Photo courtesy of Stanford Athletics

Zhang overcomes San Jose State's Kajsa Arwefjall to notch her ninth collegiate victory, tying Stanford's career record

With two of its top players sidelined with injuries, Stanford's narrative may have changed a bit in recent weeks but it was business as usual for the top-ranked Cardinal at the Juli Inkster Meadow Club Invitational in Fairfax, Calif.

After starting the final round six shots back of USC, Stanford outlasted the Trojans by carding a 1-under 287 to USC's 10-over 298 to win the Inkster by five strokes over its Pac-12 rival. San Jose State finished nine back at 3-over followed by Pepperdine (+14) and California (+20).

Stanford's Rose Zhang shot a final round 5-under 67 to claim the individual title at 11-under 205, two strokes clear of San Jose State's Kajsa Arwefjall. For Zhang, it was the ninth collegiate individual title of her career, tying LPGA winner Andrea Lee for first place on Stanford's all-time career list.

With the team and individual titles hanging in the balance coming down the stretch, Zhang did her part in solving both outcomes.

Stanford and USC were deadlocked at 6-under but both teams were leaking oil coming down the stretch on a cold and windy at the Meadow Club. USC's four counting players were 6-over on the final three holes while Stanford played the same stretch in 2-over, thanks to Zhang's clutch birdies on 16 and 18.

Playing two groups in front of Zhang, Arwefjall birdied holes 16 and 17 to get into the clubhouse at 9-under. Zhang pulled even with a birdie on the 15th, took the lead outright with another birdie on 16 and added one more for good measure on the closing hole to finish with a round of 67 and a winning score of 11-under, which was the same number that earned her a second-place finish a year ago.

Zhang and Arwefjall played remarkable golf, combining to shoot 20-under par in nasty conditions when only three other golfers managed to finish in red numbers at 1-under for the 54-hole event.

It was Zhang's ninth win in 16 career starts at Stanford. The world's top-ranked female amateur has finished outside the top-10 only once in her 16 starts and that was a tie for 12th at this year's Jackson T. Stephens Cup at Seminole Golf Club.

Related: A Quick Nine with Rose Zhang

With mainstays Rachel Heck and Brooke Seay shelved with injuries, Stanford's depth will be tested over the next few weeks as the Cardinal look to win a second consecutive national title come May at Grayhawk Golf Club. But these last two days at the Meadow Club proved Stanford can draw upon a skill set it hasn't had to utilize much over the last two years and that's resiliency.

Junior Sadie Englemann answered the call at the Meadow Club with rounds of 72-72-71 to earn a tie for third with USC's Amari Avery and Pepperdine's Jeneath Wong at 1-under. Freshman Megha Ganne tied for ninth at 1-over while senior Angelina Ye (+7; t-27) and freshman Kelly Xu (+8; t-34th) were further down the leaderboard.

Playing through heavy rains, hail, high winds, unseasonably cold temperatures and without two of its stars, Stanford's fourth-stroke play win of the season was anything but easy but the Cardinal was up to the challenge these last two days and that's a good sign because there are likely more ahead.

• • • • •

Rose Zhang's Collegiate Victories
• 2021 Molly Collegiate Invitational
• 2021 Windy City Collegiate
• 2021 Stanford Intercollegiate
• 2022 NCAA Division I Women's Championship
• 2022 Women's Carmel Cup
• 2022 Stanford Intercollegiate
• 2022 Pac-12 Preview
• Therese Hession Challenge
• Juli Inkster Meadow Club Invitational

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