Dominant Start to Intercollegiate – Stanford Cardinal

STANFORD, Calif. — No. 3 Stanford women’s golf began the Stanford Intercollegiate hosted by Dr. Condoleezza Rice on Friday afternoon and reminded the field why they’ve won the event three of the last four years. The team put together its best-ever round on its home course, pacing the field by five strokes heading into the second round.

Every year, Stanford puts together a round that seems to break a record, and Friday’s was no exception. The Cardinal shot 13-under as a team, the program record at Stanford Golf Course. It is the fourth time in the last calendar year that Stanford has posted a round of -13 or better. For comparison, last year’s winning team score at the Stanford intercollegiate was -18 (Stanford and USC).

Friday’s star was Paula Martín Sampedro, who posted the lowest round of the day for Stanford with a 5-under 66, tying the fewest strokes she’s had in a round in her collegiate career. Her scorecard was nearly clean, with a lone bogey on two after she made her turn. She secured the outright lead with a strong finish, knocking down birdie putts on seven and nine to close out the 66. It’s already the 20^th round she has scored in the 60s in her career, needing just 60 rounds to get there.

Just behind Martín Sampedro is Meja Örtengren, who also finished in a stellar fashion to rocket up the leaderboard. Her only bogey was on 14, but she was relatively clean until her final three holes. That’s when everything started to fall for the sophomore from Sweden, who recorded birdies on her final three holes to close out a 4-under 67. She holds a tie for second heading into Saturday morning.

Both Megha Ganne and Andrea Revuelta shot 2-under 69s on Friday. After bogeying on her first hole of the day, Ganne was clean the rest of the way, with three birdies spread out over her remaining 17 holes. Like her teammates mentioned above, she also birdied her final hole on nine to break into the 60s. In a remarkable start to the season, all four countable rounds for Ganne have been 69s. Revuelta had three birdies on her last nine, including consecutive birdies on one and two after the turn.

All four Stanford golfers not in the lineup are competing as individuals, and Anna Song shone brightest in her collegiate debut. A freshman from Los Angeles shot a 2-under 69 in her collegiate debut. She birdied right out of the gates on one and added four more before the round was finished. One of her birdies came on seven, a hole on which seven of…