SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — Gusting winds north of 20 mph left black and blue bruises all over the first-round scorecards at the 2022 NCAA Div. I Women’s Golf Championship.
Par was at a premium while bogeys, double bogeys and a fair share of triples were being handed out like free samples at Costco on Friday at Grayhawk Golf Club. Nobody rode the wind better than Stanford, the nation’s No. 1 team who sit atop the leaderboard at 1 over, three shots clear of second-place Texas A&M and six clear of TCU in third.
The Cardinal were led by the freshman phenom and No. 1 amateur Rose Zhang, who fired a 4-under 68 to take a one shot lead over Texas A&M’s Zoe Slaughter, who remains in solid form after previously signing for a 7-under 65 to help the Aggies punch their ticket in the final round of regionals. TCU’s Sabrina Iqbal, UCLA’s Ty Akabane and Stanford’s Sadie Englemann are the only other players under par after the opening round, T-3 at 1 under.
Scores: Team | Individual
“We were prepared for that. We had seen the weather forecast and knew that was coming in,” said Stanford head coach Anne Walker. “We talked about having to take advantage of the opportunities when we had them because we knew we were going to be really challenged by the wind. It was even more challenging than I think we thought.”
Just how difficult was it on Friday? Florida State and Oregon were the only schools to not make double bogey (or worse) in the field of 24 teams. The Seminoles sit T-4 at 8 over alongside LSU and Auburn with the Ducks one shot back in seventh. If the match play cut were today, Alabama and USC would duel in a playoff to decide the No. 8 seed.
Play continues on Saturday with the second round of stroke play at 9:30 a.m. ET.
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