[Spiny_Norman]

BBM, I welcome all golf talk.  Between the two teams, I would have given the nod to the women as more likely title contender. But they are playing without their strong #3 player Albane Valenzuela who is recovering from a serious bike accident on campus. She already had three top 10 finishes this spring and was ranked #47 in the country.  With her, Andrea Lee (#2 in the country) and Casey Danielson (#4 in the country), Stanford was as good at 1,2 and 3 as any team.  But Stanford has been inconsistent at positions 4 and 5.  Coach Walker has given every player on the roster a shot at those spots and yet none has been able to nail one down. 

But it worked in 2015 for Stanford with two All Americans at the top of the lineup (Stackhouse and Kim) and enough contributions from the rest of the lineup to win.  And the same formula almost worked again last year. If Chou, Aubert and Kersten (the current lineup at the tournament at Silverado) play to their best ability, Stanford can beat anyone.

The men played well enough the past two weeks.  But the players have still been very inconsistent.  Coach Ray has one solid spot - Maverick McNealy at #1.  Every other position seems up for grabs. He has tried 6 players at the other 4 spots.  All have shined at times.  Yet they have also struggled greatly.  Example - Badhwar was 8th last week at the Goodwin at Stanford. He was 74th this week at the Western Intercollegiate.  In fact, Stanford was in a position to win the tournament at Pasatiempo this past weekend, only behind U.SC by 3 shots going into the final round.  But McNealy shot 74, Salinda 76, Huang 76, Wu 76, Badhwar 76.

But if the Stanford men qualify for the NCAAs (which seems a given, but you never know), they would be assigned a regional at a familiar course - Stanford.  The university is hosting a regional.

[Spiny_Norman]

BBM, I welcome all golf talk.  Between the two teams, I would have given the nod to the women as more likely title contender. But they are playing without their strong #3 player Albane Valenzuela who is recovering from a serious bike accident on campus. She already had three top 10 finishes this spring and was ranked #47 in the country.  With her, Andrea Lee (#2 in the country) and Casey Danielson (#4 in the country), Stanford was as good at 1,2 and 3 as any team.  But Stanford has been inconsistent at positions 4 and 5.  Coach Walker has given every player on the roster a shot at those spots and yet none has been able to nail one down. 

But it worked in 2015 for Stanford with two All Americans at the top of the lineup (Stackhouse and Kim) and enough contributions from the rest of the lineup to win.  And the same formula almost worked again last year. If Chou, Aubert and Kersten (the current lineup at the tournament at Silverado) play to their best ability, Stanford can beat anyone.

The men played well enough the past two weeks.  But the players have still been very inconsistent.  Coach Ray has one solid spot - Maverick McNealy at #1.  Every other position seems up for grabs. He has tried 6 players at the other 4 spots.  All have shined at times.  Yet they have also struggled greatly.  Example - Badhwar was 8th last week at the Goodwin at Stanford. He was 74th this week at the Western Intercollegiate.  In fact, Stanford was in a position to win the tournament at Pasatiempo this past weekend, only behind U.SC by 3 shots going into the final round.  But McNealy shot 74, Salinda 76, Huang 76, Wu 76, Badhwar 76.

But if the Stanford men qualify for the NCAAs (which seems a given, but you never know), they would be assigned a regional at a familiar course - Stanford.  The university is hosting a regional.