05-22-2024, 10:19 AM
What a thrilling 45 minutes or so yesterday as Ganne and Xu stormed past their USC opponents to secure the final 2 points Stanford needed to beat the Trojans! After years of watching other teams make putts at critical points in their matches vs. Stanford, this time it was the Stanford putts that went in.
Ganne didn't play great. But neither did her opponent. They had already halved 3 holes with bogeys. But Ganne found her footing after falling behind. She finished 3-3-3 (2 birdies and a par) to turn a 1 hole deficit into a 2&1 win.
Xu was 1 down starting the back 9. She made back-to-back birdies on 11 and 12 to take a 1 hole lead. Then she just parred in and let her opponent make mistakes for the clinching 3&2 victory.
Martin Sampedro had played well enough until the middle of the back 9 when she started to wobble. She hit some uncharacteristic shots. The putt that she missed on 17 to lose her lead seemed rushed. Feeling the pressure? Nerves? In the end, it didn't matter. But I do note that she will be playing the leadoff spot today after playing anchor in match 1 and 3rd in match 2. Maybe that is Coach Walker protecting a freshman.
The match today is of course a toss up. On paper Stanford looks like a favorite. But nothing on paper shows the pressure of playing for a national championship.
Stanford's line up is a frosh, 2 sophomores and 2 seniors. UCLA's line up is a sophomore, 3 juniors and a senior. Of course 2 of the Stanford golfers (Heck and Englemann) have played for a national championship before (both lost vs. Oregon). None of the UCLA players have that experience.
UCLA is playing in the same order as they did in the quarters and semis. Coach Walker has once again changed her line up. She has moved the seniors Englemann and Heck to the anchor positions 4th and 5th. They are the current heart and soul of the team. I am excited to see how Xu and Ganne perform in positions 2 and 3. They are the future heart and soul of the team.
Coach Walker talked in a post round interview about this team's discipline. They have a game plan for how to approach each hole given the pin position and the conditions. The players will stick to the game plan regardless of the status of the match. They have done well at executing the shots under pressure. And making putts. Coach Walker was asked why her team has been so consistently good in this tournament over the years. She said words to the effect of "I don't know! And if I did, I would bottle and sell it and make a lot more money than I do as a college golf coach." I think part of it is that she has been extraordinarily adept at getting her players mentally ready to play well when the stakes are the highest. It's so much fun watching them do so.
By the way in the post-match celebration yesterday I thought I recognized Brooke Seay. She returned for a 5th year but has not played all season for unspecified reasons. It's nice for her to be able to share this NCAA experience with the rest of the team. She was a rock solid contributor to the 2022 NC. So maybe she has some words of wisdom to help the younger team members this time as well.
Ganne didn't play great. But neither did her opponent. They had already halved 3 holes with bogeys. But Ganne found her footing after falling behind. She finished 3-3-3 (2 birdies and a par) to turn a 1 hole deficit into a 2&1 win.
Xu was 1 down starting the back 9. She made back-to-back birdies on 11 and 12 to take a 1 hole lead. Then she just parred in and let her opponent make mistakes for the clinching 3&2 victory.
Martin Sampedro had played well enough until the middle of the back 9 when she started to wobble. She hit some uncharacteristic shots. The putt that she missed on 17 to lose her lead seemed rushed. Feeling the pressure? Nerves? In the end, it didn't matter. But I do note that she will be playing the leadoff spot today after playing anchor in match 1 and 3rd in match 2. Maybe that is Coach Walker protecting a freshman.
The match today is of course a toss up. On paper Stanford looks like a favorite. But nothing on paper shows the pressure of playing for a national championship.
Stanford's line up is a frosh, 2 sophomores and 2 seniors. UCLA's line up is a sophomore, 3 juniors and a senior. Of course 2 of the Stanford golfers (Heck and Englemann) have played for a national championship before (both lost vs. Oregon). None of the UCLA players have that experience.
UCLA is playing in the same order as they did in the quarters and semis. Coach Walker has once again changed her line up. She has moved the seniors Englemann and Heck to the anchor positions 4th and 5th. They are the current heart and soul of the team. I am excited to see how Xu and Ganne perform in positions 2 and 3. They are the future heart and soul of the team.
Coach Walker talked in a post round interview about this team's discipline. They have a game plan for how to approach each hole given the pin position and the conditions. The players will stick to the game plan regardless of the status of the match. They have done well at executing the shots under pressure. And making putts. Coach Walker was asked why her team has been so consistently good in this tournament over the years. She said words to the effect of "I don't know! And if I did, I would bottle and sell it and make a lot more money than I do as a college golf coach." I think part of it is that she has been extraordinarily adept at getting her players mentally ready to play well when the stakes are the highest. It's so much fun watching them do so.
By the way in the post-match celebration yesterday I thought I recognized Brooke Seay. She returned for a 5th year but has not played all season for unspecified reasons. It's nice for her to be able to share this NCAA experience with the rest of the team. She was a rock solid contributor to the 2022 NC. So maybe she has some words of wisdom to help the younger team members this time as well.
"We have an unwritten rule around here not to do anything stupid."
-Casey Jacobsen, Feb 3, 2000