Photo By James S. Wood
TUCSON, Ariz. – Freshmen Andrea Lee and Albane Valenzuela helped spark the No. 3 Stanford women's golf team to a share of second place Monday after the first round of the Pac-12 Championships at hot and windy Sewailo Golf Club.
Lee forged four birdies to shoot even-par 72 and is tied for third, one stroke behind co-leaders Lilia Vu and Bethany Wu of UCLA. Valenzuela, who missed the last two tournaments due to injury, also carded four birdies to finish with 74 and is tied for sixth.
As a team, the Cardinal posted an 8-over score of 296 on the demanding desert layout designed by former Stanford All-American Notah Begay III. Colorado matched that total and both teams trail pacesetter UCLA, which registered a 2-over 290 in the count four of five scoring format.
Junior Shannon Aubert and freshman Madie Chou checked in with 75s for Stanford and are tied for 14th. Aubert parred the last eight holes, while Chou made three birdies.
Senior Casey Danielson, who has posted eight consecutive top 10 finishes, struggled to a 79 and is tied for 34th in the three day tournament.
"I was very impressed with our fight out there today," said Anne Walker, the Margot and Mitch Milias Director of Women's Golf. "After being 6-over through four holes, we played the toughest part of the course in 2-over and that took a lot of resilience."
Temperatures reached the mid-90s but are expected to cool down Tuesday. However, the forecast calls for even higher winds.
"We will continue to work on our short games so that in conditions like these, we are always ready to compete and post a number," Walker said.
Stanford will play the second round Tuesday with UCLA starting at 9:20 a.m. off the first tee. Live scoring can be found at GoStanford.com.