What we learned from the women’s college golf season this fall 2024

In the last 18 months, Stanford has lost Rose Zhang, Rachel Heck and Sadie Englemann. But don’t worry, the Cardinals remain the team to beat.

Last season, Stanford won its last three tournaments to claim its third national championship. Earlier this season, the Cardinals did the same, winning three straight tournaments and three match play events in the NB3 Match Play at Twin Warriors.

The six straight wins are the longest in program history. Stanford’s previous longest winning streak was five, around the 2022 national championship and at the start of the 2022-23 season. It is also the longest active streak in the country.

Last week, Stanford capped its fall with a win at the Nanea Invitational in Hawaii, where Megha Ganne earned the second win of her college career.

The strength of this Stanford team is its depth. The Cardinals have six players in the top 76 of the NCAA golf rankings, four of whom are freshmen. One of them, Meja Ortengren, is ranked 13th, while standout sophomore Paula Martin Sampedro is ranked 18th. Freshmen Leigh Chen (No. 30) and Nora Sundberg (No. 40) are also in the top 50.

Ganne wasn’t even ranked in the last update, but that will change on Wednesday as new rankings drop.

Depth is a good problem to have for Stanford coach Anne Walker, who will look to build on a winning streak this spring while chasing title No. 4.

Besides Stanford, Arkansas had won three of its four tournaments and is in second place. South Carolina, USC and Texas round out the top five.