Turns out, the Pac-12 already won before the first putt dropped: Stanford’s win marked the Pac-12’s 200th women’s NCAA title. Of course the same would have been true if the Ducks had won, but the No. 1 seed, Stanford prevailed over No. 2 seed Oregon to win the 2022 NCAA Women’s Golf Championship.
“It is a grand feeling, I’m already enjoying this moment,” said Stanford Head Coach Anne Walker. “It’s so hard to get back to the spot (Stanford won the 2015 title) and it’s certainly so hard to win. Oregon’s a phenomenal team, what a season they have had coming in here today. We’ve had so many people have helped us get to this spot and 2015 was a blur but hopefully this year I’ve enjoyed a little bit more.”
It looked like a Stanford wipeout, with Brooke Seay notching the first win (4&3) followed by the second victory secured by Aline Krauter (5 &3). Oregon’s Heather Lin answered, closing out defending individual champion, Rachel Heck (3&2). Then the Duck’s Briana Chacon mounted a comeback to win her match against Sadie Englemann with a birdie on the final hole to even things up.
Tied at two apiece, the championship came down to the final matchup between Stanford’s Rose Zhang and Oregon’s Sofie Kibsgaard Nielsen. After winning the Individual NCAA title on Monday, Zhang clinched the national championship for the Cardinal with a par on No. 17.
“I’m so proud of my team,” said Zhang. “We’ve worked all season long to get to this point and for us to actually do it, means a lot.”
Despite trailing most of the day, Oregon kept swinging until they ran out of holes.
“I’m so proud of my ducks; they gave it every last effort until the very end,” said Oregon Head Coach Derek Radley. “We were down in a lot of matches early and I think we were very little bit hesitant right out of the gates, but I’m so proud of how they fought all the way to the end.”
