College golf notebook: Stanford women, Rose Zhang tally another win, Oklahoma men win in Hawaii

Rose Zhang has played in 14 college tournaments. She has won seven of them.

Zhang, the top women’s amateur in the world and sophomore at Stanford, added another trophy to her collection Wednesday, as she won the Pac-12 Preview in Hawaii at Nanea Golf Club. The No. 1 Cardinal also won their fourth tournament of the spring, including three stroke play wins and a match play victory against No. 2 Wake Forest at the Stephens Cup.

Zhang finished at 11-under 208, beating Oregon’s Ashleigh Park by three shots. It’s Zhang’s third victory this season, and she shot under par in all three rounds. The one tournament she didn’t win (Stephens Cup), she finished T-12.

Rachel Heck, the 2021 NCAA individual champion, didn’t play for the defending national champions, but Stanford’s lineup is built with depth, and that showed in Hawaii. Freshman Megha Ganne finished at 4 under and T-7, Brooke Seay in 10th at 3 under and Sadie Englemann at even par and T-11.

In the team competition, Stanford bested Oregon by 10 shots. Arizona finished in third at 7 under, one shot behind the Ducks. Arizona State (5 under) and UCLA (2 over) rounded out the top five.

Arizona’s Gile Bite Starkute tallied a third-place finish individually at 7 under. UCLA’s Caroline Canales and Arizona State’s Ashley Menne tied for fourth at 6 under. USC sophomore Amari Avery finished T-7.

Oklahoma men victorious in Hawaii

Meanwhile, the Oklahoma men’s golf team picked up its first victory of the season in Hawaii, capturing the Ka’anapali Classic Collegiate at Ka’anapali Golf Course in Lahaina.

The Sooners shot 19 under in the final round, the lowest single-round score for any team in the event, to pull away from Clemson and win by 12 shots, finishing at 41-under 811.

Leading the Sooners was Jake Holbrook, Drew Goodman and Jase Summy. The trio each finished tied for fifth at 11-under 202. Holbrook and Goodman shot 5 under in the final round while Summy carded a 4 under score. Stephen Campbell Jr. shot 8 under and finished T-10 for the Sooners, as well. Patrick Welch finished T-17 at 6 under.

Clemson’s Andrew Swanson went low in the individual competition, finishing at 18-under 195. He won by two shots, including an 8-under 63 in the final round, beating North Florida’s Nick Gabrelcik.

Georgia’s Maxwell Ford finished third at 13 under while Liberty’s Josh Ryan was a stroke behind.

Kansas’ William Duquette recorded an ace during the third round, sinking his shot from 202 yards out on the par-3 15th.

Patriot All-America adds The Thunderbolt to week-long festivities

The Patriot All-America is about to get even better.

Tournament organizers have implemented a second tournament to the Patriot lineup named The Thunderbolt, which will feature 72 of the nation’s top male collegiate players competing in a three-round event from December 29-31, 2022, at Sterling Grove Golf and Country Club in Surprise, Arizona.

The inaugural Thunderbolt will be played at the same time as the 12th annual Patriot All-America Invitational, which is comprised of 84 of the top men’s collegiate players and 66 of the top collegiate women playing at the Wigwam Golf Resort in Litchfield Park, Arizona. The women’s field was expanded from 42 players to 66 for the 2022 edition.

The Patriot All-America Invitational features PING All-Americans from the previous season in NCAA Division I, II and III, NAIA and NJCAA, as well as 2021 First Team All-America seniors from the AJGA.

“With the depth of talent in college and amateur golf, it is more and more difficult to receive invitations to elite tournaments,” said Dustin Roberts, Chief Operating Officer of the Golf Coaches Association of America (GCAA). “The Thunderbolt allows those individuals that are just missing out on those invitations an opportunity to compete against quality competition and raise their rankings and profiles. We are proud that the top three returning finishers in the 2022 Thunderbolt will receive invitations to the 2023 Patriot All-America Invitational, providing a path to elite tournament play.”

Named after the Air Force P-47 Thunderbolt, The Thunderbolt has been added to accommodate those players that met the initial eligibility but did not make it into The Patriot. An invitation to The Thunderbolt does not preclude a player from later receiving an invitation to The Patriot, and all golfers in the Thunderbolt field will be added to the alternate list for The Patriot.

Story originally appeared on GolfWeek