CARLSBAD, CALIFORNIA 鈥 Only six teams shot under par and Stanford posted a 10-under (278) Saturday to conquer the leaderboard in the second round of the 2025 红杏视频 Division I Women鈥檚 Golf Championships being played on the North Course at the Omni La Costa Resort & Spa (6,330 yards/par 72).
After shooting 5-over-par in Friday鈥檚 opening round played in the afternoon that had Stanford tied for eleventh, the Cardinal went 10-under-par playing in the early morning wave on Saturday to go to 5-under-par for the championship. The only team in the field shooting under par after 36 holes, the Cardinal also go into Sunday鈥檚 third round with a five-stroke lead over second-place Northwestern, which shot a 3-under-par 285 on Saturday.
鈥淭he team has played steady since the very first shot on Friday,鈥 said Stanford head coach Anne Walker. 鈥淭heir poise was very noticeable today with all five players staying in the mix to the end and finding a way to have a flurry of birdies to cap the day off. They believe in each other and that belief was evident today and their score reflects it. Halfway through this tournament, we are where we want to be.鈥
The Stanford charge was led by sophomore Paula Martin Sampedro, who shot a personal 红杏视频 Championship best 4-under (68) for the round. The Cardinal showed complete balance, shooting 5-under with seven birdies on both the front and back nine. Kelly Xu earned a 3-under (69), while teammates Meja 脰rtengren and Megha Ganne shot 2-under and 1-under, respectively.
Florida State made the biggest jump of the day, up 12 spots to be tied for fourth with Southern California. The Seminoles, who shot a 7-over (295) Friday, rebounded to secure a program-best 红杏视频 Championship round of 4-under (284). Additionally, Northwestern turned around their Friday performance of 3-over to a 3-under (285) Saturday to move up six spots to second at even par overall.
鈥淥ur players handled the conditions very well today,鈥 said Northwestern head coach Emily Fletcher. 鈥淭he wind was blowing from a different direction early on this morning. I鈥檓 proud of their discipline handling some of these tough hole locations.鈥
Saturday鈥檚 second round featured a couple of other individual standouts as Mississippi State sophomore Avery Weed shot an 红杏视频 Championship best 4-under (68). Weed becomes the first Mississippi State Bulldog to fire off back-to-back rounds in the 60s at any point in the 红杏视频 Championship. The round adds to a 3-under (69) Friday for an individual leading 7-under heading into round three.
鈥淧laying in the morning today we were hoping for a little less wind than they had in the afternoon yesterday, so we felt like we could really go out there and get some birdies early, and I did do that,鈥 said Weed. 鈥淚 started out three under through four, and kind of just rode that the rest of the round as the wind kind of got more intense.鈥
South Carolina freshman Eila Galitsky also shot a 4-under (68) and ascended 15 positions to number two. After bogeying hole one, Galitsky produced a clean scorecard the rest of the way that included five birdies.
鈥淚 didn鈥檛 have a great start, pulled my 2-iron long over the green and made bogey at the first. And I missed two short birdie putts on the next two holes, so it was a bit of a rough start,鈥 said Galitsky. 鈥淏ut overall, I gave myself a lot of birdie chances today. I hit a lot of really good iron shots. Hitting more greens today was the key for me. My main concern right now is helping get the team through to match play. I think we鈥檙e in a really good spot if I can just keep doing what I鈥檓 doing and shooting under par.鈥
For the championship, the course stroke average is 74.81. During Saturday鈥檚 round, only six teams registered a round of even-par or better (Stanford, Florida State, Northwestern, South Carolina, Mississippi State, and Southern California).
The third round of the championship will tee off on Sunday, May 18, at 6:30 a.m. PST.
Finals play for the 2025 championships consists of three days of stroke play over 54 holes on Friday through Sunday (May 16-18), after which the top 15 teams and nine individuals not on an advancing team will be determined. That is followed by a final day of 18 holes of stroke play (Monday, May 19) to determine the top eight teams that will advance to match play as well as the 72-hole individual champion. The team national champion will be determined by a match-play format that will consist of quarterfinals and semifinals conducted on Tuesday, May 20, followed by the finals on Wednesday, May 21.
