By Gio Gaxiola (@GaxiolaGio) – Reporter
The No.12 San Jose State women’s golf team completed a miracle on the fairway on Tuesday afternoon when it edged out No.1 Stanford and a handful of other ranked teams in the Lamkin San Diego Invitational.
Stanford has one of the best lineups in women’s golf history this year, which includes future LPGA players Rachel Heck and Rose Zhang, both of whom are ranked in the top three of the World Amateur Golf Rankings.
Darkness reared its ugly head in the meet on Monday and play had to be suspended and resumed on Tuesday afternoon. Stanford had been leading the whole tournament thanks in part to two hole-in-ones. However, The Cardinal shot a +11 on day two. The Spartans kept their composure like a golfer setting up for a putt in the green and secured the upset win.
The last time Stanford lost a golf tournament was on Sep. 27, 2021.
“It’s amazing. Spartan nation, we won. We just beat the number one team in the nation,” said head coach Dana Dormann. “It was a complete team effort and I am proud of your Spartans.”
As a team, the Spartans managed to hit 173 pars, 39 birdies and one eagle. This put the team’s score at +9 and propelled them over Stanford’s +12 score.
Leading the charge for the Spartans was senior Natasha Andrea Oon. Oon made nine birdies in the tournament, including five in the first round. Oon’s final score of -1 put her in third place for the individual portion of the tournament.
“My mind set was just to go out and do what I worked for,” Oon said. “I wanted to be confident and comfortable. I think I did that on most holes and messed up on some, but it’s all part of the learning process.”
“Natasha Oon played great,” Dormann said. “Actually, everybody played great to make this all come together.”
Junior Kajsa Arwefjall also cracked the Top-10 in the tournament. Arwefjall shot +3, which is good enough for tied sixth in the individual portion. Her best round came in round one where she shot -4.
Senior Antonia Malate and freshman Lucia Lopez-Ortega both shot +9. What helped Lopez-Ortega out was her eagle on hole 18 of the first round.
“This win proves how much you cannot stress on rankings in a tournament,” Ooon said. “ We all are out here and we all have an equal chance to win.”
The Spartans will have another chance to beat No.1 Stanford on Feb. 24 when they play in the “Battle By The Bay” at CordeValle Golf Club in San Martin, Calif.