Greatest ever? Stanford University stakes its claim after winning latest NCAA women's golf title
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Greatest ever? Stanford University stakes its claim after winning latest NCAA women’s golf title

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CARLSBAD, Calif. — Through dozens of individual wins and team trophies, a bad taste lingered.

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Stanford is no stranger to success. The Cardinal are in the midst of a historic run, winning more titles than losing teams since the 2020-21 season, and are perhaps the greatest dynasty in women’s college golf history. But the loss to Northwestern in last year’s championship match never went away.

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Paula Martin Sampedro and Andrea Revuelta were dissatisfied with their team’s performance in the championship match. They knew how good their team was. They felt the Cardinals should not only have won, but should have had the advantage. Anything less was unacceptable.

That’s why the junior and sophomore duo from Spain called a team meeting after the Augusta National Women’s Amateur. That was before Stanford even started its postseason. Martin Sampedro and Revuelta did not speak to their coach or teammates. They wanted excellence.

“There’s no reason why we can’t win every match play event,” said Martín Sampedro. “So we dug deep, thinking about what thinking is, how things have played out in the past, and how we could have done things better.”

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Best photos from the 2026 NCAA Women’s Golf Championship at Omni La Costa

A general view of on-course signage during the NCAA Division I Women’s Golf Championship held at Omni La Costa Resort & Spa on May 22, 2026 in Carlsbad, California.

(Luke Hales, Getty Images)

Added Revuelta: “Obviously we’re pretty good at stroke play, so that was just an idea that was building up in the players. We were just talking about little things that could be better.”

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It’s these little things that have separated Stanford from the rest of college golf in recent years, and are a big reason why the Cardinals are back on top of the mountain.

No. 1 Stanford University defeated No. 2 USC 4-1 in the 2026 NCAA Women’s Golf Championship at Omni La Costa on Wednesday in a match that left no room for doubt. A series of early USC errors took away any chance the Trojans had, as Stanford took advantage of nearly every deficit and took advantage of nearly every opportunity.

Martin Sampedro earned the first points with a 3-2 win over USC star fourth-year student Katherine Park. Seconds later, sophomore Meja Oltengren clinched the victory, 6-5. And, fittingly, senior Megha Ngannou won 4-and-3 over Bailey Shoemaker to end her match on the 15th green, capping a remarkable career on the same hole where Stanford great Rachel Heck clinched her championship match two years ago.

This is Stanford University’s third championship in the past five years. The Cardinal also won the NCAA Championship in stroke play for six consecutive years. This is the fourth title in the school’s history, and the latest installment comes 11 years after the first title.

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And this team may have been coach Ann Walker’s best team.

“I don’t know what other people will say, but I feel like they’re going to live on in Stanford golf as the greatest team of all time and, you know, probably the greatest team that I’ve ever coached,” Walker said. “So I’m really, really lucky to be in this position and be around these types of people.”

Walker said the team never felt the need to avenge last year’s upset loss to Northwestern. However, the team knew they needed to improve further in match play this year. In the 2025-26 season, Stanford lost more matches in match play (two games) than stroke play (one game).

So it will be a player-driven conversation post-ANWA.

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“It was really moving. It was so impressive, so heartfelt, it really showed their love for the program and their love for each other,” Walker said. “They wanted to perform their best this week and that was their motivation.

“We’ve talked a lot throughout the season about being good on the fundamentals. That’s what they stuck with and that’s what they did.”

All five Stanford players also played in last year’s championship game. The two seniors, Ngannou and Kelly Hsu (the latter celebrated his birthday on Wednesday), were dominant in match play throughout their careers and leave with two championships under their belts, but it was Sampedro and Revuelta who took the initiative to make Stanford uncomfortable. Because that’s where you grow the most.

Paula Martin-Sampedro, Andrea Revuelta, Meja Ortengren, Kelly Hsu and Mega Gunn of the Stanford University Cardinals pose on the 18th green with the National Championship trophy after defeating the USC Trojans in the final round.

Paula Martin-Sampedro, Andrea Revuelta, Meja Ortengren, Kelly Hsu and Mega Gunn of the Stanford University Cardinals pose on the 18th green with the National Championship trophy after defeating the USC Trojans in the final round.

They won the ACC Championship, won their first title, took first place at the NCAA Stamford Regional and also won in stroke play this week. The Cardinal did not lose a game during the longest day of college golf on Tuesday.

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Wednesday looked like it would be a battle. The nation’s top two seeds and the highest-ranked team will face off, but despite the star power on both sides, Stanford’s focus was set weeks ago.

“The last year here in La Costa was a lot to swallow for me personally,” Revuelta said. “But you know the moment we left here, it was an energy. We were really disappointed, but we knew we had done everything we had put our heart and soul into this golf course last year. We didn’t leave here with a trophy, but we were ready to come back. It was an energy, a humility and an acknowledgment of the fact that there was room for improvement.”

In college golf, championships are not determined by stroke play, but no team, male or female, has ever won six consecutive stroke play titles, as Stanford University did during the NCAA era.

One thing is for sure: Even in the deepest era of women’s college golf, Stanford remains ahead of the competition, and that’s thanks to the long-standing leadership of players like Martin Sampedro and Revuelta.

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“If you don’t work hard, if you don’t know how to be disciplined, if you don’t know how to put in long days, you’re not going to get to Stanford,” Walker said. “We’re very fortunate that these players carried that character with them when they got to Stanford, and I think that’s why we’ve had continued success over the last 10 or 11 years.”

The greatest team Walker has ever coached? Maybe the best team of all time.

This article originally appeared on Golfweek: Stanford University wins 2026 NCAA Women’s Golf Championship at Omni La Costa

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