Scot delivers another US college title for Stanford, hailing team as 'greatest'

It follows Walker masterminding a third NCAA Women’s National Championship victory for Stanford in five years and fourth overall.

In a dominant display at the Omni La Costa Resort & Spa in Carlsbad, California, Walker’s team finished 22 shots clear of the field in the stroke-play phase to earn the No 1 seed in the match-play stage for a sixth successive season.

Keeping their foot to the floor, Stanford then won three matches by a cumulative total of 14-1, capping a brilliant week’s work by beating USC (University of Southern California) in the title decider.

“They inspire each other,” said Walker of her players, with the line up on this occasion consisting of Megha Ganne, Meja Ortengren, Paula Martin Sampedro, Kelly Xu and Andrea Ruvuelta.

“There's no sort of holding each other back. They're just very positive people. They have a ton of respect for each other, and they truly, genuinely want to make each other better. And I think that type of motivation helped push them forward to this moment.”

The success was hailed by Condoleezza Rice, the former US Secretary of State and Stanford University professor who is one of the team’s biggest supporters.

“Congratulations @StanfordWGolf!” she wrote in a post on social media. “National champions once again. It was a joy celebrating with this remarkable team. #GoStanford”

The victory capped a season that saw Stanford, where Tiger Woods played his college golf, rack up eight consecutive stroke-play tournament wins and six individual triumphs.

“There is a strong possibility that this is the greatest team I’ve ever coached,” admitted Walker, who is now the third most successful among active Stanford head coaches, as she reflected on adding to previous NCAA title triumphs in 2015, 2022 and 2024.

Walker was a good player herself, as illustrated when the Strathaven member won the Welsh Women’s Open Stroke-Play Championship in 2001.

She began her coaching career at the University of California in Berkeley, her alma mater, where she was named assistant coach after earning a geography degree in 2002.

Walker then became associate head coach at Cal in 2007 before then taking up the head coaching job at UC Davis in 2008.

A successful four-year spell there – the ‘Aggies’ won three Big West Conference titles and recorded a first-ever top-20 national ranking – led to Walker securing her big move to Stanford in 2012.

“It’s an incredible school,” Walker told bunkered in an interview four years ago. “You never have to go looking for inspiration. I started on 20 July, 2012, and it’s been the most amazing ride.”