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San Jose State women’s golf coach Dana Dormann stood on a hill overlooking the 18th green at Cordevalle following No. 1 Stanford’s 5-1 victory Thursday over her eighth-ranked Spartans in their Battle of the Bay match play event as both squads congratulated each other.
The match, which came together as a friendly get-together between two schools located 20 miles from each other back in December, took on more intrigue after the Spartans won the Lamkin Invitational in San Diego last week by three shots over the mighty Cardinal, which was looking for its fifth straight win on the season.
In the glistening setting sun’s reflection off the greenside lake of Cordevalle’s 18th hole, Dormann noticed a likeness to the Golden Era of Spartan women’s golf from the early 1980s to the mid-90s, when San Jose State was one of the elite programs in the nation.
“There’s no kink in their armor,” Dormann said of the Stanford team, “they’re just super solid all-around games. It’s fun to play with them.”
The Spartans’ dominance of yesteryear was fueled by megawatt star power from the likes of Patty Sheehan ’80, Juli Inkster ’82, Dina Ammaccapane ’90, Pat Hurst ’91, Tracy Hanson ’93, Janice Moody ‘93, and Dormann herself. The Spartan seven combined for over 100 professional wins, including 14 major titles, and made multiple Solheim Cup appearances.
While Stanford can boast 2003 U.S. Women’s Open champion Hilary Lunke, the Cardinal has only established itself as a consistent national power since Anne Walker took over the program in 2012. Stanford won its first national championship in 2015 and has finished in the top five at nationals in each of the last six seasons.
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