Golf prodigy Rose Zhang breaks yet another NCAA record at Palouse Ridge Golf Club

Rose Zhang is one of the great golf prodigies of the world, and on Wednesday she broke the NCAA Regionals low score record for a 54 hole course, carding a 19-under 197. Zhang won the Pullman regional at Palouse Ridge Golf Club.

In a big day for her team (Stanford University), Rose Zhang took home her 11th trophy in her collegiate golf career. That tied her with Tiger Woods, Patrick Rodgers and Maverick McNealy for the top winners on Stanford golf history.

What is truly remarcable, is that all of those players reached that mark in their entire college careers, with 25 tournaments or more. Meanwhile, Rose Zhang is in her sophomore year and has started only 19 events.

Led by Zhang, the Stanford University team qualified for the NCAA Division 1 finals, which will take place May 19-24 at Grayhawk Golf Club in Scottsdale, Arizona. They will be facing 29 other teams.

The defending national champion Stanford Cardinal showed strength in their play, taking the teams victory in the Pullman Regional by reporting a -50. That mark is better, by 17 strokes, than any other recorded at an NCAA Regional Championship.

The rest of the players performed remarkably well. Sadie Englemann was runner-up with a 15-under 201, her personal best for a 54-hole field. She was followed by Kelly Xu, T8 with -10, and Megha Ganne, T13 with -6.

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Rose Zhang is the future of golf

Rose Zhang has had a meteoric rise in golf. Born in Arcadia, California, she started playing at a very young age. It didn't take long for her surprising results to follow.

After sweeping tournament after tournament in Southern California, in 2019 she was twice called up to the U.S. Junior Team. In 2020 she won the U.S. Women's Amateur championship, interestingly becoming the eighth player to win it as well as the U.S. Junior.

Rose Zhang at the 2023 Augusta National Women's Amateur (Image via Getty).

In 2021 she raised her standards and competed in four major LPGA Tour tournaments, making the cut at the Amundi Evian Championship. She was twice named Rolex Junior Player of the Year and awarded with the McCormack Medal for the best amateur golfer in the world also twice.

Rose Zhang was recruited to the Stanford University golf team for the 2021-22 season, and it was clear from the outset that the world was facing a rising star.

Among her many accomplishments in her freshman season were winning the NCAA individual and team championships and setting an NCAA record for single-season scoring average (69.68).

She also won four tournaments and finished Top 10 in six others. She received, among others, the ANNIKA Award (to the college women's golf player of the year), the Women's Golf Coaches Association (WGCA) Player of the Year award, the Honda Sport Golf Award, the WGCA Player of the Year award, the Pac-12 Player of the Year award and the Pac-12 Player of the Year.

After setting her most recent NCAA record, coach Anne Walker said about her:

"It's mesmerizing to watch and learn from her. She has elevated our entire team and you can see that this week with the huge performances from her teammates."