STANFORD, California – The Stanford women’s golf team can look back on an outstanding year, securing its third NCAA title and cheering on graduates Rose Zhang (25) (USA), who turned professional last year, and Albane Valenzuela (20) (Switzerland) as they participate in the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris.
Now the Cardinal has another reason to celebrate: A generous donation from the Duan family, longtime friends of the golf program, will provide long-term support for the recruitment and retention of the game’s most talented assistant coaches. The first Duan family assistant coach for women’s golf will be Demi Runas, the newest addition to the program’s coaching staff.
“We are very grateful for the generous and ongoing support of the Duan family,” said Bernard Muir, athletic director of Jaquish & Kenninger. “Our women’s golf program is talented, focused and dedicated. With their Stanford community behind them, their future looks even brighter.”
This is not the Duan family’s first contribution to promoting Stanford golf. As passionate fans of the men’s and women’s varsity teams, they have provided vital support to both programs as well as the Siebel Varsity Golf Training Complex.
The family says their donation was inspired by a desire to give Stanford’s student-athletes the opportunity to compete at the highest level. When recent NCAA policy changes allowed for an increase in coaching staffs in women’s golf, the Duans stepped forward again and donated an endowment to continue to provide strong teaching, leadership and mentorship to the Cardinals’ women’s golfers.
The Stanford women’s golf team secured its latest national championship title last season – the program’s third since the NCAA switched the women’s golf championship to match play in 2015 and the most titles among women’s golf programs since 2008. The Cardinal are the only team to win multiple NCAA championships during the match play era and the only program to win an NCAA championship after entering the competition as the No. 1 seed. In addition, they are the only team to reach the match play portion of the championship in every year it was offered.
Members of the women’s golf team have won individual championships four times. Shelley Hamlin won the 1971 national intercollegiate women’s individual golf championship (a Division of Girls’ and Women’s Sports event that gave rise to the current NCAA women’s golf championship). More recently, Stanford golfers have won individual NCAA titles three years in a row: Rachel Heck in 2021 and Rose Zhang in 2022-23. Zhang is the only woman to ever win two NCAA individual titles.
In 2023-24, five Stanford golfers were named All-Americans by both the Women’s Golf Coaches Association and Golfweek. According to Golf Channel, the Cardinals have the top-ranked junior class in the country.
“The Duan family continues to be one of our team’s most loyal supporters,” said Anne Walker, the Margot and Mitch Milias women’s golf team director. “This gift is a tangible expression of their confidence in our team’s potential and our continued commitment to work hard and achieve excellence. We look forward to using this momentum to build on our recent successes – and continue to make history.”
