Stanford, ranked No. 1 in the country much of the season, won three of six starts during the spring. In nine full-field events in 2016-17, the Cardinal claimed four victories, two seconds and two thirds. Stanford also beat UCLA, 3-2, in the consolation finals of the prestigious East Lake Cup in Atlanta, Georgia.

It marks the 25th consecutive year Stanford has been selected to participate in the NCAA Regional Championships. The Cardinal won the program's first NCAA title in 2015 and finished second last year.

"It's really cool that the kids are being acknowledged this way after probably the best regular season in Stanford history," said Stanford coach Anne Walker. "They deserve this."

The Cardinal will be one of 18 teams competing May 8-10 at the University of New Mexico Championship Course. The top six advance to the NCAA Championships (May 19-24) at Rich Harvest Farms in Sugar Grove, Illinois.

"We're not trying to win regionals," said Walker. "We're just trying to take one spot of six. You don't always go pin hunting or take it tight down the hazard line. Sometimes you just hit hybrid in the middle of the fairway, 5-iron up and get the heck out of there."

Senior Casey Danielson and junior Shannon Aubert have experience on the course and helped Stanford win the 2015 Branch Law Invitational by 10 strokes. The Cardinal combined for a program record 54-hole score of 20-under 856 on the par-73 layout.

"Hopefully it will help," Walker said of playing at the University of New Mexico Course. "I'm really familiar with it, having coached and played there so many times. I've seen the tough weather, I've seen the nice weather, and I know where the traps are and where the big numbers come from."

At the other three regional sites, UCLA is the top seed in Lubbock, Texas, Alabama is the top seed in Athens, Georgia, and Florida is the top seed in Columbus, Ohio.

"If we're lucky enough to make it through New Mexico, it's going to be a long three weeks," she said. "Next week, we're just going to do what we normally do, which is play, compete and have fun with one another and make sure we're having a good time."

"We didn't play that badly," Walker said. "We just had a nine-hole stretch where we kind of got off our game a little bit. The wind was blowing so hard and our patience wore thin. Par was a good score, yet UCLA was roping in 10 to 15 footers for birdie. I just don't think there was a team in the country that could have beaten them."

Stanford women seeded first in NCAA golf regional