PALO ALTO, Calif. (February 11, 2017) -- The top-ranked Stanford Cardinals are off to a fast start at their opening spring season event, the Peg Bernard Invitational.

Playing the William Bell and George Thomas designed Stanford Course, the Cardinals posted a 2-over 286 lead by a 4-under 67 from freshman Andrea Lee.

"I'm really happy to be back in competition," Lee told Cardinal Athletics. "We haven't played in a tournament for three months. I was kind of wondering how I would do today, but I played really well, so I'm excited about that."

Lee opened her round with three front-side birdies to turn in 32. A three-putt bogey on 11th brought her back to 2-under before back-to-back birdies on 13 and 14 brought her up to 4-under. She hit every green in regulation up until the difficult par-4 18th where she was able to get up and down to save far.

Freshman Albane Valenzuela also played well for Stanford, posting an even-par 71. Teammates Casey Danielson and Ziyi Wang each shot a pair of 74's.

Oregon sits in 2nd after opening with 292 (+8) while Colorado sits just behind, posting a 293 (+9). San Jose State (294) and Stanford B Team (297) round out the top five.

For Andrea Lee, the opening round performance is a continuation of her play from the fall season in which she won two individual titles at the Windy City Intercollegiate and the East Lake Cup. She currently sits three shots clear of Colorado's Robyn Choi (71).

The final round begins 8:30 a.m. local time as Stanford goes for its ninth win in the tournament and third in the last five years.

-GoStanford contributed to this story

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