Shannon Tan of Stanford and Texas Tech runs the Julie Inkster Meadow Club College.

Shannon Tan of Stanford and Texas Tech runs the Julie Inkster Meadow Club College.

Shannon Tan (Texas Tech Athletics photo)

Mother Nature topped the leaderboard on the first day of college at the Julie Inkster Meadow Club, but Stanford, USC and San Jose State were right on their heels.

On-and-off rain forced two delays and an unseasonably cold spell made for a test day in the Bay Area at the Alistair McKenzie-designed gem in Fairfax, Calif., but play was halted midway through the second round when the top three teams in the field were in red numbers.

At 8-under par, Stanford holds a two-shot lead over Pac-12 rival USC, while Inkster’s defending champion San Jose State is seven at 1-under par.

With Rachel Heck and Brooke Seay both sidelined with injuries, Stanford’s mantra of “next card up” seemed to serve the nation’s top-ranked team well on Monday. Stanford, who went 4-under 68 in the first innings to build a four-shot lead over the Trojans at 5-under 283, was 3-under midway through the second innings when the game was suspended.

As the teams jockeyed for the club heat, San Jose State, USC and Texas Tech were perhaps the only three teams disappointed to see the game called for the day, with the Red Raiders and Spartans tied at 6 midway through the second round. USC was traveling at 5-under when the teams were called off the course.

As darkness fell and the temperature dropped rapidly, Texas Tech’s Shannon Tan was doing her part to light up the home club. The freshman from Singapore was riding a heat of five consecutive birdies in holes 7 through 12 that saw her reach the top of each leaderboard.

It didn’t take long for Tan to figure out the home club. After carding an even-par 72 in the first round and opening with three straight pars to start the second, Tan birdied seven of the next 10 holes, including her final five of the day. At 7-under for the tournament, Tan currently holds a one-shot lead over Zhang and San Jose State’s Kajasa Arwefjal, who were at 6-under when play was suspended.

Teams will return to the Field Club on Tuesday morning to complete their second rounds in cool but dry conditions, followed by the final round of action.

Check out the Meadow Club Intercollegiate results