Even before entering Stanford, seniors Lauren Todd and Jennifer Tangtiphaiboontana knew that they were going to anchor the now-No. 11 Stanford women’s golf team for years to come. What they didn’t know was that they would soon become close friends as well, forging their friendship on and off the golf course.

Seniors in high school, Todd and Tangtiphaiboontana first met during a spring break tournament in Arizona. At dinner, the two struck up conversation knowing that they would soon be teammates for the Card.

“The first thing I remember Lauren telling me was, ‘I’m a very sarcastic person, so if I throw out any sarcastic phrases please don’t hold it against me,’” Tangtiphaiboontana said.

As Tangtiphaiboontana recounted their first exchange of words, Todd chuckled in embarrassment.

“I was expecting the worst in terms of sarcasm, but Lauren wasn’t that bad at all,” Tangtiphaiboontana assured her teammate.

In their freshman year, the two could not hang out much outside of practice and competition, having to deal with the time pressures of school and athletics. Still, their lifelong friendship would begin that year.

“We definitely got along from the get-go,” Tangtiphaiboontana said. “Freshman year was great, but sophomore year, we took off. We got really close and it caught on from there.”

Since then, the duo has forged a unique, sister-like bond that transcends that of mere teammates.

“We know what to say at the right time,” Todd said. “We’re good motivators for one another. We’re very competitive with each other, but not in a bad way. If I’m not going to win anything, I want [the winner] to be Jennie.”

Tangtiphaiboontana expressed the same sentiments when asked about her second-half of the tandem.

“Lauren is a great teammate — we’re both very competitive and supportive at the same time,” she said. “I didn’t know Lauren well before coming into Stanford. I didn’t think I would actually have a best friend on the team.”

This year, the two are setting career lows in most statistical categories. Todd and Tangtiphaiboontana boast stroke averages of 74.0 and 74.7 per round, respectively. Both have also played a team-high 26 rounds this season.

While Tangtiphaiboontana has been steadily lowering her stroke average, Todd experienced an off-year last season. As a junior, Todd’s 76.2 stroke average was the highest it had ever been.

This year, Todd lowered her average to 74.0, second-lowest on the team, next to sophomore Mari Chun. Todd credits her vast improvement to many factors, and among those is Tangtiphaiboontana. Todd said that her teammate became another putting and short-game instructor for her, helping to decrease Todd’s number of putts per round in her short game.

“Jennie has an incredible short game,” Todd said. “She makes putts when she has to make them. So, I’ve picked up a lot of things that she has done.”

Tangtiphaiboontana is also learning from her friend as well. Noting Todd’s ability to stroke the ball, Tangtiphaiboontana tweaked her swing, which has led to where she is today as a player.

Spending the last four years together has brought Tangtiphaiboontana and Todd very close, each knowing that they had an accountable partner in the other.

“It’s so much easier knowing every time I go to work out, every time I go to practice and every time I step on the field, that my friend is going to be there,” Todd said.

Their experiences on the team have also been similar. Though having played at the collegiate level for many years, both players hadn’t realized their abilities to play at the pro-level until earlier this season.

“Last year, when I played at nationals, it was the first time in my career where I was in contention for the individual title,” Tangtiphaiboontana said. “Usually I’ve never been in that position, especially at the national level, so to me, it was a wake-up point.”

“I thought to myself, ‘Maybe I am an actual good player, maybe I can compete with all these girls turning pro,’” she added. “It was a good confidence booster coming into this year.”

Todd shared a similar anecdote, fitting for the both.

“At the Stanford Intercollegiate last fall, I was in the final group and it was pretty close,” Todd said. “I played good golf, hung on, and it was the first time I thought that I could compete with those girls, compete at the highest level of college golf. I hit some good strokes going down the stretch, and it felt good doing so under pressure.”

Despite their success these last four years, all good things must come to an end. As the year comes to a finish, the Stanford squad creeps closer to parting with its two longtime leaders.

Even more so, Tangtiphaiboontana and Todd come closer to parting with each other.

Though both will be playing in the Women’s U.S. Open Qualifiers later this year, their paths will diverge for the first time in a while.

After the season finishes, Todd will be working for Health Care Partners in Los Angeles and will eventually head home to Phoenix, Ariz. for her commercial real-estate license. She hopes to soon turn pro and play out of her hometown.

Tangtiphaiboontana, on the other hand, is first scheduled to play in Thailand this summer. Later on, she too will work for a health-care consulting company, though in San Francisco — hundreds of miles away from Todd. Eventually, Tangtiphaiboontana is looking at entering medical school.

When asked about keeping in touch post-Stanford, Todd had no qualms about their friendship.

“I definitely have faith that we’ll stay close,” Todd said. “I hope to be back in the Bay Area one day, and I know she’ll settle down here. I have faith in our bond.”

Offering another incentive, Todd added, “We have to stay close — Jennie is going to be one of my bridesmaids.”

With June around the corner, the transition to life without each other is larger than reality for the two players. But after the last four years, it appears as though nothing can break their bond.

“We travel in a pair,” Tangtiphaiboontana said. “You get one, you’re going to get the other.”