Wake Forest (women) and Texas (men) won the fifth annual East Lake Cup on Wednesday afternoon, closing out their fall season with a victory to carry momentum into next spring. The Demon Deacons (No. 3 seed) defeated (No. 4) Auburn, 4-1 in the championship match, while (No. 1) Texas took down (No. 3) Oklahoma State, 3-2.
Wake Forest leaned on their experience at the NCAA Championship earlier this year (finishing runner-up) to counter the fact that the team was making its first-ever appearance at what – entering the week – was an unfamiliar venue in East Lake Golf Club. Emilia Migliaccio (junior) and Siyun Liu (senior) captured the Demon Deacons’ first two points on Wednesday, with Lauren Walsh (freshman) locking up the clinching point to seal the victory.
“I’m very proud of them,” Wake Forest head coach Kim Lewellen said. “The resilience, the grit, all of those words you see on the front of self-motivation books. That’s what they have. I can’t wait to see what the spring brings.”
The Longhorns closed out their fall schedule in dramatic fashion, nullifying what had been an unsatisfying past few months with a rain-soaked win to close out their 2019 campaign. Texas’ quartet of underclassmen helped the Longhorns to victory in their second appearance at the East Lake Cup.
“We hadn’t had our best foot forward over the last two months,” Texas head coach John Fields said. “So to come in here and get a victory and really make a little bit of a statement – not to anybody else, but to ourselves – is really good, because we needed a little bit of validation. We know we’re a good team, but we just hadn’t seen anything positive. Bottom line, we got a win.”
CHAMPIONSHIP RESULTS:
- WOMEN: (3) Wake Forest def. (4) Auburn, 4-1
- MEN: (1) Texas def. (3) Oklahoma State, 3-2
(3) Wake Forest vs. (4) Auburn
Emilia Migliaccio (1up) Megan Schofill
Siyun Liu (5&4) Kaleigh Telfer
Lauren Walsh (3&1) Julie McCarthy
Vanessa Knecht Brooke Sansom (4&3)
Rachel Kuehn (3&2) Mychael O’Berry
(1) Texas vs. (3) Oklahoma State
Pierceson Coody Brian Stark (4&3)
Parker Coody (1up) Aman Gupta
Spencer Soosman (5&3) Hazen Newman
Travis Vick (1up) Rayhan Thomas
Cole Hammer Austin Eckroat (3&1)
CONSOLATION RESULTS:
Women’s: (2) Arizona def. (1) Duke, 3-2
Men’s: 4) Vanderbilt def. (2) Wake Forest, 3-2
The Arizona Wildcats earned points in each of its first three matches, with victories from a trio of underclassmen in Therese Warner (freshman), Ya Chun Chang (sophomore) and Vivian Hou (freshman).
“It was disappointing to lose yesterday against Wake [Forest] and not being in the championship match,” Arizona head coach Laura Ianello said. “But the ladies came out and fought really well against a great team in Duke. Anytime you can get match play experience against great teams – teams we will see at the national championship – it’s great experience.”
On the men’s side, Vanderbilt relied on a pair of freshmen to earn two of the team’s three points, with William Moll (4&3) and Matthew Riedel (1up) each clinching a point for the Commodores, along with junior Harrison Ott (4&2).
“I thought we had a nice fall,” Vanderbilt head coach Scott Limbaugh said. “We didn’t play all the way to our potential, but once we got John [Augenstein] back in the lineup with his leadership and to get this match play experience this week, I can’t say enough about that opportunity and what it could mean for us down the road.”
(1) Duke vs. (2) Arizona
Gina Kim Therese Warner (3&2)
Miranda Wang Ya Chun Chang (5&4)
Jaravee Boonchant Vivian Hou (3&1)
Erica Shepherd (4&3) Sandra Nordaas
Ana Belac (2&1) Gile Bite Starkute
(2) Wake Forest vs. (4) Vanderbilt
Alex Fitzpatrick William Moll (4&3)
Mark Power Harrison Ott (4&2)
Eric Bae (3&2) John Augenstein
Eugenio Chacarra (3&2) Reid Davenport
Marco Steyn Matthew Riedel (1up)
The East Lake Cup was contested over three days, following the format from the final three days of the NCAA men’s and women’s golf national championships. On Monday, Oct. 28, the eight teams competed in individual stroke play competition to determine the individual champion and to seed for two days of match-play competition. Tuesday-Wednesday, Oct. 29-30, two match-play tournaments were hosted simultaneously for the men’s and women’s divisions, with the semifinals taking place on Tuesday and the finals and consolation matches on Wednesday.
Teams for the East Lake Cup competed on the championship golf course at East Lake Golf Club, home of the TOUR Championship, the season-ending event of the PGA TOUR’s FedExCup Playoffs. The East Lake Cup benefits the East Lake Foundation, a charitable organization dedicated to helping families build better lives and children reach their highest potential through its holistic approach to community revitalization incorporating mixed-income housing, cradle-to-college education and community wellness. The East Lake Cup is one of the largest contributors to the East Lake Foundation, having raised more than $1.5 million for the East Lake Foundation since the tournament’s inception in 2015. ZipRecruiter is the presenting sponsor for the East Lake Cup, joining tournament sponsors Bridgestone Golf, Mercedes-Benz, CSX, Uber and Topgolf.
For more information about the East Lake Cup please visit the tournament website www.golfchannel.com/eastlakecup. Stay connected with the championship using the hashtag #EastLakeCup.
-NBC Sports Group-
Media Contacts:
Jeremy Friedman
Golf Channel Communications
407-721-9752
Jeremy.Friedman@golfchannel.com
Jeff Szklinski
Golf Channel Communications
814-880-6933
Jeff.Szklinski@golfchannel.com
Tom Sprouse
East Lake Cup Media Director
614-889-6791
