- Wake Forest photo
The Wake Forest women's golf team won the 2019 East Lake Cup with a 4-1 victory over Auburn in Wednesday's match play final during a rainy morning at East Lake Club. The victory was the Demon Deacons' third win of the fall season and their first ever win in a match play event.
The Demon Deacons got victories from Siyun Liu, Emilia Migliaccio, Lauren Walsh and Rachel Kuehn to capture the title at East Lake Club.
"I am so proud of this group of young ladies," said head coach Kim Lewellen. "The resilience. The grit. All of those words you see on the front of self-motivation books. That's what they have. They work hard and they're smart too. They went out there and watched what their competitors were doing and they strategically played to win some holes, and I'm very proud of them."
The Deacs took an early lead as Liu posted a dominating 5&4 win over Kaleigh Telfer. Migliaccio extended the lead with a 1-Up win over Megan Schofill, remaining undefeated in her collegiate match play career.
Walsh clinched the match as she completed a 3&1 win over Julie McCarthy. The match was tied through 14 holes before Walsh made three big putts to win No. 15, No. 16 and No. 17 to deliver the Deacons the title.
Kuehn was leading in her match to add one final point for the Deacs, while Auburn got a point as Brooke Sansom was leading Vanessa Knecht.
"You learn something new every single week that you're with them," said Lewellen. "We actually have a very young team. Vanessa [Knecht] came out and this was her best tournament that she's had for us. She's worked hard and she's played hard. And to see that heart, I can't wait to see what the spring brings with the way she finished. Not only that, but we have two freshmen who have played very well this semester and our upperclassmen that are doing well. We learned a lot through playing match play which will hopefully funnel into our [ACC and NCAA] Championships, which are also match play."
The Demon Deacons conclude the fall season with three wins in five events, having also taken the titles at the ANNIKA Intercollegiate and the Lady Paladin Invitational. The three wins in the fall ties the school record set in 1994-95 when the Deacs won three times in the fall en route to a school-record five team victories on the year.
WAKE FOREST 4, AUBURN 1
Emilia Migliaccio (WF) def. Megan Schofill (Aub) 1UP
Siyun Liu (WF) def. Kaleigh Telfer (Aub) 5&4
Lauren Walsh (WF) def. Julie McCarthy (Aub) 3&1
Brooke Sansom (Aub) def. Vanessa Knecht (WF) 4&3
Rachel Kuehn (WF) def. Mychael O'Berry (Aub) 3&2
Thanks to Wake Forest Women's Golf for this report.View results for Women's East Lake Cup
ABOUT THE
Women's East Lake Cup
Started in 2015 and hosted by the historic
East
Lake Golf Club Atlanta, this collegiate, two-day
match
play competition features the top-performing
teams
from the previous year's NCAA Women's
Golf Championships.
View Complete Tournament Information