What a collapse the defending champions of the national championships have suffered.
Wake Forest won the 2023 East Lake Cup at the Atlanta Athletic Club, Georgia, in a matchup between the two previous NCAA champions. The Demon Deacons defeated Stanford 3-2 on match play to win the title. It came down to the last hole.
The match was won by junior Carolina Lopez-Chacarra, who made par on her final hole. She beat Stanford sophomore Megha Gannen 1 up. Macy Pate, a freshman, also won 1-up, while Rachel Kuehn, an All-American graduate student, beat stroke-play champion Sadie Englemann 5-and-4.
Kim Lewellen, Wake Forest’s coach, said: “It is always great to win.” “You know, you can’t really simulate the experience of playing against two tough opponents, USC and Stanford. It’s a wonderful opportunity for them to practice. “You can’t do it in postseason.”
Wake Forest won three events, had a T-4 and a T-3 in five this fall.
In the men’s competition it was North Carolina versus Florida State, two teams that fell short of the NCAA semi-finals in the spring. Austin Greaser, a grad student, birdied the par-3 hole on the 17th to win the match 2 and 1. This clinched the Tar Heels’ 3-1-1 victory.
The North Carolina golf team won 2023 East Lake Cup in Atlanta Athletic Club. (Photo by NBC Universal).
North Carolina junior David Ford, and senior Peter Fountain both won their matches by a score of 4 to 3. Junior Maxwell Ford led by five points at one point. But Florida State sophomore Luke Clanton came back and forced a tie.
The Tar Heels are also similar to Wake Forest in that they have won three tournaments this fall. The Tar Heels also finished second at the Ben Hogan Collegiate, and lost to Vanderbilt at the St. Andrews Links Collegiate match-play final.
This year, due to ongoing construction at East Lake Golf Club the tournament has been moved to Atlanta Athletic Club.
