SCOTTSDALE (Ariz.) — The eight teams that advanced to the match play portion of the 2023 NCAA Women’s Golf Championship had a rapid turnaround.
They returned early on Tuesday morning to Grayhawk Golf Club, where they began their quarterfinal matches. Stanford, the defending champion, had the highest seeding after stroke play. They faced a Pepperdine squad that was making their first NCAA match play appearance. Florida State vs Wake Forest was the ACC matchup. Texas A&M and Texas played in the Lone Star Showdown. The final match was between South Carolina and Southern California.
Photos ______
Here is a recap and look at the semifinals for Tuesday afternoon. Each team that qualifies in the match play semi-finals will be eligible for the East Lake Cup this fall.
Quarterfinal results
Texas A&M 2, Texas 1
The first match was between Texas rivals. Zoe Slaughter scored the first Aggie point by beating Huai Chien Hsu 3 to 2. Sophie Guo then won the Longhorns lone score, 2 to 1. Bianca Fernandez Garcia Poggio and Adela Cerousek, however, both won their matches at the 18th hole, one up, to advance Texas A&M into the semifinals.
Wake Forest 3.5 and Florida State 1.5
Amelia Williamson made a mistake on her 20th hole. Rachel Kuehn took advantage. Wake Forest’s senior saw her Florida State partner hit her ball into a pond near the 18th hole. Kuehn won her match by finding the fairway and then the green, and she two-putted to secure the final points. Wake Forest, 2019’s national runner up, advanced to the semifinals. Carolina Lopez-Chacarra beat Mimi Rhodes 1-1 and Mimi Lopez-Chacarra 2-1.
Southern California 4, South Carolina 1.
With 25 years, the Trojans are the team with the longest winning streak in the NCAA Championship. USC has not reached the match-play semifinals in five years. The wait is finally over. South Carolina scored quickly, with Mathilde Clisse winning 6 and 5. Cindy Kou, the individual runner up, and Catherine Park, who finished second, both got one point. Brianna Návarrosa then got the winning point after South Carolina’s Louise Rydqvist failed to make a birdie at the par-3 eight, the group’s seventeenth hole.
Stanford 4, Pepperdine 1
Pepperdine’s Lion Higo saw her tee-shot go straight off the 18th hole in a tie match. The ball landed under a tree near a bush, giving her an awkward lie and stance. She missed the ball with her first swing, and she had to take a second to get it back into the fairway. Kelly Xu was able to score the last point, advancing Stanford into the semifinals. Rose Zhang, the NCAA individual champion, took 6 and 5 and Sadie Englemann took 2 and 1.
Semi-final matches
No. No. Texas A&M (3:30 p.m. ET, 1st tee)
No. Stanford 1 vs. USC (5:35 pm) ET, 1st tee)
