In a much-anticipated showdown between the country’s top two women’s teams, Stanford sent a strong message to the team that figures to be its biggest challenger for national supremacy by soundly defeating Wake Forest, 4-1, at the second annual Jackson T. Stephens Cup.
Stanford freshman Megha Ganne fired a loud opening salvo at Seminole Golf Club with a 1-up victory over Wake Forest senior Rachel Kuehn, who claimed medalist honors in the stroke play competition with a 10-under score. Ganne was 3 up through 13 holes, but Kuehn flashed her All-America form by winning the next three holes to tie the match. Ganne made par to win No. 17 and both golfers birdied No. 18 to clinch Stanford’s first point of the day.
After dropping the first two holes of the day, junior Rachel Heck rallied for a 3 and 1 win over Wake Forest sophomore Carolina Lopez-Chacarra with wins on holes No. 12, No. 14 and No. 17.
In a battle of Curtis Cup teammates, Rose Zhang defeated Emilia Migliaccio, 3 and 2 to put the second point on the board for the Cardinal. After Migliaccio won the first hole, Zhang tied the match on No. 2 and never trailed again. The match was tied through eight, before Zhang’s win at No. 9 sent her to the back nine, 1 up. Zhang went 2 up at No. 10 and 3 up at No. 13, winning 3 and 2.
Brooke Seay never trailed in her match against Lauren Walsh. Seay took a 1 up lead at No. 9, went 2 up with a win at No. 10 and held on for the 1 up victory.
All they do is win! @StanfordWGolf are your 2022 Jackson T. Stephens Cup Women’s Champions.
#JTSCup pic.twitter.com/sUlS5hIvoY
— Jackson T. Stephens Cup (@TheStephensCup) October 12, 2022
Mimi Rhodes defeated Sadie Englemann, 2 and 1 for Wake Forest’s lone point of the match.
The Cardinal returns to action next weekend (Oct. 21-23) for the Stanford Intercollegiate, hosted by Dr. Condoleezza Rice, at Stanford Golf Course.
For the full leaderboard from the Jackson T. Stephens Cup, click here to see the post from our partners at AmateurGolf.com.