DALLAS — The Wake Forest women’s golf team is no stranger to success in match play in the calendar year.
The Demon Deacons went 3-0 at Grayhawk Golf Club in May, capturing their first NCAA Championship in school history in Scottsdale, Arizona. On Wednesday, they added yet another match-play victory to the total.
Featuring a lineup with a couple new faces from that victory five months ago, Wake Forest captured the 2023 Jackson T. Stephens Cup title, topping Texas 3-2 at Trinity Forest Golf Club for the title. Last year, the Demon Deacons fell to Stanford in the tournament. However, after finishing second in stroke play this year, Wake Forest had a strong performance from a couple vets and a freshman to earn their second victory of the fall.
“When you have a lot of new pieces, you need to play a lot of tournaments to figure out what you have,” Wake Forest coach Kim Lewellen said of incorporating new players into the lineup. “That’s why we’ve stacked a lot of tournaments this fall. We’re really using it to build for next spring and gather information.”
One of those newcomers, freshman Macy Pate, clinched the final point to earn Wake Forest, ranked third in the Golfweek/Sagarin rankings, the victory over No. 12 Texas, beating fellow freshman Farah O’Keefe. Pate won 4 and 2 after trailing through four holes.
“You recruit somebody and you don’t know exactly what you’re getting,” Lewellen said, “but right out of the gate, her work ethic, her IQ, she’s very professional. She handled match play beautifully.”
Also earning points for the Demon Deacons were four-time All-American Rachel Kuehn, who dispatched Bohyun Park 5 and 4, and Carolina Lopez-Chacarra, who beat individual medalist Lauren Kim 3 and 1.
Meanwhile, on the men’s side, it was No. 28 Florida State, the top seed after 54 holes of stroke play, taking down No. 23 Arizona 3-2.
However, the Wildcats had an opportunity to force extra holes that slid by. With the match tied at 2, Florida State’s Brett Roberts was 1 up on the 18th when his approach shot went long. Then he left his chip short and missed a par putt, meaning Arizona’s Johnny Walker had two putts to force extra holes.
Walker’s birdie putt slid past about 3 feet, but he lipped out the par putt to win the hole, giving the victory to Roberts and the Seminoles.
“We’re just going to keep learning,” Florida State coach Trey Jones said. “Last year, we lost to North Carolina in match play. This year, we came back and won. But it’s all about the guys.”
Florida State, which made the semifinals at the NCAA Championship last year, was missing Jack Bigham from its lineup this week. He is preparing for the World Amateur Team Championship competition, coming in a week in Abu Dhabi, but the Seminoles’ depth showed.
In the leadoff spot, Frederik Kjettrup earned a 4-and-3 victory for the first point. In the anchor spot, Luke Clanton tallied a 5-and-3 win. Then it was Roberts, even with his miscue on the 18th hole, doing enough to earn the clinching point.
“It’s the culture we have,” Jones said of the depth. “It doesn’t really matter who’s in there.”