2023 NCAA Women’s Golf Championship

Ringler: Stanford nearly perfect as Grayhawk chapter closes

Those memories are so much more if you just look a little deeper.

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — As Wake Forest won its first NCAA Championship Wednesday, the Grayhawk Golf Club chapter of women’s golf closes.

The chapter consisted of four years but only three championships due to the Covid year in 2020.

There was much we already knew about this week-long finale to the season, because we have seen it since 2015 when the women’s championship first went to match play to find a champion.

The championship is long. The teams that play in the final match will have a tee time eight times during the event. Continuing to teach how important endurance is. How important getting quality rest is.

But did we learn anything new?

We learned that Stanford was nearly perfect at Grayhawk.

The Cardinal won the fictional stroke-play national championship in each of the three years here in Scottsdale compiling a head-to-head stroke-play record of 75-0. And let’s remind everyone that individually, Stanford players won the individual title in each of the three championships at Grayhawk. Rachel Heck won the title in 2021, followed by Rose Zhang claiming the last two in 2022 and 2023.

Total domination for three years but with just one team title. We should be talking about dynasty. Instead, with just one title it may just be a side note in future tournament talk.

Walker’s squad was the lone team to play in match play all three years. However, match play put the wrinkle in what was almost perfection in this chapter. The Cardinal went 4-2 winning the title just one time in 2022.

Head coach Anne Walker talked about how difficult Grayhawk can play.

“The course is so penalizing that errant shots immediately added up to big numbers, poor speed on the greens resulted in doubles and undisciplined strategy was costly,” she said. “The course exposed player’s weaknesses and we were pretty fortunate to have five steady players through all three years that helped us be in position to advance to match play.”

It was demanding and Stanford was the best each year in handling those demands, except for those two match play losses – Arizona in 2021 and USC this year.

“I think we performed well (at Grayhawk) over the three years because we had great depth in our lineup,” said Walker.

Walker added: “Grayhawk has been a fantastic host venue. The golf course is demanding and has tested the nerves and patience of the world’s best. It rewards the best golf shots and that has produced three terrific championships.”

Ole Miss won its first national title in 2021 at Grayhawk, with Stanford winning the 2022 event and Wake Forest this year.

“The student-athletes have thoroughly enjoyed being in Scottsdale, getting to know the local community and Grayhawk staff,” said Walker. “We will forever have wonderful memories of our time in Arizona for the championships.”

Those memories are so much more if you just look a little deeper.

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Wake Forest changed its practice, preparation and play style, and in return it won the first NCAA Women’s Golf Championship in school history

It’s the first title for the Wake Forest women’s golf team in program history.

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — Emilia Migliaccio thought her college golf playing days were over.

She played four years for the Wake Forest women’s team but earned her bachelor’s and had entered a two-year graduate program. She remained around the team and coach Kim Lewellen often.

One day, Migliaccio went to her coach and told her about a dream she had. Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, Migliaccio still had a year of eligibility she could use.

That dream? To play college golf again.

She told Lewellen, who remembers a different version of the story. Migliaccio was a teacher’s assistant, but Lewellen said she knew Migliaccio didn’t love it. She saw a moment of weakness in her player.

“I’ve got a spot for you if you want it.”

Migliaccio accepted. And now, she’s a national champion.

Wake Forest captured its first women’s golf national title in school history Wednesday at Grayhawk Golf Club, and Migliaccio put the first point on the board against USC. The Demon Deacons won 3-1 and dominated from the first hole.

“I was craving the feeling to be nervous again on the first tee,” Migliaccio said. “That’s why I play college golf. That’s why I love it. That’s why I’m not turning professional because I realized this is what I love to do.”

Migliaccio, who get married in a month, has a centerpiece for her wedding table, something teammate Rachel Kuehn has planned for some time.

Migliaccio was in the first match off Wednesday afternoon, and she took a 1 up lead after the first hole and never turned back, beating Cindy Kou 4 and 2.

During Wake Forest’s first tournament this season at the ANNIKA Intercollegiate, Lewellen said Migliaccio was like an extra coach on the course. However, she wasn’t the only experienced Demon Deacon on the roster.

There were also seniors Lauren Walsh and Kuehn, who earned the other two points to clinch the championship. Kuehn, in a star-powered matchup against USC’s Amari Avery, won 6 and 4. Walsh captured the title on the 16th green, beating Brianna Navarrosa with a 3-and-2 victory.

“These three have played at extremely high levels,” Lewellen said. “They’ve played on Curtis Cups, they’ve played on Palmer Cups, they’ve played in (U.S. Women’s) Opens, they’ve played in U.S. Ams.

“They’ve played at extremely high levels and extreme pressure and turned it into a positive. That’s what made this team so special.”

There was also maturity in the team. Wake Forest has had disappointing finishes the last couple years at Grayhawk. Last year, it didn’t make the 15-team cut after Sunday’s third round of stroke play. In 2019 at Blessings Golf Club, Lewellen and Migliaccio came up short in the championship match.

The Demon Deacons overhauled their schedule. They made an effort to get more familiar with playing desert golf. The elevation and temperature and conditions. They changed how they practiced. They changed their mindset.

“We tailored our practices not to the next tournament but tailored them to what do we need to do to win the national championship,” Kuehn said. “To come back and get some revenge on this golf course and on the field was really nice.”

USC freshman Catherine Park, who finished runner-up in the individual competition, earned the Trojans’ lone point, a 3 and 1 win against Carolina Lopez-Chacarra.

However, that was the lone shining moment for USC.

Not only did Migliaccio win her first hole, so did Walsh and Kuehn. By the seventh hole, Walsh was 5 up. At the turn, Kuehn was 3 up. Migliaccio birdied the 14th and 15th holes to take a commanding 3 up lead with three to play.

Migliaccio gave credit after the match to Mimi Rhodes, a junior who was pivotal to Wake forest’s success during the grueling six days in the desert. Rhodes was 2 up with two to play and a birdie putt on the 17th green when Walsh clinched the title on the 16th green.

“I’m just so proud of her,” Migliaccio said of Rhodes.

Wake Forest changed its mindset coming into the season. It was championship or bust. The Demon Deacons changed how they prepared, practiced and played. And it paid off.

“The past two years, everything happens for a reason,” Kuehn said. “And if it took the last two years to get us where we are today, it was all worth it.”

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USC upsets top-seeded Stanford, will face Wake Forest in final at 2023 NCAA Women’s Golf Championship

The title match is set at Grayhawk.

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — Brianna Navarrosa doesn’t like to give herself ultimatums.

The junior at USC had no choice, though.

Rose Zhang, the top-ranked amateur in the world who Tuesday was named the winner of the 2023 ANNIKA Award, given to the best women’s college golfer, hit her approach shot at the par-3 16th hole at Grayhawk Golf Club inside 3 feet. Navarrosa had yet to hit her tee shot, but she wasn’t fazed.

Her ball landed about 8 feet away. And when she was lining up her putt, she knew its importance.

“I usually don’t say things like you have to make it or you have to get a birdie,” Navarrosa said, “but I knew I had to make a birdie. Standing over that putt, I don’t think I felt more confident than I have in my golf career.”

She buried the putt in the center, and with a 2 up lead with two holes to play, the putt was arguably the most important in the match.

USC knocked off top-seeded Stanford, the defending national champions, 3-2 in the semifinal match to advance to Wednesday’s national championship final against No. 2 Wake Forest. Navarrosa clinched the final point on the 17th green when she and Zhang halved the par-4 hole with pars. Wake Forest, meanwhile, beat Texas A&M 4-1 to advance.

USC coach Justin Silverstein said Navarrosa has struggled with her ball striking for the better part of four months after a strong start to the season. He said the result is a culmination of the hard work in the times the results weren’t quite showing.

“What it takes to beat (Zhang) is a ton of discipline, and you’ve got to run the table on the greens,” Silverstein said. “When we made the picks, I sent them to the team and she looked down at her phone then at me. I nodded and she did back and started eating again.

“She was ready for it.”

Navarrosa won her match, 2 and 1, joining Cindy Kou and Christine Park with victories for the Trojans.

On the other side, it was a battle with the heat for Wake Forest.

Last year, the Demon Deacons were one of the pre-championship favorites and missed the 15-team cut. All season, the message has been to finish and play strong.

And Mimi Rhodes wasn’t going to let anything stop her.

On Monday night, she ended up in the emergency room and had to get an IV for dehydration. During the back nine of her match against Texas A&M, she started to struggle against Bianca Fernandez Garcia-Poggio, almost to the point Wake Forest coach Kim Lewellen nearly called for a 10-minute medical stoppage.

“She asked me, ‘Are you going to be able to finish this?’ and I said ‘This is what we work for our whole year,'” Rhodes said. “I just had to make it to the 18th hole. (Coach) said to me we only needed one more match.

“Made it really difficult for myself, but I knew I just had to make pars.”

She won on the 18th hole, clinching the match. Emilia Migliaccio, who returned for a sixth year, won her opening match, 2 and 1. Senior Rachel Kuehn clinched hers, 4 and 2.

And Wake Forest is in the championship match, the place it planned to be all year long.

“We were in this position a few years ago. Unfortunately, we didn’t pull it off,” Lewellen said. “This team wants this so bad. We’re going to stick to what we usually do.”

Wake Forest would win its first NCAA title with a victory while USC would pick up its fourth.

Championship match

No. 3 Wake Forest vs. No. 5 USC

4:35 p.m. ET – Emilia Migliaccio vs. Cindy Kou
4:45 p.m. ET – Carolina Lopez-Chacarra vs. Catherine Park
4:55 p.m. ET – Rachel Kuehn vs. Amari Avery
5:05 p.m. ET – Mimi Rhodes vs. Christine Wang
5:15 p.m. ET – Lauren Walsh vs. Brianna Navarrosa

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Top seeds Stanford, Wake Forest advance to NCAA Women’s Golf Championship semifinals

It was a quick turnaround Tuesday morning.

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — It was a quick turnaround for the eight teams who advanced into the 2023 NCAA Women’s Golf Championship match play.

Come early Tuesday morning, they returned to Grayhawk Golf Club and began quarterfinal matches. Stanford, the defending national champion, was the top seed after stroke play and faced off against a Pepperdine team making its first appearance in NCAA match play. There was an ACC matchup between Florida State and Wake Forest. Then a Lone Star Showdown between Texas and Texas A&M. To wrap it up, there was a battle of the USCs, as South Carolina took on Southern California.

NCAA: Photos

Here’s a recap of Tuesday morning’s NCAA match play quarterfinals and a look ahead at Tuesday afternoon’s semifinal pairings. Every team that makes match play semifinals qualifies for the East Lake Cup in the fall.

Quarterfinal results

Texas A&M 4, Texas 1

The first match to conclude was the one between Texas rivals. Zoe Slaughter got the Aggies’ first point, beating Huai-Chien Hsu, 3 and 2. Then Sophie Guo got the Longhorns’ lone point, winning 2 and 1. However, Bianca Fernandez Garcia-Poggio and Adela Cernousek each won their matches on the 18th green, 1 up, to advance Texas A&M to the semifinals.

Wake Forest 3.5, Florida State 1.5

It took until Rachel Kuehn’s 20th hole, but she took advantage of Amelia Williamson’s mistake. The senior at Wake Forest saw her Florida State playing partner dump her shot into the pond right of the 18th green. Kuehn found the fairway, then the green and two putted to win her match and secure the final point to propel Wake Forest, the 2019 national runner-up, into the semifinals. Carolina Lopez-Chacarra won 2 and 1, and Mimi Rhodes won 1 up.

Southern California 4, South Carolina 1

The Trojans have the longest streak of making the NCAA Championship at 25 years. However, it has been five years since USC made the match play semifinals. But the wait is over. South Carolina got on the board quickly with Mathilde Claisse winning, 6 and 5, but Cindy Kou and Catherine Park, the individual runner-up, each got a point on the board. Then Brianna Navarrosa got the clinching point when South Carolina’s Louise Rydqvist missed a birdie on the par-3 eighth, the group’s 17th hole.

Stanford 4, Pepperdine 1

Pepperdine’s Lion Higo watched her tee shot go right off the 18th tee in a tied match. It landed beneath a tree and near a shrub, leaving her an awkward stance and lie. she missed the ball on her first swing and had to take another to get the ball back in the fairway, However. it was enough of a blunder to give Kelly Xu the final point and advance Stanford into the semis. Rose Zhang, the NCAA individual champ, won 6 and 5, and Sadie Englemann won 2 and 1.

Semifinal matchups

No. 3 Wake Forest vs. No. 7 Texas A&M

Emilia Migliaccio vs. Zoe Slaughter (3:45 p.m. ET, 1st tee)

Carolina Lopez-Chacarra vs. Jennie Park (3:55 p.m. ET)

Mimi Rhodes vs. Bianca Fernandez Garcia-Poggio (4:05 p.m. ET)

Lauren Walsh vs. Adela Cernousek (4:15 p.m. ET)

Rachel Kuehn vs. Hailee Cooper (4:25 p.m. ET)

No. 1 Stanford vs. No. 5 USC

Kelly Zu vs. Catherine Park (4:35 p.m. ET, 1st tee)

Megha Ganne vs. Cindy Kou (4:45 p.m. ET)

Brooke Seay vs. Christine Wang (4:55 p.m. ET)

Sadie Englemann vs. Amari Avery (5:05 p.m. ET)

Rose Zhang vs. Brianna Navarrosa (5:15 p.m. ET)

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NCAA Championship: Match play field, pairings set for 2023 women’s quarterfinals

Check out the eight teams who made the match play at the NCAAs.

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — The women’s individual national champion has been crowned, which means one thing: it’s time for match play.

Stanford, the defending national champion, earned the top seed and will face No. 8 Pepperdine. The Waves are making their first appearance at NCAA match play. In addition, there will be a Lone Star Showdown between Texas (No. 2 seed) and Texas A&M (No. 7 seed) in the first round. Other matches include No. 3 Wake Forest against No. 6 Florida State and No. 4 South Carolina against No. 5 USC.

A reminder: last year was the first time in the match play era the No. 1 seed (Stanford) went on to win.

NCAA: Team scores | Individual scores | Photos

The quarterfinals are set to begin on Tuesday morning and the semifinals to follow in the afternoon. On Wednesday, it’ll be the final.(Note: all times ET, which is three hours ahead of Scottsdale).

Queen of college golf: Rose Zhang captures 2023 NCAA individual title, first woman to win back-to-back NCAA championships

“No one’s ever done this before. It’s so hard to do. And she did it in a different way. She’s Rose.”

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — Rose Zhang wanted to go for it.

She stood in the fairway on the par-5 18th hole at Grayhawk Golf Club and was prepping to go for the green in two. With water right, she even risked putting her ball in the left bunkers, which she knew would give her a good chance to get up-and-down for birdie.

That’s when Stanford coach Anne Walker stepped in, offering some advice to her sophomore sensation.

“We’re gonna go down here and you’re going to have a number that’s going to be in play,” Walker told Zhang. “And you’re going to lay up.”

Zhang questioned her coach. Why would she lay up with a tournament title on the line?

But it wasn’t just any tournament. And it wasn’t just any player. It’s the best female amateur in the world trying to win the NCAA Women’s Golf Championship for the second straight year.

That’s when Walker told Zhang she had a one-shot lead. A par or better would secure her second straight individual title.

“I was like, ‘Oh wait, maybe I should reconsider everything that just happened and my whole thought process,'”Zhang said. “So I decided to lay up with a 9-iron, wedge it in from there and two putts was good enough.”

And it’s decisions like those that have put Zhang at the top.

NCAA: Team scores | Individual scores | Photos

Zhang won the NCAA individual title for the second straight year, becoming the first woman to do so. She shot a bogey-free 4-under 68 on Monday, finishing at 10 under and beating USC’s Catherine Park and San Jose State’s Lucia Lopez-Ortega by one shot. The victory was also a crowning achievement on an incredible season that saw Zhang win eight times, tying Lorena Ochoa’s single-season NCAA record for victories, and set a new record for lowest scoring average in a single season, coming in at 68.81, besting her 69.68 record from last season.

“I still don’t know what is going on,” Zhang said. “And it’s really hard to process because when you’re chasing from behind, you really don’t know what’s happening.

“I genuinely just… I can’t believe this is all happening. It’s just simple to say I’m super grateful.”

2023 NCAA Championship — Rose Zhang of the Stanford Cardinal celebrates with teammates after winning the NCAA women’s Golf Championships at Grayhawk Golf Club on May 22, 2023 in Scottsdale, Arizona. (Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images)

In addition to her eighth victory of the season, it’s also the 12th of her career, the most of any Stanford golfer in school history. Tiger Woods, Maverick McNealy and Patrick Rodgers each had 11 on the men’s side.

She also helped the Cardinal secure the top overall seed in match play, which begins Tuesday. Stanford will first face eighth-seeded Pepperdine with a chance to win its second consecutive team title.

Walker said she spoke with Zhang before Monday’s final round and challenged her to be aggressive. She wanted Zhang to play smarter, like Walker knew her star was capable of.

“Some of the shorter holes, she took herself out of the hole just by being out of position,” Walker said. “Rose is fully accountable. She’s an incredibly intelligent golfer. She decided that no matter what happened, she would be putting herself into position.”

Park led by four when Zhang teed off, but a cold putter saw Park sign for a 1-over 73 in the final round to get into the clubhouse at 9 under overall.

Zhang narrowly missed birdie putts on the first three hole. A great 3-wood on the par-5 fourth allowed her to have an easy birdie putt, then she hit a wedge to a foot from about 75 yards on the sixth for another birdie. Add one more on the par-5 seventh, Zhang turned in 3-under 33 but still a shot behind Park, her childhood friend.

Zhang birdied the par-5 11th as Park three-putted on the par-4 15th, flopping the lead. Then it was solid golf all the way in.

Zhang missed her first green on the day on the par-4 17th but scrambled for par. She bounced back with a terrific drive off the 18th tee, picking up her tee before her ball reached its apex.

Then she put herself in position. It’s something she has done her entire career. It’s why she has won a U.S. Girls’ Junior, the U.S. Women’s Amateur, the Augusta National Women’s Amateur and now back-to-back NCAA individual titles. It’s why she’s arguably the greatest college golfer of all time and cemented her legacy as the best female amateur in the history of the game.

Walker seemed a bit taken aback when she realized the victory was Zhang’s eighth of the year. Yet she didn’t struggle to find words to summarize her season.

“I kind of felt like she was already solidified as the best amateur of all time, and what she did today, that’s just the period on the end of the sentence,” Walker said. “No one’s ever done this before. It’s so hard to do. And she did it in a different way. She’s Rose.”

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A coaching adjustment helped USC’s Catherine Park, the daughter of an Olympic gold medalist, tie an NCAA record and lead NCAA Championship

Park has a four-shot lead with 18 holes to play.

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — Justin Silverstein admits his staff has sacrificed down the stretch with his latest coaching adjustment.

The USC’s women’s golf coach started walking with freshman Catherine Park at the Silverado Showdown in early April. He wouldn’t step in much, but he did offer advice on figuring out yardages and helping read greens when needed.

That switch has paid dividends for Park. She tied for second that week. The next tournament, the Pac-12 Championships, she tied for third as USC won the team title. At the Pullman Regional, Park finished T-17.

And on the biggest stage of them all, Park is out in front of the field with 18 holes of stroke play to go at Grayhawk Golf Club in the 2023 NCAA Women’s Golf Championship searching for her first collegiate win.

“I kept telling my boss that Catherine was going to bust out,” Silverstein said. “It kind of took a little longer, but I think the final push was a little more on-course coaching.”

Park shot 1-under 71 on Sunday, which had the most difficult conditions of the week by far, to take the lead at 10-under 206. She has a four-shot lead on Rose Zhang, the defending individual champion, as well as Oklahoma State’s Maddison Hinson-Tolchard and Florida State’s Charlotte Heath.

However, it was her second round Saturday that put her into the NCAA record books. Park shot 8-under 64, which tied the low round at an NCAA Women’s Golf Championship.

“I did not realize it at all until they posted it,” Park said Sunday. “I did not expect it at all to be tied for the record. I tried to not get into my head for today’s round. I didn’t want to overthink and tried to be steady.”

As Silverstein alluded to, Park had been trending toward a breakout all season. Her lowest round of the season, a 66, came in the first day of the Pullman Regional. She has three top-six finishes, all since March.

Then Saturday and into Sunday, it all came together.

Silverstein said a switch in November from drawing the ball to cutting it was the first thing to propel Park. Then it was her improvement on the greens, where she has gained almost two strokes.

“On greens this nasty, she has really bought in to hitting her putts softer, and her speed control has been really good except for a couple putts today,” Silverstein said.

Park is enjoying the competitive nature of being high on the leaderboard at the national championship. She grew up in a successful athletic family. Her mother, Seo Hyang-soon, became Korea’s first Olympic gold medalist when she won gold medal in archery at the 1984 Olympics at 17 years old. Her father, Park Kyung-ho, is a 1986 Asian Games gold medalist in judo.

That history and relationship with her parents has benefited Park on and off the course.

“It’s really helpful for me when I’m struggling mentally, they help me get back up because they understand what I’m feeling,” she said.

Come Monday, Park will face her biggest challenge yet. She’ll be gunning for an individual national title, trying to become the third straight freshman to win at the NCAAs.

Chasing her will be Zhang (the top-ranked amateur in the world) as well as the Big 12 individual champion Hinson-Tolchard and a finalist for the ANNIKA Award, given to the top female college golfer, in Heath.

In the team competition, USC is in fourth and in great position to make it into match play. However, 18 more holes await.

It’s a competition Park’s looking forward to.

“I’m so stoked because we’re sitting in a pretty good place,” Park said. “I have such strong confidence, and our team is strong. I know they’re going to light it up tomorrow.”

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NCAA Women’s Golf Championship: Stanford sets NCAA record, USC’s Catherine Park ties another and more from Saturday’s second round

Here’s what you need to know from the second round of the Women’s NCAA Championship.

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — It was a birdie barrage Saturday morning at Grayhawk Golf Club. And teams who weren’t making any were left behind.

The second round of the 2023 NCAA Women’s Golf Championship teed off Saturday to clear skies, virtually no wind and perfect scoring conditions. And teams like Stanford, South Carolina and Texas took advantage. The morning scoring average was 72.39, more than two shots lower than Friday.

In the afternoon? The course played tough. Only one team (Clemson) finished under par in the afternoon wave.

However, the round Stanford put together set an NCAA record for lowest round in championship history. Not bad for the top-seeded team and defending NCAA champions.

Yet it’s not the Cardinal in front with 36 holes to go, it’s the second-seeded team (and No. 1 team in the Golfweek/Sagarin rankings).

NCAA Leaderboard: Team | Individual | Photos

Here’s what you need to know from the second round of the 2023 NCAA Women’s Golf Championship.

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