Wake Forest completes dominating Bryan National Collegiate victory; North Carolina takes second

   As breathtaking a victory as Wake Forest’s total domination in the Bryan National Collegiate, which concluded Sunday at the Bryan Park Championship Course in Browns Summit, N.C., was, the runnerup finish for North Carolina was just as vital to the psyche of the Tar Heels with the postseason beckoning.

   Granted, North Carolina, No. 36 in the latest Golfstat rankings, was not in the same zip code as No. 12 Wake Forest, but what team would have been when the Demon Deacons broke the tournament record by a whopping 21 shots with a remarkable 34-under-par 830 total over the 6,305-yard, par-72 Bryan Park Championship Course that has presented a pretty stern test over the years.

   It started at the top as Wake Forest’s two stars, Jennifer Kupcho, a senior from Westminster, Colo. and the No. 1 player in the Women’s World Amateur Golf Ranking (WAGR), and Emilia Migliacco, a sophomore from Cary, N.C. and No. 18 in the Women’s WAGR, shared the individual crown at 12-under 204, seven shots clear of the rest of the field.

   A few weeks ago, it looked like Duke was a lock to win its third straight Atlantic Coast Conference team title. But the emergence of Florida State and Wake Forest has made it clear that the Blue Devils can expect some competition when the ACC Championship tees off April 18 at Sedgefield Country Club in Greensboro, N.C.

   A few weeks ago, the Wake Forest program record for a single round was 9-under par. Then the Demon Deacons fired a 14-under 274 in the final round of the Tar Heel Classic hosted by Suzy Whaley at a tough Teeth of the Dog Course at Case de Campo in the Dominican Republic.

Then they did it again in Friday’s opening round at Bryan Park. And then Sunday, well, didn’t they just go and do it again.

   You know it’s a good day when your freshman from Italy, Letizia Bagnoli, finishes third in the individual standings at 5-under 211, seven shots behind her teammates Kupcho and Magliacco, and you throw out her 2-under 70 in the final round.

   Wake Forest’s second 12-under 274 of the weekend, around a positively pedestrian 6-under 282 in Saturday’s second round, left it with a 34-under 830 total. It is an ACC record, bettering by one shot the 33-under total Duke recorded in winning the Jim West Challenge two years ago. It smashed the previous Bryan National Collegiate record of 13-under set by a pretty strong Alabama team two years ago.

   North Carolina, even with former Radnor High standout Brynn Walker faltering with a throw-out 78, bettered par for the second day in a row with a 1-under 287 that earned the Tar Heels a solid runnerup finish at 2-under 862.

   Yes, North Carolina finished 32 shots behind Wake Forest, but the Tar Heels beat the other three ACC teams in the field. With their fourth-place finish at Case de Campo and a runnerup finish in the Bryan National Collegiate, that last-place finish in the Darius Rucker Intercollegiate on South Carolina’s Hilton Head Island is officially just a bad memory.

   North Carolina will get one more tuneup for the ACC Championship when it tees it up in the Brickyard Collegiate, beginning April 8 in Macon, Ga.

   North Carolina got past ACC and in-state rival North Carolina State to get second place. The Wolfpack, though, had to be encouraged by their third-place finish at 2-over 866, four shots behind the Tar Heels, and their No. 57 ranking should be going up. N.C. State carded a 6-over 294 in Sunday’s final round.

   It was another 10 shots back to No. 72 Charlotte in fourth place at 12-over 876 after a final round of 9-over 297.

   It was seven more shots back to No. 30 Oregon State, the Pac-12 entry that made its cross-country trek worthwhile with a fifth-place finish at 19-over 883. The Beavers’ 2-over 290 final round was the third-best of the day.

   No. 50 Virginia Tech, another ACC entry, finished sixth at 21-over 885, two shots behind Oregon State, after a final round of 8-over 296. No. 55 Ohio State, out of the Big Ten, finished seventh in the 17-team field with a 23-over 887 total after posting a solid 5-over 293 in the final round.

What Wake Forest did at Bryan Park, though, has to put it firmly in the picture for a national championship.

   I’ve mentioned in a couple of posts this spring that Kupcho doesn’t have to be here. The reigning NCAA individual champion was the runnerup in the LPGA Q-Series, an eight-round marathon over two weeks at two different courses at the Pinehurst Resort. She earned playing privileges on the LPGA Tour, but she accepted the tour’s offer that allowed her to defer the start of her professional career until after the college season is over.

   I’m pretty sure Kupcho is after that team national championship for which Wake Forest has to be considered a legitimate contender after its performance this weekend.

   Kupcho did her ridiculously consistent thing at the Bryan Park Championship Course, rattling off a third straight 4-under 68 to get her share of the top spot at 12-under 204.

   The only better round all weekend was the 5-under 67 Migliacco opened the tournament with Friday. She fell back into a tie with Kupcho with a 3-under 69 in Saturday’s second round and matched Kupcho’s final-round 68 to join her at 204.

   But you can’t get it done with just two players and it was the performance of the supporting cast that probably had Wake Forest head coach Kim Lewellen, in her first year after replacing the legendary Dianne Dailey, and the rest of the Demon Deacons pretty excited.

   Bagnoli contributed a 4-under 68 to Wake Forest’s first 14-under 274 Friday, fell back a little with a 1-over 73 Saturday and closed with that throw-out 2-under 70 to finish alone in third place at 5-under 211.

   Siyun Liu, a junior from China, made it a fourth Wake Forest player in the top four as she carded a 3-under 69 in the final round to share fourth place with North Carolina’s Jennifer Zhou, a freshman from China, at 4-under 212.

   Vanessa Knecht, a freshman from Switzerland, gave Wake Forest a fifth player in the top eight as she matched Liu’s 3-under 69 in the final round to finish tied for eighth with two other players at 1-under 215.

   Zhou led the charge for North Carolina with her share of fourth with Wake Forest’s Liu. Zhou carded a second straight 2-under 70 after opening with an even-par 72 to join Liu at 4-under 212.

   Idaho’s Sophie Housmann, a senior from Germany, matched par in the final round to finish alone in sixth place at 3-under 213. Oregon State’s Ellie Slama, a sophomore from Salem, Ore., also capped a solid weekend with an even-par 72 to finish alone in seventh place at 2-under 214.

   Joining Wake Forest’s Knecht in the trio tied for eighth at 1-under 215 were North Carolina State’s India Clyburn, a senior from England, and Virginia Tech’s Amanda Hollandsworth, a graduate student from Floyd, Va.

   Clyburn, a member of the Great Britain & Ireland Curtis Cup team that fell to Kupcho and the United States last summer at Quaker Ridge Golf Club in Scarsdale, N.Y., finished up with a 2-over 74 while Hollandsworth closed with a 1-over 73.

   Another encouraging sign for North Carolina was the play of Kelly Whaley, the Tar Heels’ senior leader from Farmington, Conn. who fired a second straight 1-under 71 to end up in the group tied for 14^th at 2-over 218.

   Walker, the winner of the PIAA Class AAA Championship in 2014 and 2015 at Radnor, had it going in the first two rounds at Bryan Park, but fell back with a 6-over 78 in Sunday’s final round. Still, she gave North Carolina a third player in the top 20 as she finished among the group tied for 18^th. Walker was tied for fourth in the individual standings after adding a 2-under 70 Saturday to her opening-round 71.

   Ava Bergner, a sophomore from Germany, closed by matching par with a solid 72 to move into the group tied for 21^st at 4-over 220. Nicole Lu, a freshman from Taiwan, also posted a counting 2-over 74 in the final round to finish among the group tied for 33^rd at 224.

   North Carolina coach Jan Mann brought along Mariana Ocano, a junior from St. Petersburg, Fla., to compete as an individual in hopes that Ocano could locate a golf game that had lost its way. And Ocano just might have found something in a 2-under 70 in Sunday’s final round that left her among the group tied for 40^th at 10-over 226.

   Georgetown junior Kate Evanko, who starred scholastically at Unionville, had her best round of the weekend, a 6-over 78 that was a counter for the Hoyas and left her alone in 89^th place at 240. Georgetown, the reigning Big East champion, had its best team round of the weekend, a 310, to finish 16^th at 937.