Wake Forest's Kuehn claims a North & South victory in an eventful week at Pinehurst

   The Wake Forest women’s golf team was No. 1 in the Golfstat rankings when the sports world shut it down in the middle of March.

   The Demon Deacons, the runnerup to Atlantic Coast Conference rival Duke in the 2019 NCAA Championship at The Blessings Golf Club in Fayetteville, Ark., was coming off an impressive 26-shot victory over a Darius Rucker Intercollegiate field on Hilton Head Island, S.C. that included the reigning national champion Blue Devils.

   Freshman Rachel Kuehn finished in a tie for third in the individual standings at the Darius Rucker, just two shots behind her talented teammate, Emilia Migliaccio, who claimed the individual title.

   Fast forward to Saturday at Pinehurst Village, N.C. and there was Kuehn nabbing herself one of those iconic Putter Boy trophies as she captured the top prize in a North & South Women’s Amateur Championship that was, well, a little different than many other editions in the long, 118 years long, and prestigious history of this event.

   But hey, 2020’s been a little different ever since the coronavirus invaded our shores and turned our world upside down.

   Maybe the North & South had lost some of its luster in recent years, but that was certainly not the case this year. As good a field of amateur women as you’ll find short of a U.S. Women’s Amateur gathered this week at Pinehurst -- college standouts, junior phenoms, veteran mid-amateurs.

   For many, I suspect, it was just a matter of wanting to compete again. The college kids lost their postseason. The juniors and the mid-ams lost their USGA championships.

   Not sure exactly how they’re going to fill the field for next month’s U.S. Women’s Amateur at Woodmont Country Club in Rockville, Md., but the USGA did reserve a couple of spots for the North & South finalists, so Kuehn and Southern California’s Allisen Corpuz, who took Kuehn to a 19^th hole before finally falling in a thrilling final, are in.

   Looks like from the Southern Cal roster that Corpuz is going to take the NCAA up on its offer for an extra year of eligibility for the lost spring of 2020. She was bidding to become the second straight Trojan to win the North & South after Aussie Gabriela Ruffels won at Pinehurst a year ago before backing that win up with a dramatic U.S. Women’s Amateur victory at Old Waverly Golf Club in West Point, Miss.

   I was keeping up with the North & South all week, but just didn’t have time to post each day, so I’m going to try to wrap up a pretty eventful week, including how a pretty large contingent of local players did at Pinehurst.

   It certainly ended with a ton of drama during a long day Saturday at Pinehurst’s No. 2 Course, a Donald Ross masterpiece. Corpuz earned her spot in the final by outlasting Clemson’s Ivy Shepherd, a junior from Peachtree City, Ga. who claimed medalist honors in qualifying, in 21 holes in one semifinal Saturday morning while Kuehn claimed a 3 and 2 victory over Michigan State’s Haylin Harris, a junior from Carmel, Ind.

   A North & South victory would be special to anyone, but maybe a little moreso to a native North Carolinian and Kuehn hails from Asheville. Kuehn’s mother, Brenda Corrie Kuehn, is a Wake Forest Hall of Famer who had a near miss in the North & South 25 years ago. Brenda Corrie Kuehn teed it up in the U.S. Women’s Amateur 16 times and in the U.S. Women’s Open nine times.

   Kuehn got the jump on Corpuz in the final by winning the first two holes, but no lead was safe in this match. Corpuz won the fourth and fifth holes to get even with Kuehn.

   Kuehn won the eighth and ninth holes, but Corpuz again evened the match by getting back-to-back wins at the 10^th and 11^th holes. Noticing a pattern here?

   After a thunderstorm delayed play for 80 minutes, Kuehn put a nose in front by winning the 13^th hole, but Corpuz won the 17^th hole, ultimately forcing an extra hole. Kuehn finally put Corpuz away by taking the 19^th hole, the par-4 first at the No. 2 Course, with a par.

   Kuehn had survived a 20-hole thriller in Friday afternoon’s quarterfinals with Rachel Heck, the talented junior player from Memphis, Tenn. who will join the powerhouse Stanford program later this summer. Heck lost medalist honors in a playoff with her pal Shepherd after firing a second-round 66 at Pinehurst’s No. 4 Course to join Shepherd at 5-under 139.

   Heck has yet to take a swing at the college level, but she’s already played the weekend in two professional major championships, the 2017 U.S. Women’s Open and the 2018 Evian Championship.

   Kuehn knocked off Virginia Tech’s Becca DiNunzio, a sophomore from Virginia Beach, Va. Friday morning to reach the quarterfinals. Kuehn opened her march through the match-play bracket with a hard-fought 2-up decision Thursday over Bentley Cotton of Austin, Texas who will join her hometown Longhorns this year.

   Corpuz, No. 39 in the Women’s World Amateur Golf Ranking (WAGR), survived a tough battle with Lauren Boudreau of Lemont, Ill., who is coming off a solid freshman season at Notre Dame, earning a 1-up decision in the quarterfinals. Corpuz knocked off Kentucky’s Marissa Wenzler, a sophomore from Dayton, Ohio, 5 and 4, in a second-round match Friday morning.

   Corpuz opened match play Thursday with a 1-up victory over Vanderbilt’s Louise Yu, a senior from Duluth, Ga.

   One of the more interesting matchups in Friday morning’s second round featured Migliaccio, the highest-ranked woman in the field at No. 4 in the Women’s WAGR, and Lauren Hartlage, a Louisville standout from Elizabethtown, Ky. and No. 47 in the Women’s WAGR. Migliaccio earned a 3 and 1 victory before being taken out by Michigan State’s gritty Harris, who claimed a 4 and 3 victory in Friday afternoon’s quarterfinals.

   Migliaccio, Hartlage and Corpuz were all invited to a practice session last December at Loblolly in Hobe Sound, Fla. for what was supposed to be the 2020 Curtis Cup Match. The Curtis Cup Match, which was to be held at the Conwy Golf Club in Caernarvonshire, Wales, has been postponed until next June.

   Like Corpuz, it appears Hartlage plans to return for an extra year at Louisville. I’m guessing both still have an eye on a spot on captain Sarah Ingram’s U.S. team next spring.

   Clemson’s Shepherd had a tremendous week. She added a 3-under 69 at No. 4 to her opening-round 70 at No. 2 for a 5-under 139 before beating Heck in a playoff for medalist honors.

   On her way to the semifinals, Shepherd claimed a 1-up victory over Duke’s Gina Kim, a junior from Durham, N.C. and No. 30 in the Women’s WAGR, in Friday morning’s second round and a 4 and 3 win over Auburn’s Megan Schofill, a sophomore from Monticello, Fla. and No. 29 in the Women’s WAGR, in Friday afternoon’s quarterfinals.

   Kim was also among the group invited to audition for the U.S. Curtis Cup side at Loblolly late last year.

   Duke’s Megan Furtney, a sophomore from South Elgin, Ill., and Sadie Englemann of Austin, Texas, who will join Heck in what appears to be a loaded freshman class at Stanford, shared third place in qualifying, each landing on 3-under 141, two shots behind Shepherd and Heck.

   Furtney, who joined forces with Duke teammate and 2017 U.S. Girls’ Junior champion Erica Shepherd to win the U.S. Women’s Amateur Four-Ball Championship at the Timuquana Country Club in Jacksonville, Fla. in the spring of 2019, added a 71 at No. 4 to her opening-round 70 at No. 2 while Englemann added a 70 at No. 4 to her opening-round 71 at No. 2.

   Michigan State’s Harris and Arizona’s Therese Warner, a sophomore from Kenneworth, Wash., finished in a tie for fifth in qualifying at 2-under 142. Harris had matching 71s at No. 4 in the opening round and at No. 2 in the second round. Warner added a sparkling 2-under 70 at No. 2 to her opening-round 72 at No. 4.

   Not sure if she qualifies as local, but Megha Ganne, the talented teen from Holmdel, N.J. who stormed into the semifinals of last summer’s U.S. Women’s Amateur at Old Waverly, got off to a great start at Pinehurst with a sparkling 4-under 68 at the No. 2 Course.

   Ganne cooled off with a 3-over 75 at No. 4, but finished in a tie for seventh in qualifying for match play at 1-under 143 before getting ousted in the opening round of match play by Virginia Tech’s DiNunzio, who claimed a 2-up victory.

   Phoebe Brinker, who lost her senior season at Archmere Academy to the pandemic, couldn’t quite kick the rust off quickly enough. After struggling to a 79 at No. 2, Brinker, who is headed for Duke, fired a 3-under 69 at No. 4 for a 4-over 148 total that left her a shot out of a playoff for the final spots in the match-play bracket.

   Lower Merion sophomore Sydney Yermish, coming off a strong runnerup showing in the Junior North & South Championship at Pinehurst, opened with a solid 3-over 75 at No. 4, but struggled to an 84 at No. 2 for a 159 total.

   Yermish, who plays out of Rolling Green Golf Club, was an impressive winner of the District One Class AAA Championship and lost in a playoff in the PIAA Championship as a freshman last fall. The Yermish family has a second home in the Pinehurst area and that has allowed Yermish to work on her game and get accustomed to the many great golf courses in the area.

   Yermish had to play her way into the field in a qualifier last Sunday.

   Joining Yermish at 159 was Brinker’s Delaware rival, Jennifer Cleary, who lost her senior season at Tower Hill to the pandemic. Cleary, coming off a runnerup finish in the Pennsylvania Junior Girls’ Championship last month at Lebanon Country Club, opened with an 83 at No. 2 before adding a 4-over 76 at No. 4.

   Cleary, who will join the Virginia program later this year, plays out of Applecross Country Club to make her eligible for the Pennsylvania Junior Girls.

   Meghan Stasi, the South Jersey native who has won the U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur Championship four times, added an 81 to her opening-round 79 for a 160 total.

   Stasi, an Oakland Park Fla. resident, is an eight-time winner of the Women’s Golf Association of Philadelphia Match Play Championship. The Philadelphia Women’s Amateur, as it is more commonly known, was also contested last week at Old York Road Country Club and I’ll be trying to develop some intel for a post on that.

   Reigning Pennsylvania Women’s Amateur champion Jackie Rogowicz, who starred scholastically at Pennsbury and collegiately at Penn State, opened with an 83 at No. 4 before coming in with an 80 at No. 2 for a 163 total.

   I suspect Rogowicz will defend her state amateur title next month at Lebanon Country Club.

Rogowicz’s former Penn State teammate Megan McLean of Lebanon, N.J. was a shot behind Rogowicz  at 164 after adding a 79 at No. 4 to her opening-round 85 at No. 2. McLean lost the spring of her senior season to the pandemic.

   Former Central Dauphin standout Allison Cooper had a solid 4-over 76 at No. 4, but couldn’t solve No. 2, carding a 94 that left her with a 170 total.

   Former Central Bucks East standout Sophia Mancuso, a junior at Elon, was a shot behind Cooper at 171 after adding an 83 at No. 4 to her opening-round 88 at No. 2.