Walsh helps Wake Forest grab one-shot lead over Oklahoma State as NCAA Championship tees off

   Wake Forest has been one of the top programs in Division I women’s golf the last few years with a veteran cast.

   But the Demon Deacons haven’t been a factor in the NCAA Championship since they lost to Atlantic Coast Conference rival Duke in 2019 in the Final Match at The Blessings Golf Club in Fayetteville, Ark.

   Emilia Migliaccio, a graduate student from Cary, N.C. and No. 32 in the Women’s World Amateur Golf Ranking (WAGR), got a full point for Wake Forest that day. Then, her goal was to make it to the LPGA Tour. These days, Migliaccio is concentrating on a career in communications and plans to remain an amateur golfer.

   Migliaccio was at Grayhawk Golf Club, site of last year’s NCAA Championship as it is this year, but she was taking a gap year and working as an intern for The Golf Channel, doing post-round interviews. Wake Forest was good all year, but couldn’t get it going at Grayhawk and never made it into the match-play bracket.

   It was a determined bunch at Wake Forest when the NCAA Championship teed off Friday back at Grayhawk. And with Lauren Walsh, a senior from Ireland and No. 48 in the Women’s WAGR leading the way, the Demon Deacons, No. 2 in the latest Golfstat rankings, grabbed the team lead with a 9-under-par 279 over the 6,368-yard, par-72 Grayhawk layout.

   There are 30 teams gathered at Grayhawk and the team field will be cut, pretty sure it’s the top 15 teams, following Sunday’s third round. The top eight teams following Monday’s fourth round will qualify for match play with quarterfinals getting under way Tuesday morning.

   An individual national champion will also be crowned at the end of four rounds of stroke play Monday.

   Big 12 champion Oklahoma State, ranked 24^th, was a shot behind Wake Forest in second place with an 8-under 280 total.

   Pacing the Cowgirls was individual leader Maddison Hinson-Tolchard, a junior from Australia and No. 58 in the Women’s WAGR who finished her round with three straight birdies to end up with a 6-under 66 that gave her a one-shot lead over Wake Forest’s Walsh in the individual chase.

   Hinson-Tolchard was in the lineup for Oklahoma State when it fell to Mississippi in the NCAA Championship’s Final Match two years ago at Grayhawk.

   A couple of Southeastern Conference powers, No. 4 South Carolina and No. 28 Georgia, coming off a team title on its home course in the Athens Regional, were tied for third place, each landing on 2-under 286, six shots behind Oklahoma State.

   SEC champion Texas A&M, ranked sixth, and Mountain West Conference champion New Mexico, ranked 39^th, were tied for fifth place, each posting a 1-under 287.

   Defending national champion Stanford, the No. 1 team in the country and coming off a dominant performance in the Pullman Regional, matched par in the opening round with a 288 and was tied for seventh place with a couple of Wake Forest’s ACC rivals, No. 22 Duke and No. 10 Florida State.

   Rounding out the top 10 was Oklahoma State’s Big 12 rival Baylor as the Bears were alone in 10^th place with a 1-over 289.

   Walsh led the way for Wake Forest as her sparkling 5-under 67 left her a shot behind Hinson-Tolchard in second place in the individual standings.

   Rachel Kuehn, a senior from Asheville, N.C. and No. 7 in the Women’s WAGR, and Mimi Rhodes, a junior from England, backed up Walsh as each carded a 2-under 70 that left them in the group tied for 10^th place.

   Migliaccio and Carolina Chacarra, a sophomore from Spain and No. 31 in the WAGR, rounded out the Wake Forest ineup las they each matched par with a 72 to land in a large group tied for 36^th place.

   Kuehn, Migliaccio and Walsh are veterans of the last two Curtis Cup Matches, Kuehn and Migliaccio on the United States side and Walsh playing for Great Britain & Ireland. They have been involved in some high-leverage match-play situations.

   As I have noted several times as the wraparound 2022-2023 season has played out, Wake Forest would be a tough out if it could get into the match-play bracket at Grayhawk. The Demon Deacons took an important first step in that direction with their fast start in Friday’s opening round.

   Another veteran of Team USA’s victory over GB&I in last summer’s 42^nd Curtis Cup Match at Merion Golf Club’s historic East Course, Stanford’s Megha Ganne, a freshman from Holmdel, N.J. and No. 86 in the Women’s WAGR, headed a group of four players tied for third place in the individual standings at 4-under 68.

   Ganne was joined at that figure by Hinson-Tolchard’s Oklahoma State teammate Rina Tatematsu, a junior from Thailand, Texas Tech’s Shannon Tan, a freshman from Singapore, and San Jose State’s Lucia Lopez Ortega, a sophomore from Spain.

   Texas A&M teammates Adele Cernousek, a sophomore from France, and Blanca Fernandez Garcia-Poggio, a sophomore from Spain, and Arizona’s Nena Wongthanavimok, a freshman from Thailand, each recorded a 3-under 69 and were tied for seventh place.

   Defending NCAA individual champion Rose Zhang, a sophomore from Irvine, Calif. and the No. 1 player in the Women’s WAGR, landed in the large group tied for 36^th place as she matched par with a 72.

   There was some good news for Stanford as Rachel Heck, a junior from Memphis, Tenn. and No. 20 in the Women’s WAGR, returned to the lineup after sitting out the spring campaign with a shoulder injury. Heck struggled to an 82, but she would be an asset for the Cardinal if they can earn a spot in the match-play bracket.

   Zhang and Heck are also veterans of the last two Curtis Cup winning teams for the U.S.

   Duke junior Phoebe Brinker, who starred scholastically at Archmere Academy and No. 51 in the Women’s WAGR, opened with a 2-over 74 that left her in the group tied for 66^th place.

   Brinker’s fellow Wilmington, Del. native, Jennifer Cleary, a junior at ACC power Virginia who starred scholastically at the Tower Hill School, struggled to a 79 in the opening round. The Cavaliers struggled as a team as well as they opened with a 10-over 298 that left them in 23^rd place.