Wake Forest and Florida State moved almost in tandem into
the top 10 with one strong performance after another this spring.
So it wasn’t too much of a surprise to see the Demon
Deacons, No. 8 in the latest Golfstat
rankings, and the No. 9 Seminoles sitting in first and second place, respectively,
after a double-round of the ACC Championship Thursday at Sedgefield Country
Club in Greensboro, N.C.
The 54-hole event was originally scheduled to be 18 holes
Thursday, Friday and Saturday, but with a forecast of heavy rain and possibly
severe weather for Friday, the decision was made to play two rounds Thursday,
take Friday off and finish up Saturday.
Wake Forest, behind individual leader Emilia Migliacchio, a
sophomore from Cary, N.C. and the No. 15 player in the Women’s World Amateur Golf
Ranking (WAGR), opened with an 8-under-par 280 over the 6,689-yard, par-72
Sedgefield layout and added a 1-under 287 in the afternoon for a 9-under 567
total. Wake Forest is the only team under par after two rounds.
Florida State opened with a 4-over 292 before adding a
3-under 285 in the afternoon and is 10 shots behind Wake Forest at 1-over 577.
No. 17 Virginia opened with a 2-under 286 before adding a
6-over 294 and is in third place, three shots behind the Seminoles at 4-over
580.
Lurking a shot behind the Cavaliers in fourth place is No. 4
Duke, the two-time defending ACC champion. The Blue Devils opened with a solid
1-over 289 before adding a 4-over 292 to land at 5-over 581.
It is seven more shots back to No. 53 Virginia Tech in fifth
place at 12-over 588, the Hokies adding a 7-over 295 to their opening-round
293. No. 42 Louisville was three shots behind Virginia Tech in sixth place at
15-over 591. The Cardinals added a 9-over 297 to their opening-round 294.
Former Radnor High standout Brynn Walker and No. 32 North
Carolina landed in seventh place, five shots behind Louisville at 20-over 596.
The Tar Heels, with Walker, winner of the PIAA Class AAA Championship in 2014
and 2015 at Radnor, firing a 2-under 70, opened with a 7-over 295, but fell
back with an afternoon 301.
Isabella DiLisio, the 2013 PIAA Class AAA champion as a
senior at Mount St. Joseph, and No. 79 Notre Dame were alone in 11th
place at 34-over 610 after adding a 307 to an opening-round 303.
Migliaccio made a strong opening statement with the low
round of the day, a sparkling 6-under 66. She backed off a little with a
1-under 71 in the afternoon, but her 7-under 137 total left her with a
three-shot lead over a very talented field.
The Demon Deacons also got a strong showing from Siyun Liu,
a junior from China who opened with a 4-under 68 before matching par in the
afternoon with a 72 that left her tied for second with Duke’s Ana Belac, a
junior from Slovenia, at 4-under 140, three shots behind Migliacco.
Vanessa Knecht, a rapidly improving freshman from
Switzerland, had Wake Forest’s best round of the afternoon, a 2-under 70, after
she had opened with a 74 as she joined a group that included two other players
tied for seventh at even-par 144.
The fourth-best total of the day for Wake Forest belonged to
none other than the No. 1 player in the Women’s WAGR and impressive winner of
the inaugural Augusta National Women’s Amateur Championship, Jennifer Kupcho, a
senior from Westminster, Colo.
Kupcho’s win at Augusta National not only displayed what a
tremendous player she is, but she did a tremendous job representing, in no
particular order, the game of golf, women’s golf, amateur golf, college golf,
Wake Forest and her family and home town.
When Kupcho, the reigning NCAA individual champion, has a
letdown, she matches par with a 72 in the opening round and adds a 2-over 74 in
the afternoon to sit among the group tied for 13th at 2-over 146.
Don’t be surprised if she takes it out on Sedgefield in Saturday’s final round.
Rounding out the Wake Forest lineup was Letizia Bagnoli, a
freshman from Italy who landed in the group tied for 44th at 154
after adding a 79 to her opening round of 3-over 75.
Duke’s Belac matched the low round of the afternoon with her
4-under 68, which, combined with her opening-round 72, left her tied for second
with Wake Forest’s Siyun Liu at 140.
The other afternoon 68 was authored by Florida State’s
veteran junior, Amanda Doherty of Atlanta. Doherty had opened with a 1-over 73
and her 3-under 141 total left her alone in fourth place, a shot behind Siyun
Liu and Belac.
Virginia’s Anna Redding, a senior from Concord, N.C. and No.
30 in the Women’s WAGR, was a shot behind Doherty in fifth at 2-under 142 after
adding an even-par 72 to her opening round of 2-under 70.
North Carolina’s leading lady was Jennifer Zhou, a rapidly
improving freshman from China who opened with a solid 2-under 70 before adding
a 1-over 73 in the afternoon that left her a shot behind Redding in sixth place
at 1-under 143.
Joining Wake Forest’s Knecht in the trio tied for seventh at
even-par 144 were Florida State’s Frida Kinhult, the freshman phenom from
Sweden and No. 4 in the Women’s WAGR, and Boston College’s Bibilani Liu, a
sophomore from Cupertino, Calif.
While Kupcho, Migliaccio, Doherty and Redding all teed it up
in the Augusta National Women’s Amateur – Doherty and Redding made the cut and
joined Kupcho in the historic competitive round at Augusta National -- Kinhult
accepted an invitation to play in the ANA Inspiration, the LPGA’s first major
championship of the year on the Dinah Short Tournament Course at Mission Hills
Country Club in Rancho Mirage, Calif. that week. Kinhult failed to make the
cut, but I’m sure it was a great experience for the fledgling star.
Kinhult added a 2-under 70 in the afternoon to an opening-round
74 while Bibilani Liu opened up a solid 3-under 69 before falling back a little
in the afternoon with a 75.
North Carolina’s Walker, who plays out of St. Davids Golf
Club, struggled in the afternoon, adding a 79 to her opening-round 70 as she
landed among the group tied for 28th at 5-over 149. Kelly Whaley,
the Tar Heels’ senior leader from Farmington, Conn., carded a pair of 76s to
finish among the group tied for 39th at 8-over 152.
Mariana Ocano, a junior from St. Petersburg, Fla., bounced
back from an opening-round 80 with a 3-over 75 to join the group tied for 47th
at 155. Ava Bergner, a sophomore from Germany, was another shot behind Ocano in
the group tied for 49th at 156 after adding a 77 to her
opening-round 79.
Notre Dame was led by its senior standout Emma Albrecht of
Ormond Beach, Fla., who added a 2-over 74 to the even-par 72 she opened with
for a 2-over 146 total that has her in the group tied for 13th. Abby
Heck, a sophomore from Memphis, Tenn., had the best round of the afternoon for
the Fighting Irish, carding a 1-under 71 after opening with a 76 as she joined
the group tied for 18th at 3-over 147.
DiLisio’s Notre Dame career may be coming to an end this
weekend at Sedgefield if the Fighting Irish don’t land a bid to an NCAA
regional. She has been a fixture in the starting lineup since she arrived in
South Bend, Ind. in the fall of 2015. DiLisio opened with a 3-over 75, but
struggled in the afternoon with an 83 that left her alone in 54th
place at 158.
Mia Ayer, a junior from Waco, Texas was a shot behind
DiLisio in the group tied for 55th at 159 after she added a 79 to
her opening-round 80. Emma Albrecht’s sister Claire, a freshman, is in 60th
place after adding an 88 to her opening-round 84 for a 172 total.
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