Wake Forest claims ACC title at Pawleys Island; Duke's Brinker captures individual crown

    Wake Forest seemed to have its sights set on a national championship this time last year.

   The Demon Deacons were No. 3 in the Golfstat rankings going into the Atlantic Coast Conference Championship. A loss to Florida State in the semifinals of the ACC’s first foray into match play to determine the conference champion seemed to deal Wake Forest’s ambitions a blow from which it never recovered.

   The Demon Deacons advanced to the NCAA Championship at Grayhawk Golf Club in Scottsdale, Ariz. with a runnerup finish as the top seed in the Stanford Regional. They were poised to grab a berth in the match-play bracket at Grayhawk, but faded in the final round of stroke play. It was not the finish the Demon Deacons imagined.

   Yes, I’m a little bit behind on these conference championships, but with the regional assignments about to be released Wednesday, think of these reports as more of a regional preview.

   This time, Wake Forest entered the ACC Championship, which wrapped up Easter Sunday at The Reserve Golf Club of Pawleys Island on Pawleys Island, S.C., at No. 4 in the Golfstat rankings. But this time the Demon Deacons came away with an ACC crown, avenging their loss in last year’s semifinals against Florida State by defeating the talented Seminoles, which moved up from No. 16 to No. 15 in the Golfstat rankings in the aftermath of the conference championship, 3.5-1.5, in the title match.

   There are six NCAA regionals for the women this year, up from four, and there’s a pretty good chance Wake Forest will be a top seed somewhere. The Demon Deacons will tell you that seedings don’t matter that much. What matters is that they are playing well.

   The Wake Forest-Florida State matchup was a heavyweight battle. Three players in the title match would be named to Great Britain & Ireland Curtis Cup team the following day, one from Wake Forest, Lauren Walsh, a junior from Ireland and No. 27 in the Women’s World Amateur Ranking (WAGR), and two from Florida State, Amelia Williamson, a senior from England and No. 53 in the Women’s WAGR, and Charlotte Heath, a sophomore from England and No. 51 in the Women’s WAGR.

   Wake Forest’s Rachel Kuehn, a junior from Asheville, N.C., will represent the United States when the Curtis Cup tees off in 44 days at Merion Golf Club’s historic East Course in the Ardmore section of Haverford Township. Kuehn is No. 8 in the Women’s WAGR.

   Florida State’s top player, Beatrice Wallin, a senior from Sweden is No. 6 in the Women’s WAGR. Just studs up and down both lineups.

   Kuehn, who got the clinching point for the U.S. in its come-from-behind 12.5-7.5 victory over GBI in the Curtis Cup Match last summer at Conwy Golf Club in Caernarvonshire, Wales, pulled out a 1-up decision over Williamson by sinking a 55-foot putt on the 18^th green in the first match.

   Heath got the lone full point for the Seminoles with a 3 and 1 decision over Carolina Chacarra, Wake Forest’s talented freshman from Spain who is No. 12 in the Women’s WAGR.

   Walsh, with a ton of match-play experience in the bank, edged Alice Hodge, a sophomore from Larchmont, N.Y., 1-up. And the Demon Deacons got a huge point from Virunpat Olankitkunchai, a graduate student from Thailand and No. 86 in the Women’s WAGR as she handed Wallin a 2 and 1 setback.

   Olankitkunchai was a four-year standout at Maryland who decided to use the extra year of eligibility offered by the NCAA to make up for the spring of 2020 lost to the coronavirus pandemic at Wake Forest. She proved to be a valuable addition to the lineup at Pawleys Island.

   Wake Forest’s Mimi Rhodes, a sophomore from England, battled Cecilie Finne-Ipsen, a senior from Denmark who transferred to Florida State from North Carolina Charlotte, to a draw to pick an extra half-point for the Demon Deacons.

   It was the seventh ACC crown for Wake Forest and its second in four years.

   Wake Forest had earned the top seed in match play by finishing five shots clear of runnerup Florida State in three rounds of qualifying for match play with an even-par 864 total.

   The draw left the Demon Deacons with a tough semifinal matchup with No. 8 Virginia and they grinded out a 3.5-1.5 victory.

   Chacarra pulled out a hard-fought 2 and 1 decision over the Cavaliers’ Beth Lillie, a graduate student from Fullerton, Calif. and No. 88 in the Women’s WAGR. Kuehn earned another full point for Wake Forest with a 2-up victory over Celeste Valinho, a junior from Jacksonville, Fla.

   Rhodes picked up the third full point for Wake Forest with a 5 and 3 victory over Virginia sophomore Jennifer Cleary, the reigning Pennsylvania Women’s Amateur champion who starred scholastically at Tower Hill School.

   Olankitkunchai battled Riley Smyth, a senior from Cary, N.C., to a draw. Amanda Sambach, a freshman from Pinehurst, N.C. and No. 89 in the Women’s WAGR, earned a full point for the Cavaliers with a 6 and 4 victory over Walsh.

   Florida State avenged its loss to perennial power Duke in last year’s title match with a solid 4-1 victory over the Blue Devils, who moved up from No. 24 to No. 21 in the Golfstat rankings in the aftermath of the ACC Championship, in the other semifinal match.

   The Seminoles got full points from Hodge, who claimed a 3 and 2 victory over Megan Furtney, a junior from St. Charles, Ill., Williamson, who rolled to a 7 and 5 decision over Anne Chen, a sophomore from Sugar Land, Texas, and Heath, who earned a 3 and 2 win over Erica Shepherd, a junior from Greenwood, Ind. and winner of the 2017 U.S. Girls’ Junior Championship at Boone Valley Golf Club in Augusta, Mo.

   Finne-Ipsen battled Duke sophomore Phoebe Brinker, who starred scholastically at Archmere Academy and rose to No. 75 in the Women’s WAGR by winning the ACC’s individual championship a day earlier, to a draw. More on the amazing Brinker in a minute.

   Duke’s other half-point came from freshman Rylie Heflin, the former Tower Hill standout from just over the Delaware border in Avondale, Chester County. Heflin battled Wallin, who finished in a tie for fourth place in the Augusta National Women’s Amateur Championship earlier this spring, to a draw.

   Heflin actually won the match by holing a 35-foot birdie putt on the 18^th hole, but the overall match was decided while Heflin and Wallin were playing the 18^th hole, so their match reverted back to the 17^th hole when they were still tied.

   Wake Forest and Florida State battled it out for the top seed in match play during 54 holes of stroke play.

   After a double round April 14^th, the two teams were tied at 8-under 568 heading into the final round of stroke play. The Demon Deacons had added a 7-under 281 in the second round to their opening round of 1-under 287. The Seminoles had added a 6-under 282 in the second round to their opening round of 2-under 286.

   The golf course got a little tougher for the final round and Wake Forest posted an 8-over 296, five shots better than Florida State’s 13-over 301, to claim the top seed in match play with an even-par 864 total. The Seminoles finished second with a 5-over 869 total.

   Duke had struggled to an opening round of 7-over 295, but bounced back with an 8-under 280 in the second round behind a spectacular 7-under 65 by Brinker that went a long way toward earning her the individual crown. The Blue Devils closed with a 10-over 298 to finish four shots behind Florida State in third place with a 9-over 873 total.

   Virginia closed with the best round of the day in the final round with a 2-over 290 total that enabled the Cavaliers to grab the final spot in the match-play bracket with a 16-over 880 total that left them seven shots behind Duke in fourth place. Virginia had opened with a 5-over 293 before adding a 9-over 297 in the afternoon round of the first day’s double round.

   Clemson finished 10 shots behind Virginia in fifth place with a 26-over 890 total as the Tigers added a 2-over 290 to their opening-round 297 before closing with a 303. Clemson moved up four spots in the Golfstat rankings with its showing in the ACC Championship from No. 34 to No. 30.

   Leading the way for Wake Forest were Walsh and Olankutkunchai, who were part of a four-way tie for third place in the individual standings, each landing on 1-under 215. Walsh added a sparkling 5-under 67 in the second round to her opening-round 75 and closed with a 1-over 73. Olankitkunchai posted solid rounds of 71 and 70 in the first day’s double round before finishing up with a 74.

   Kuehn gave the Demon Deacons a third player inside the top seven as she added a 71 in the second round to her opening round of 2-under 70 before closing with a 75.

    Rhodes was solid in the first day’s double round adding a 73 in the afternoon to her opening round of 1-under 71 before closing with a 76 that left her among the group tied for 16^th place with a 4-over 220 total.

   Rounding out the Wake Forest lineup was Chacarra, who has cooled off a little after a red-hot start to the spring portion of the wraparound 2021-2022 season. Chacarra added a 1-over 73 in the second round to her opening-round 76 before closing with a 74 that left her among the group tied for 35^th place with a 228 total.

   I stopped being surprised by Brinker a long time ago. The kid from Wilmington, Del. finished in a tie for fifth place in the individual chase in the NCAA Championship at Grayhawk Golf Club in Scottsdale, Ariz. a year ago. I’m sure she was a little disappointed with her performance in the Augusta National Women’s Amateur as she failed to make the cut and didn’t get the chance to play a competitive round at the Alister MacKenzie masterpiece.

   After opening with a solid 2-under 70 at Pawleys Island, Brinker went off as she blitzed the 6,212-yard, par-72 Reserve Club layout with a 7-under 65 in the afternoon.

   Starting off the 10^th tee, Brinker made birdies at the 10^th and 12^th holes before making an eagle at the par-5 13^th to quickly get it to 4-under. Brinker then made a birdie at the 18^th hole and added birdies at the fourth and eighth holes on The Reserve Club’s outgoing nine. There was nary a bogey on her scorecard.

   Brinker closed with a 1-under 71 for a 10-under 206 total that was six shots clear of her teammate Shepherd, the runnerup with a 4-under 212 total.

   Brinker became the 15^th Blue Devil to win the ACC’s individual title and her 10-under total matched the program record at the ACC Championship established by Gina Kim a year ago at Sedgefield Country Club in Greensboro, N.C.

   After opening with a 75, Shepherd ripped off a 4-under 68 in the second round and closed with the final day’s low round, a 3-under 69 that earned her a runnerup finish at 4-under.

   Duke suffered a tough loss team-wise when Kim turned pro during the midseason pause, but if the Blue Devils can figure out a way to get into match play in next month’s NCAA Championship back at Grayhawk, Brinker and Shepherd would give them a pretty good 1-2 punch at the top of the lineup.

   Joining Wake Forest’s Walsh and Olankitkunchai in the foursome tied for third place at 1-under 215, three shots behind Shepherd, were Virginia’s Sambach and Louisville’s Kendall Griffin, a graduate student from Sebring, Fla. who was a standout at LSU before deciding to take her extra year of eligibility with the Cardinals.

   Sambach matched par in the second round with a 72 after opening with a 2-under 70 before finishing up with a 1-over 73. Griffin sandwiched a solid 3-under 69 in the second round with a pair of 1-over 73s.

   Florida State’s Williamson and Virginia Tech’s Emily Mahar, a graduate student from Australia and No. 54 in the Women’s WAGR, finished a shot behind Wake Forest’s Kuehn in a tie for eighth place in the individual standings, each landing on 1-over 217.

   Williamson sandwiched a 1-under 71 in the second round with a pair of 1-over 73s. Mahar matched par in the second round with a 72 after opening with a 1-under 71 before finishing up with a 74.

   Virginia’s Cleary matched par in the final round with a 72 to finish among the group tied for 24th place with an 8-over 224 total. Cleary added a 77 in the second round to her opening round of 3-over 75.

   Duke’s Heflin, the Pennsylvania Junior Girls’ champion in 2017, opened with a solid 3-over 75 and added a 77 in afternoon of the first day, but struggled to an 84 in the final round to finish in a tie for 51^st place with a 236 total.

   Notre Dame, which finished last of the 12 teams with a 919 total, mixed and matched its lineup during the ACC Championship.

   Junior Jessica Meyers, who finished in a tie for fifth place in the PIAA Class AAA Championship as a senior at Oakland Catholic in 2018, played the final two rounds for the Fighting Irish, posting a 3-over 75 in the second round and a 77 in the final round.

   Junior Caroline Wrigley, the PIAA Class AAA champion as a senior at North Allegheny in 2018, got a shot in the final round at Pawleys Island and carded an 80. Wrigley transferred to Notre Dame after spending the first two years of her college career at Furman.