LAKE ELMO, Minn. – There was a constant theme at Royal Golf Club outside of Minneapolis all week during the 2022 ANNIKA Intercollegiate.
Survive the front nine, attack the back nine. And that’s what the Wake Forest women’s golf team did.
The No. 3 Demon Deacons trailed by six shots entering the final round, but they dominated both sides of the golf course and finished strong with a late birdie barrage to capture the ANNIKA Intercollegiate on a windy afternoon outside Minneapolis. Wake Forest had contributions from every member of its lineup, finishing at 6-under 858 for the week, but Wednesday’s 3-under 285 was enough to propel the Demon Deacons to their second ANNIKA Intercollegiate title, the first coming in 2019.
“You’re always comfortable when you have a lead, but we’ve got a bunch of really good teams here, so we just had to stick to the game plan,” Wake Forest coach Kim Lewellen said. “We’ve got a lot of veterans, and they’re used to being in this position.”
ANNIKA Intercollegiate: Scores
Rachel Kuehn helped cap the victory for Wake Forest. She birdied her final three holes, finishing at 1 under for the day and even-par 216 for the tournament, which was a tie for 10th. Lauren Walsh also birdied the closing par-5, and she finished in a tie for second at 7-under 209.
Emilia Migliaccio shot a 2-over 74 on Wednesday but finished in a tie for 10th, as well. Carolina Lopez-Chacarra was 4 under on the front nine and finished at 2 under and tied for 19th in the tournament.
The group effort culminated in Wake Forest’s first win of the season
“Now we will continue to learn and continue to get better,” Lewellen said. “It’s a cliche and you hear it a lot but these players are good and but they’re always striving to be better. So I think if we just stick with trying to get better each day, enjoy this victory, but get back to work tomorrow.
For a short while, Texas tied Wake Forest for the team lead at 2 under, when Bohyun Park got up and down from a greenside bunker for birdie on 18. Park finished tied with Walsh for second, and Texas ended in second as a team at 2-under 862.
Virginia, which led after the first two rounds, shot 8 over during the final round and finished in third, one shot behind the Longhorns. South Carolina and Duke finished in a tie for fourth at 1-over 855.
The Cavaliers aren’t going home empty handed, though. Sophomore Amanda Sambach went wire-to-wire and won her first collegiate tournament,…
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