JUNO BEACH, Fla. - No. 1 Stanford women's golf defeated No. 2 Wake Forest, 4-1, on Wednesday at Seminole Golf Club to claim the 2022 Stephens Cup Championship. The event featured seven of the Top 19 teams in the country, and Wednesday's match featured the No. 1 seed Demon Deacons and No. 2 seed Cardinal, as determined by 54 holes of stroke play over Monday and Tuesday.
Megha Ganne (Stanford) defeats Rachel Kuehn (Wake Forest), 1up
Ganne jumped out to a quick lead with wins on No. 2, No. 3 and No. 4 to take a 3up lead, but Kuehn won at No. 6 to cut Ganne's lead to 2up, where it would remain until No. 10. The lead was cut to 1up on No. 11, before Ganne won two straight to go 3up through 13. Kuehn didn't go away, winning the next three holes to tie the match, but Ganne made par to win No. 17 and both golfers birdied No. 18 to clinch Stanford's first point of the day.
Rachel Heck (Stanford) defeats Carolina Lopez-Chacarra (Wake Forest), 3&1
Heck lost each of the first two holes of the day, but won at No. 3 and No. 6 to pull the match even. Lopez-Chacarra won at No. 9 to make the turn 1up, but Heck tied the match again on No. 10. Wins at No. 12, No. 14 and No. 17 clinched the match for Heck, 3&1.
Mimi Rhodes (Wake Forest) defeats Sadie Englemann (Stanford), 2&1
Englemann won two of the first three holes, but Rhodes tied the match after wins at No. 4 and No. 6. Rhodes took her first lead of the day at No. 9 and never looked back, leading the entire back nine en route to a 2&1 win, Wake Forest's lone point of the match.
Rose Zhang (Stanford) defeats Emilia Migliaccio (Wake Forest), 3&2
Migliaccio won the first hole of the day, but Zhang tied the match on No. 2 and never trailed again. The match was tied throug eight, before Zhang's win at No. 9 sent her to the back nine, 1up. Zhang went 2up at No. 10 and 3up at No. 13, winning 3&2.
Brooke Seay (Stanford) defeats Lauren Walsh (Wake Forest), 1up
Seay never trailed in her match, winning No. 2 and holding a 1up lead through No. 6. Walsh tied the match at No. 7 and Seay retook the lead at No. 9. She went 2up with a win at No. 10 and held on for the 1up victory.
The Cardinal returns to action next weekend (Oct. 21-23) for the Stanford Intercollegiate, hosted by Dr. Condoleezza Rice, at Stanford Golf Course. The Cardinal will tee off beginning at noon on Friday and 7:30 a.m. Saturday.
