North Carolina's men's teams and the Stanford women flexed their muscles Wednesday at Seminole Golf Club by walking away with the team titles at the second annual Jackson T. Stpehens Cup.
The Tar Heels turned back Florida State, 3-2 to claim the men's title and the top-ranked Cardinal dusted No. 2 Wake Forest, 4-1 to win the women's championship.
Dylan Mentante, Austin Greaser and Ryan Burnett scored victories for the Tar Heels, which claimed its second consecutive team title after their win at the Ben Hogan Collegiate Invitational last week.
Menante fell one behind Florida State's Frederik Kjettrup on the 16th hole, but saved par with an 18-footer on the 17th to draw even and sank another 18-foot birdie putt on the 19th hole to give UNC its first point. Menante had kept his match all square on the 15th by sinking his shot from a greenside bunker to halve the hole.
Related: Ford's birdie barrage paces North Carolina at The Stephens Cup
Greaser was 1 down through 12, but won the 13th hole to tie the match and the 15th and 16th holes to defeat Patrick McCann, 2 and 1.
Burnett had a much easier time of it with Brett Roberts with a 5 and 3 victory. His win on the 15th hole gave UNC its third team point for the tournament title.
North Carolina concludes the fall portion of its schedule Oct. 21-23 at the Williams Cup presented by STITCH Golf at Eagle Point Golf Club in Wilmington.
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Stanford comes out on top in early season showdown
In a much-anticipated showdown between the top two women's teams in the country, Stanford sent a strong message to the team that figures to be its biggest challenger for national supremacy by soundly defeating Wake Forest, 4-1.
Stanford freshman Megha Ganne fired a loud opening salvo with a 1-up victory over Wake Forest senior Rachel Kuehn, who claimed medalist honors in the stroke play competition with a 10-under score. Ganne was 3 up through 13 holes, but Kuehn flashed her All-America form by winning the next three holes to tie the match. Ganne made par to win No. 17 and both golfers birdied No. 18 to clinch Stanford's first point of the day.
After dropping the first two holes of the day, junior Rachel Heck rallied for a 3 and 1 win over Wake Forest sophomore Carolina Lopez-Chacarra with wins on holes No. 12, No. 14 and No. 17.
In a battle of Curtis Cup teammates, Rose Zhang defeated Emilia Migliaccio, 3 and 2 to put the second point on the board for the Cardinal. After Migliaccio won the first hole, Zhang tied the match on No. 2 and never trailed again. The match was tied through eight, before Zhang's win at No. 9 sent her to the back nine, 1 up. Zhang went 2 up at No. 10 and 3 up at No. 13, winning 3 and 2.
Brooke Seay never trailed in her match against Lauren Walsh. Seay took a 1 up lead at No. 9, went 2 up with a win at No. 10 and held on for the 1 up victory.
Mimi Rhodes defeated Sadie Englemann, 2 and 1 for Wake Forest's lone point of the match.
The Cardinal returns to action next weekend (Oct. 21-23) for the Stanford Intercollegiate, hosted by Dr. Condoleezza Rice, at Stanford Golf Course.
ABOUT THE Stephens Cup
Debuting in 2021, the Jackson T. Stephens Cup is an
annual collegiate golf
tournament named in memory of the late Augusta
National Chairman, Jackson T.
Stephens. The tournament is a four-day stroke play-
match play event featuring
NCAA Division I National Championship contending
men’s and women’s teams.
The tournament format will be 54 holes of stroke
play setting the field for a final day
of match play based on the stroke-play team finish;
the final day of match play will
be 18 holes. The event will also recognize its 54-hole
winners upon completion of
stroke play.
View Complete Tournament Information