It came a year later than Wake Forest junior Jennifer Kupcho would have liked, but she claimed the NCAA Women’s Golf Individual National Title yesterday with a clutch performance down the stretch at Karsten Creek in Oklahoma.
Kupcho battled back from a shaky stretch from holes 5-7 that saw her drop four shots in that span. During this time she fell down by as many as four strokes before working her way back with a sensational four under par back nine to get to -8 and claim the trophy.
After a bogey on the 15th hole to drop into a tie for the lead with Ohio State’s Jaclyn Lee, Kupcho drained a very lengthy birdie putt on 16. This birdie, coupled with another Lee bogey on 16, resulted in a two shot swing in Kupcho’s favor.
After a par at 17 Kupcho needed to avoid a bogey to win the NCAA Title, which she was able to do with ease, hitting the 482 yard par five in two to set up a two-putt birdie that would ultimately give her the two shot win.
This victory came a year after a devastating loss in last year’s NCAA Individual final round where Kupcho finished triple bogey, bogey to lose by a stroke.
It was a sensational effort from Kupcho and she became the first ever female Demon Deacon to win an individual championship. She also became just the second female in Wake Forest sports history to win an individual title, following women’s tennis play Bea Bielik in 2002.
Congratulations to Jennifer on her individual title and the entire Wake Forest women’s golf team for their 15th place finish in the NCAA Championships as well.