Stanford survived an upset bid and Wake Forest edged a conference rival as both teams advanced to the semifinals of the NCAA DI Women’s Golf Championships at Grayhawk Golf Club in Scottsdale, Arizona.
The top-seeded Cardinal defeated eighth-seeded Pepperdine, 4-1, in a match that was closer than the score would indicate.
The third-seeded Demon Deacons knocked out sixth-seeded Florida State, 3-1-1.
Cardinal sophomore Rose Zhang won her second consecutive individual title on Monday and continued her dominant play on Tuesday with a 6-and-5 victory over Pepperdine senior Reese Guzman.
That gave Stanford a 1-0 lead but the Waves, making their first match-play appearance, knotted it up with Jeneath Wong’s 5-and-3 victory over freshman Megha Ganne.
Stanford junior Sadie Englemann made it 2-1 for the defending national champions, thanks a brilliant finish. After Pepperdine junior Kaleiya Romero missed a birdie putt at the 15th to break a deadlock, Englemann won the 16th and 17th holes to take the match, 2 and 1.
Stanford freshman Kelly Xu then won her 18th hole over Pepperdine’s Lion Higo to keep alive a shot at a Cardinal repeat.
Wake Forest prevailed in a tight battle with ACC rival FSU. The two were tied, 1-1, with the three remaining matches all tied entering the final hole of regulation. Wake junior Mimi Rhodes was able to close out FSU junior Alice Hodge at the last, 1 up.
Wake senior Rachel Kuehn then pushed her team into the semis, prevailing in a taut match with Seminoles senior Amelia Williamson. Williamson three-putted the ninth hole, the match’s 18th, to allow for extras. After missing a birdie putt on the 19th hole to win, Williamson hit her approach into the water on the 20th hole, ending the Seminoles’ season.
In the two other quarterfinal matches, seventh-seeded Texas A&M defeated second-seeded Texas, 4-1, to move to the final four for the second straight year. And in a battle of USCs, fifth-seeded Southern Cal beat South Carolina, 4-1, to advance for the first time since 2018.
The semifinals take place Tuesday afternoon. Stanford will face Southern Cal, while Wake Forest will take on Texas A&M. Live Golf Channel coverage begins at 5 p.m. ET
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