Kupcho Nearly Takes ACC Championship

Wake Forest freshman finishes second after bogey on 18.

Jon Rizzi

Two costly bogeys—including one on the final hole—cost Colorado’s Jennifer Kupcho the individual ACC women’s golf title at Sedgefield Country Club in Greensboro, N.C.

Kupcho, a freshman at Wake Forest and the reigning Colorado Women’s Golf Association’s Player of the Year, had started the third and final round three shots behind Virginia’s Lauren Coughlin.

But on the strength of a 33 on the front and birdies on holes 10, 12 and 13, Kupcho took a one-shot lead, which she held until a bogey on the par-3 16^th dropped her into a tie with Coughlin at 8 under par.

They remained square until the par-5 18^th. Kupcho pushed second shot into a right greenside bunker, while Coughlin lay two on the green. The Virginia senior lagged and tapped in for birdie, while Kupcho barely missed a brilliant up-and-down 30-footer for birdie that would have sent the two players into extra holes.

“I gave myself a putt at it but it just didn’t go in,” Kupcho told the Winston-Salem Journal. The freshman, who leads the Deamon Deacons in stroke average and ranks 74^th in the World Golf Rankings, settled for a T-2 with teammate Sierra Sims (left, in photo above with Kupcho).

“It’s unfortunate she had that bogey on the last hole because Jennifer played with such heart all week,” Demon Deacons women’s coach Dianne Dailey said. “It’s a learning experience for her, but she has a lot of talent and her future is so bright.”

That future will begin at the NCAA Regionals May 5-7. 

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