Wake Forest Athletics
Kupcho Making Impact on LPGA Tour
7/30/2019 11:28:00 AM | Women's Golf
Among the many benefits offered by Wake Forest University is an outstanding Office of Personal and Career Development. Undergraduate students begin preparing for their life-after-college even before they've received that diploma at commencement.
In fact, according to the latest figures from the OPCD, the average starting salary for Wake Forest graduates is nearly $57,000.
That's average starting salary.
Which makes Jennifer Kupcho well above average.
The 2019 Wake Forest graduate put together one of the truly outstanding playing careers in collegiate women's golf. She was a first team All-American, the ACC Co-Player of the Year, a finalist for the ANNIKA Award given to the nation's top women's college golfer, and finished her career with nine tournament championships.
Oh, and there was that one non-collegiate tournament she also won, down at Augusta National, the Augusta National Women's Amateur, where Jennifer Kupcho left the world's top amateur golfers in her wake.
Jennifer finished her career as the No. 1 in the World Amateur Golf Rankings and earned the 2018 McCormack Medal as the top women's amateur player in the world.
The World.
But Jennifer was more about team play than individual play. In the fall of 2018, she attended LPGA Qualifying School where she played well enough to earn her LPGA Tour card for the 2019 season. Kupcho could have opted to leave school and embark on her professional golf career. But having won the 2018 NCAA individual women's golf title, Jennifer decided to forego that pro career in order to help her team win the NCAA Championship.
She almost did it.
Wake Forest dispatched Arkansas in the NCAA Quarterfinals and Auburn in the semifinals to set up a dual match with Duke. With five players on each side competing in match play, the Demon Deacons and Blue Devils reached the equivalent of sudden death in football. Three of the five matches went beyond 18 holes including Jennifer's. Eventually, Duke won the match and the national title but Wake Forest's runner-up spot was a program-best and helped establish Wake Forest as a consistent national contender.
After the NCAA Championships, with Wake Forest degree in hand, Kupcho headed out to the world of professional golf. She made the cut at the U.S. Open and finished 62nd, winning $11,000. She earned a 43rd place finish at the Shop Rite LPGA Classic the next week and tied for 23 rd at the Meijer LPGA Classic after that. Jennifer missed the cut at the Women's PGA Championship and next week at the Thornberry Creek LPGA Classic.
Kupcho earned her first top 10 with a fifth place finish at Marathon Classic on July 14, earning her largest paycheck of $52,000.
Then it was off to France and the Evian Championship, one of the LPGA's five majors. Kupcho opened with a 66 and followed that with rounds of 70 and 69. She had played her way into the top 10 entering the final round when she lit up the Evian Resort Golf Club with another 5-under 66 and finished the day with the low round and a second place finish.
And a paycheck for $290,000.
That leapfrogged Jennifer from No. 320 to No. 75 in the World Golf Rankings, and to No. 34 on the LPGA Tour money list. With the top 80 on the money list at year's end keeping their status for the following year, her performance at the Evian effectively secured her Tour card for 2020.
With over $380,000 in golf earnings in the 10 weeks since she graduated, Jennifer Kupcho is probably atop that list of salaries of 2019 Wake Forest graduates.
Kupcho is in action this week at the final major of the season the LPGA Tour, the Women's British Open.
In fact, according to the latest figures from the OPCD, the average starting salary for Wake Forest graduates is nearly $57,000.
That's average starting salary.
Which makes Jennifer Kupcho well above average.
The 2019 Wake Forest graduate put together one of the truly outstanding playing careers in collegiate women's golf. She was a first team All-American, the ACC Co-Player of the Year, a finalist for the ANNIKA Award given to the nation's top women's college golfer, and finished her career with nine tournament championships.
Oh, and there was that one non-collegiate tournament she also won, down at Augusta National, the Augusta National Women's Amateur, where Jennifer Kupcho left the world's top amateur golfers in her wake.
Jennifer finished her career as the No. 1 in the World Amateur Golf Rankings and earned the 2018 McCormack Medal as the top women's amateur player in the world.
The World.
But Jennifer was more about team play than individual play. In the fall of 2018, she attended LPGA Qualifying School where she played well enough to earn her LPGA Tour card for the 2019 season. Kupcho could have opted to leave school and embark on her professional golf career. But having won the 2018 NCAA individual women's golf title, Jennifer decided to forego that pro career in order to help her team win the NCAA Championship.
She almost did it.
Wake Forest dispatched Arkansas in the NCAA Quarterfinals and Auburn in the semifinals to set up a dual match with Duke. With five players on each side competing in match play, the Demon Deacons and Blue Devils reached the equivalent of sudden death in football. Three of the five matches went beyond 18 holes including Jennifer's. Eventually, Duke won the match and the national title but Wake Forest's runner-up spot was a program-best and helped establish Wake Forest as a consistent national contender.
After the NCAA Championships, with Wake Forest degree in hand, Kupcho headed out to the world of professional golf. She made the cut at the U.S. Open and finished 62nd, winning $11,000. She earned a 43rd place finish at the Shop Rite LPGA Classic the next week and tied for 23 rd at the Meijer LPGA Classic after that. Jennifer missed the cut at the Women's PGA Championship and next week at the Thornberry Creek LPGA Classic.
Kupcho earned her first top 10 with a fifth place finish at Marathon Classic on July 14, earning her largest paycheck of $52,000.
Then it was off to France and the Evian Championship, one of the LPGA's five majors. Kupcho opened with a 66 and followed that with rounds of 70 and 69. She had played her way into the top 10 entering the final round when she lit up the Evian Resort Golf Club with another 5-under 66 and finished the day with the low round and a second place finish.
And a paycheck for $290,000.
That leapfrogged Jennifer from No. 320 to No. 75 in the World Golf Rankings, and to No. 34 on the LPGA Tour money list. With the top 80 on the money list at year's end keeping their status for the following year, her performance at the Evian effectively secured her Tour card for 2020.
With over $380,000 in golf earnings in the 10 weeks since she graduated, Jennifer Kupcho is probably atop that list of salaries of 2019 Wake Forest graduates.
Kupcho is in action this week at the final major of the season the LPGA Tour, the Women's British Open.
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