Wake Forest Athletics
Deacon Sports Xtra: Deacs Primed for Championship Run
5/21/2021 9:01:00 AM | Women's Golf
Wake Forest Women's Golf finished second in the Stanford Regional and is now set to begin what they hope will be a week-long marathon of play toward the 2021 National Championship at Grayhawk Golf Club in Phoenix, Arizona starting Friday.
"The weather was super nice, and the course suited us," Wake Forest sophomore Rachel Kuehn said about the Stanford Regional. "We were excited. Despite getting sent all across the country, we knew the course would set up well for us because we're good ball strikers. The goal at regionals is to finish in the top-six and advance. We might not have had our best week, but we did enough to advance, and we're looking forward to nationals."
While the Deacs finished two-over par, the Cardinal crushed their home course, finishing the three-rounds a massive 28-under par.
"It definitely felt like a home-course advantage, but that's what it's like in regionals — somebody has to host," Kuehn said. "We'll get our chance in a couple years. We were definitely happy to finish second and beat everybody but the home team."
The Deacs drove the ball well enough to compete in Stanford, but left some opportunities on the proverbial table, according to Wake Forest coach Kim Lewellen.
"Stanford was firing on all cylinders, in addition to being on their home course," she said. "When you have five phenomenal players and they're all firing on all cylinders, there can be some really low scores. I was excited for them that they got to do that in front of their fans, but obviously excited that we took second and made it through. Now we can contend with them on neutral ground.
"We struck the ball well. On that course, you have to drive well. The fairways are tight. They did that. The greens were a lot different than we're used to. They were a little slower than we're used to, so we could have putted better. We didn't capitalize on that ball striking. We put ourselves in position but didn't capitalize on it."
The Demon Deacons left Winston-Salem Tuesday and were able to walk the course Wednesday prior to their practice round on Thursday.
"We're so excited," Kuehn said. "It's why we've been practicing the last two years, since we didn't have the NCAA Tournament last year. We're all really excited and know that we've put the work in. We have such a great team and team chemistry. We know we can compete with anyone."
Making the trip out west to compete for the Deacs are Kuehn, Emilia Migliaccio, Siyun Liu, Lauren Walsh, Mimi Rhodes and Vanessa Knecht. And in any given tournament, any of those six could rise up and take the crown.
"That's part of having a championship-level team, is knowing you have the depth," Kuehn said. "Anyone can win any tournament. It's nice because you don't have that individual pressure. You know your teammates have your back. That's an amazing feeling."
The NCAA Championships will have 24 teams play rounds on Friday, Saturday and Sunday before cutting to the top 15. Those 15 teams will play one final round Monday before cutting down to eight. The top eight teams will square off in match play, with the quarterfinals and semis taking place Tuesday and the finals on Wednesday.
It's quite a marathon of collegiate golf for those teams who go the distance.
"You want to play a lot of golf and they're mentally prepared to play a lot of golf," Lewellen. "When we played two years ago, you didn't realize how much golf it was because there was so much adrenaline. The next day, I remember the girls waking up and everybody part hurt. Their toenails hurt. They had so much adrenaline during the event that they didn't feel it at the time. At the moment, they had no idea what their body was going through until they were done."
Each day, there will be five Deacs on the course, but the NCAA has created a wrinkle this year that allows for a sixth player to be used as a substitute.
"We're allowed to bring six players and you can sub out," Lewellen said. "We've never done it, so I feel like a rookie. Going out there in 100-degree weather with that much golf, there definitely could be some strategy at play here. We want to achieve our goal of making the top-eight but be able to sub some players to keep them fresh for match play. We want to be fresh and energized. We have many scenarios going on in our mind. It'll be new for everybody.
"We have six great players. We used Vanessa last week, and she played great for us. She's coming back from injury, and we put her straight in at regionals and she did well. We need reps for her, because she will be with us as part of the six going out there. We'll see how we end up subbing and how that plays out, just like it will be interesting to see how other teams handle that."
The team collectively has worked through a hectic calendar since returning from the Stanford Regional, but they're now set to head back out west and make a deep run.
"We've had finals, they've had to move out of their dorms, and then graduations (Siyun and Emilia)," Lewellen said. "They've had a lot going on, so we've broken down each player's practice times based upon their schedules, and just honed in on a couple things each day. So they aren't putting in a ton of time, but making sure we're being strategic with that time."
The Deacs have worked on getting more confident in their putting and believe the greens at Grayhawk will be both more firm and speedier. Lewellen said the key to playing late in the tournament will be energy management.
"They are good players, and they've played a lot of high-level competition," she said. "This isn't new to them. They just need to maintain energy levels and maintain the cognitive skills needed to play at a high level that long. The key will be managing their energy this week.
"It's been two years coming. I'm ready to get back there and watch these young ladies do what they do so well. It's always a thrill to be in the finals, and these young ladies are very skilled. I can't wait to see what the week holds."
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"The weather was super nice, and the course suited us," Wake Forest sophomore Rachel Kuehn said about the Stanford Regional. "We were excited. Despite getting sent all across the country, we knew the course would set up well for us because we're good ball strikers. The goal at regionals is to finish in the top-six and advance. We might not have had our best week, but we did enough to advance, and we're looking forward to nationals."
While the Deacs finished two-over par, the Cardinal crushed their home course, finishing the three-rounds a massive 28-under par.
"It definitely felt like a home-course advantage, but that's what it's like in regionals — somebody has to host," Kuehn said. "We'll get our chance in a couple years. We were definitely happy to finish second and beat everybody but the home team."
The Deacs drove the ball well enough to compete in Stanford, but left some opportunities on the proverbial table, according to Wake Forest coach Kim Lewellen.
"Stanford was firing on all cylinders, in addition to being on their home course," she said. "When you have five phenomenal players and they're all firing on all cylinders, there can be some really low scores. I was excited for them that they got to do that in front of their fans, but obviously excited that we took second and made it through. Now we can contend with them on neutral ground.
"We struck the ball well. On that course, you have to drive well. The fairways are tight. They did that. The greens were a lot different than we're used to. They were a little slower than we're used to, so we could have putted better. We didn't capitalize on that ball striking. We put ourselves in position but didn't capitalize on it."
The Demon Deacons left Winston-Salem Tuesday and were able to walk the course Wednesday prior to their practice round on Thursday.
"We're so excited," Kuehn said. "It's why we've been practicing the last two years, since we didn't have the NCAA Tournament last year. We're all really excited and know that we've put the work in. We have such a great team and team chemistry. We know we can compete with anyone."
Making the trip out west to compete for the Deacs are Kuehn, Emilia Migliaccio, Siyun Liu, Lauren Walsh, Mimi Rhodes and Vanessa Knecht. And in any given tournament, any of those six could rise up and take the crown.
"That's part of having a championship-level team, is knowing you have the depth," Kuehn said. "Anyone can win any tournament. It's nice because you don't have that individual pressure. You know your teammates have your back. That's an amazing feeling."
The NCAA Championships will have 24 teams play rounds on Friday, Saturday and Sunday before cutting to the top 15. Those 15 teams will play one final round Monday before cutting down to eight. The top eight teams will square off in match play, with the quarterfinals and semis taking place Tuesday and the finals on Wednesday.
It's quite a marathon of collegiate golf for those teams who go the distance.
"You want to play a lot of golf and they're mentally prepared to play a lot of golf," Lewellen. "When we played two years ago, you didn't realize how much golf it was because there was so much adrenaline. The next day, I remember the girls waking up and everybody part hurt. Their toenails hurt. They had so much adrenaline during the event that they didn't feel it at the time. At the moment, they had no idea what their body was going through until they were done."
Each day, there will be five Deacs on the course, but the NCAA has created a wrinkle this year that allows for a sixth player to be used as a substitute.
"We're allowed to bring six players and you can sub out," Lewellen said. "We've never done it, so I feel like a rookie. Going out there in 100-degree weather with that much golf, there definitely could be some strategy at play here. We want to achieve our goal of making the top-eight but be able to sub some players to keep them fresh for match play. We want to be fresh and energized. We have many scenarios going on in our mind. It'll be new for everybody.
"We have six great players. We used Vanessa last week, and she played great for us. She's coming back from injury, and we put her straight in at regionals and she did well. We need reps for her, because she will be with us as part of the six going out there. We'll see how we end up subbing and how that plays out, just like it will be interesting to see how other teams handle that."
The team collectively has worked through a hectic calendar since returning from the Stanford Regional, but they're now set to head back out west and make a deep run.
"We've had finals, they've had to move out of their dorms, and then graduations (Siyun and Emilia)," Lewellen said. "They've had a lot going on, so we've broken down each player's practice times based upon their schedules, and just honed in on a couple things each day. So they aren't putting in a ton of time, but making sure we're being strategic with that time."
The Deacs have worked on getting more confident in their putting and believe the greens at Grayhawk will be both more firm and speedier. Lewellen said the key to playing late in the tournament will be energy management.
"They are good players, and they've played a lot of high-level competition," she said. "This isn't new to them. They just need to maintain energy levels and maintain the cognitive skills needed to play at a high level that long. The key will be managing their energy this week.
"It's been two years coming. I'm ready to get back there and watch these young ladies do what they do so well. It's always a thrill to be in the finals, and these young ladies are very skilled. I can't wait to see what the week holds."
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/ Women's Golf
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