Wake Forest Athletics
Deacs Set to Take Part in 26th Annual Arnold Palmer Cup
6/30/2022 10:45:00 AM | Men's Golf, Women's Golf
Michael Brennan and Rachel Kuehn are set to compete for Team USA while Carolina Chacarra is on Team International.
GENEVA, Switzerland – Three Demon Deacon golfers will take the international stage this weekend for the 26th annual Arnold Palmer Cup.
Rising junior Michael Brennan and rising senior Rachel Kuehn will be representing Team USA while rising sophomore Carolina Chacarra will be representing Spain for Team International. This is Kuehn's third appearance in the event while Brennan and Chacarra will be making their debuts.
Kuehn, a WGCA and Golfweek All-America First Team selection, led the Deacs with a 71.18 stroke average over 33 rounds this season. She had seven top 10 finishes with five of them coming inside the top five. She earned ACC Player of the Year and All-ACC honors at the conclusion of the regular season. She was also named one of 10 finalists for the 2022 ANNIKA Award presented by Stifel.
On the international circuit, the Asheville native is fresh off representing Team USA at the Curtis Cup for the second time and clinching the winning points for USA to take home the trophy.
After winning the Tar Heel Invite in October, Kuehn was named to the final Fall Watch List in October. Since then, she was tabbed ACC Women's Golfer of the month and won the Northrop Grumman Regional Challenge, breaking the tournament record with her 54-hole score of 10-under 203. The win also earned her an LPGA exemption into the JTBC Championship at Palos Verdes in April.
Chacarra, a WGCA and Golfweek All-America Second Team selection, was second on the team with a 71.79 stroke average over 33 rounds this season. She had five top 10 finishes with four of them coming inside the top five. She earned ACC Freshman of the Year and All-ACC honors at the conclusion of the regular season. She was also named one of 10 finalists for the 2022 ANNIKA Award presented by Stifel.
Chacarra won her first two collegiate tournaments back-to-back this spring and became the first Wake Forest women's golfer to win multiple events in her debut season since Stephanie Neill in 1991-92. To start the spring, Chacarra won the UCF Challenge in February with the lowest 54-hole score in relation to par in Wake Forest program history and tied for the second lowest in NCAA history. Wake Forest took home the team title.
Chacarra and the Deacs closed out the month with another win, with Chacarra taking home the individual title and Wake Forest taking home the team title at the Darius Rucker Intercollegiate in March. Following both wins, Chacarra was named ACC women's golfer of the month.
At the conclusion of the season, Kuehn had the third-lowest season scoring average in program history and Chacarra had the sixth-lowest.
|
Rk. |
Player |
Year |
Strokes |
Rounds |
Average |
|
1. |
Jennifer Kupcho |
2017-18 |
2471 |
35 |
70.60 |
|
2. |
Jennifer Kupcho |
2016-17 |
2189 |
31 |
70.61 |
|
3. |
2021-22 |
2349 |
33 |
71.18 |
|
|
4. |
Jennifer Kupcho |
2018-19 |
2000 |
28 |
71.43 |
|
5. |
2018-19 |
2217 |
31 |
71.52 |
|
|
T6. |
2017-18 |
2441 |
34 |
71.79 |
|
|
T6. |
2021-22 |
2369 |
33 |
71.71 |
Brennan, a GCAA and Golfweek Second Team All-America honoree, was placed on both the Fred Haskins Award and Ben Hogan Award Watch Lists, given to the best player in collegiate golf. In February, Brennan made his PGA Tour debut at the Genesis Invitational at Riviera Country Club after winning the Genesis Collegiate Showcase earlier in the week.
In the fall, he captured individual victories in back-to-back events at the Old Town Club Collegiate Invitational and the Colonial Collegiate, the second time in his career he had back-to-back tournament wins. His round of 62 (-8) in the opening round of the Old Town Club Collegiate Invitational is the second-lowest score in program history and tied the sixth lowest score relative to par in program history.
Brennan is one of just 12 Demon Deacons to have four or more tournament wins in his career.
Wake Forest Golfers to Win Four Collegiate Events
-
Bill Andrade
-
Lee Bedford
-
Bob Byman
-
Billy Chapman
-
Will Zalatoris
He had a team-best 70.30 stroke average in 2021-22, which ranks fifth in program history.
SEASON SCORING AVERAGE (SINCE 1981)
|
Rk. |
Player |
Year |
Rounds |
Strokes |
Avg. |
|
1 |
Bill Haas |
2003-04 |
42 |
2,895 |
68.93 |
|
2. |
Will Zalatoris |
2014-15 |
29 |
2,032 |
70.07 |
|
3. |
Cameron Young |
2017-18 |
27 |
1,893 |
70.11 |
|
4. |
Will Zalatoris |
2016-17 |
35 |
2,455 |
70.14 |
|
5. |
2021-22 |
33 |
2,320 |
70.30 |
When his team needed him the most, Brennan provided points in both the Semifinal and Final in the Demon Deacons ACC Championship run while also tying for third during the stroke play portion of the tournament. Additionally, he finished tied for fourth at the New Haven NCAA Regional, carding a three-day-score of 7-under-par.
Arnold Palmer Cup Format
The Arnold Palmer Cup is a Ryder Cup-style tournament featuring the top male university/college golfers matching the United States against Europe. The event began at the Bay Hill Club & Lodge, Orlando FL in 1997 and has been staged each year alternately in Europe and the USA.
The three-day event features:
-
July 1 - "Four Ball" - A match in which each member of the two-person teams plays their own ball. Four balls are in play per hole with each of the four players recording a score on the hole. The team whose player posts the best score on that hole wins the hole. Should players from each team tie for the best score, that hole is halved.
-
July 2 - "Foursome" - A match in which the golfers compete on a team against two other golfers and each side plays one ball. The golfers play alternate shots (player A hits tee shot, player B hits second shot, etc.) until the hole is played out. Team members alternate on the playing of tee shots, with one golfer hitting the tee shot on odd-numbered holes, and the other hitting tee shots from the even-numbered holes. The team with the better score wins the hole. Should the two teams tie for best score, the hole is halved.
-
July 3 - "Singles" - A match in which one player plays against another player. A player wins the match when the player is up by more holes than there are holes remaining to play.
Arnold Palmer Cup History
In 1997 the Golf Coaches Association of America approached Arnold Palmer regarding lending his name to an international collegiate event between the United States and Great Britain and Ireland. The event would use a Ryder Cup-style format and bring together the top eight collegiate players in the United States against their counterparts from GB&I. Palmer, a former collegiate player himself, has been called America's greatest Ambassador for the game of golf.
With his blessing and the support of the Arnold Palmer Golf Company, the inaugural event was played at his own Bay Hill Club in Florida in June 1997.
Wake Forest at the Arnold Palmer Cup
Brennan, Chacarra and Kuehn join a long list of Wake Forest greats to compete in the event. Additionally over the last five years, nine different Demon Deacons have competed in the three-day tournament, accounting for 15 appearances.
-
Michael Brennan (2022) - USA
-
Rachel Kuehn (2020, 2021, 2022) - USA
-
Carolina Chacarra (2022) - International
-
Alex Fitzpatrick (2020, 2021) - International
-
Emilia Migliaccio (2018, 2019, 2020, 2021) - USA
-
Lauren Walsh (2021) - International
-
Mark Power (2020) - International
-
Kengo Aoshima (2019) - International
-
Jennifer Kupcho (2018) - USA
-
Will Zalatoris (2016) - USA
-
Webb Simpson (2007) - USA
-
Bill Haas (2002, 2003) - USA
Players Mentioned
