ATLANTA – The Auburn women's golf team finished as the runner-up in the 2019 East Lake Cup after falling to Wake Forest, 4-1, in Wednesday's championship match.
"We are disappointed," Auburn head coach Melissa Luellen said. "We wanted to make the matches just that much tighter. At the end of the week, what we had to do to even get to this tournament was something to celebrate. And beating Duke yesterday was a thing to celebrate. But we really wanted to beat Wake because they beat us in the semifinals of the national championship last [season]."
The lone winner for Auburn on Wednesday was Brooke Sansom, who played outstanding golf all week. The sophomore led Auburn in Monday's stroke play with a round of 72 (E) and then earned a 3&2 victory over Duke sophomore Gina Kim in the semifinal match Tuesday.
It was more of the same in the final as Sansom jumped out early and then won holes 8, 9, 12 and 13 to extend her lead. She finished with a 4&3 victory over Wake Forest's Vanessa Knecht.
Brooke Sansom did what?!?!
— Auburn Women's Golf (@AuburnWGolf) October 30, 2019
A long birdie putt from Sansom to go 2⃣-UP in her match!#WarEagle | #EastLakeCup pic.twitter.com/MAYJxQdOs5
Auburn freshman Megan Schofill went back-and-forth with Wake Forest star Emilia Migliaccio in the first group but came up just short, losing by one hole. Schofill took the lead with a birdie on hole No. 12 but then dropped the next two holes.
It was a close match between Julie McCarthy and Lauren Walsh as well, but with the two tied through 14 holes, Walsh won the next three to clinch the victory for the Demon Deacons.
Regardless of outcome, the Tigers gained valuable experience, especially in match play, that they carry with them into the spring season and both the SEC and NCAA championships.
"I think we've got to take our positives," Luellen said. "I still think there's a ton of things to look at. We have a lot of work to do to get us into the form that we want to be when May rolls around. I know it's only November right now, but golf is such a skill-related sport, you really have to put the time in.
"Right now, we are just feeling the pain. But feeling the pain is not a bad thing."
With the fall season complete, the Auburn team will get a three-month break from competition before returning to the course Feb. 9-11 for the Northrop Grumman Regional Challenge in Palos Verdes Estates, California.
Match Play Results – Final
Wake Forest def. Auburn, 4-1
Emilia Migliaccio (WF) def. Megan Schofill (AU), 1-UP
Siyun Liu (WF) def. Kaleigh Telfer (AU), 5&4
Lauren Walsh (WF) def. Julie McCarthy (AU), 3&1
Brooke Sansom (AU) def. Vanessa Knecht (WF), 4&3
Rachel Kuehn (WF) def. Mychael O'Berry (AU), 3&2