FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Tuesday, October 30th, 2018
STANFORD, USC (WOMEN) & ALABAMA, AUBURN (MEN) ADVANCE TO CHAMPIONSHIP AT EAST LAKE CUP
USC vying for 3rd East Lake win; Stanford aims for first win in 4th appearance;
In-State rivals Alabama, Auburn look to claim first East Lake Cup victory
East Lake Cup Concludes Wednesday on Golf Channel (Live, 3-6 p.m. ET):
Championship Match – Stanford/USC (Women); Alabama/Auburn (Men)
Consolation Match – Alabama/Arizona (Women); Duke/Oklahoma State (Men)
ATLANTA, Oct. 30, 2018 – Tuesday’s semifinal matches at the East Lake Cup set the table for in-state and conference bragging rights for both the men’s and women’s championship matches on Wednesday afternoon. In a rematch of last year’s final, Stanford and USC once again will meet in the championship match, while the men’s side will feature an “Iron Bowl” match-up between Alabama and Auburn.
SEMIFINALS:
- WOMEN – (1) Stanford def. (4) Alabama, 4-1; (2) USC def. (3) Arizona, 4-1
- MEN – (4) Auburn def. (1) Duke, 4-1; (3) Alabama def. (2) Oklahoma State, 3-2
WOMEN’S SEMIFINALS
Dominant victories by Andrea Lee (junior, 7&5) and Ziyi Wang (junior, 8&6) left the Cardinal needing only one additional point amongst the final three matches on the course. Monday’s East Lake Cup individual stroke play champion Albane Valenzuela (junior) closed out her match on the 15th green (4&3), securing Stanford’s spot in Wednesday’s championship match. And while the Stanford women are the only program to take part in all four editions of the event, they’ve yet to depart East Lake with a trophy in-hand.
“We’re in this position every year because of the way we play in May,” said Stanford head coach Anne Walker. “So we’re doing something right that gets us to the right spot in May. I just give all the credit to my players.”
Jennifer Chang (sophomore) won USC’s first point (1up) over Arizona’s Bianca Paghanganan (senior) in a match where neither player led by more than one point throughout. Alyaa Abdulghany (sophomore) held on to defeat Yu Chun Chang (freshman) 2up on the 18th hole, despite holding a 5up lead through 12 holes. Amelia Garvey (sophomore, 4&2) and Gabi Ruffels (sophomore, 3&2) also earned points for the Trojans, putting them in position to try and win their third East Lake Cup in four years.
“We see [Stanford] a lot, so there’s a lot of familiarity in their roster,” said USC head coach Justin Silverstein. “[Our team] is a little more fired up than they normally are, so we’re jones-ing to get out there at about Noon tomorrow. We’ll just try to go about our business.”
MEN’S SEMIFINALS
Auburn had no trouble putting its subpar effort in Monday’s individual stroke play competition in the rearview mirror, taking down No. 1 seeded Duke 4-1, despite dropping the opening match. Jacob Solomon (senior, 6&5) and Jovan Rebula (junior, 4&3) gave Auburn a 2-1 lead, and sophomore Brandon Mancheno grinded out the deciding point, despite losing each of his first three holes and not holding a lead at any point of the match.
“Brandon is a big time player,” said Auburn head coach Nick Clinard. “Three down through the first three holes. To have that much grit and grind, I’m just really proud of him… We’ve got a lot of work left to do tomorrow. [We need] to just be patient, come out with lot of passion, a lot of pride and have a lot of grit.”
Alabama’s 3-2 win over Oklahoma State on Tuesday avenged the Crimson Tide’s (5-0) defeat to the Cowboys at the NCAA Championship in June. Wilson Furr (sophomore) earned the deciding point (2up) courtesy of making eagle on the par-5 18th hole to complement his teammates’ wins: Prescott Butler (freshman, 3&2) and Davis Riley (senior, 4&3). Wednesday’s championship match will offer bragging rights for two universities separated by only 160 miles.
“There will be a little bit more to it because of the close proximity,” said Alabama head coach Jay Seawell. “We know each other. We better be focused. We need to play really good golf and not get caught up in the other part.”
WEDNESDAY’S CHAMPIONSHIP & CONSOLATION MATCHES:
Women’s Championship Match: (1) Stanford vs. (2) USC
Men’s Championship Match: (3) Alabama vs. (4) Auburn
Women’s Consolation Match: (3) Arizona vs. (4) Alabama
Men’s Consolation Match: (1) Duke vs. (2) Oklahoma State
Golf Channel’s live coverage of Wednesday’s championship and consolation matches will air from 3-6 p.m. ET. Golf Central Pre-Game (2-3 p.m. ET) will preview each of the matches, and provide updates on matches already in progress.
| 11:05 AM | 1 | Arizona (3) vs Alabama (4) | Women’s (Consolation) |
Haley Moore (Arizona) vs Mary Mac Trammell (Alabama) |
| 11:15 AM | 1 | Duke (1) vs Oklahoma State (2) | Men’s (Consolation) |
Alex Smalley (Duke) vs Viktor Hovland (Oklahoma State) |
| 11:25 AM | 1 | Arizona (3) vs Alabama (4) | Women’s (Consolation) |
Yusang Hou (Arizona) vs Carolina Caminoli (Alabama) |
| 11:35 AM | 1 | Duke (1) vs Oklahoma State (2) | Men’s (Consolation) |
Adrien Pendaries (Duke) vs Matthew Wolff (Oklahoma State) |
| 11:45 AM | 1 | Arizona (3) vs Alabama (4) | Women’s (Consolation) |
Ya Chun Chang (Arizona) vs Jiwon Jeon (Alabama) |
| 11:55 AM | 1 | Duke (1) vs Oklahoma State (2) | Men’s (Consolation) |
Chandler Eaton (Duke) vs Austin Eckroat (Oklahoma State) |
| 12:05 PM | 1 | Arizona (3) vs Alabama (4) | Women’s (Consolation) |
Bianca Pagdanganan (Arizona) vs Kenzie Wright (Alabama) |
| 12:15 AM | 1 | Duke (1) vs Oklahoma State (2) | Men’s (Consolation) |
Evan Katz (Duke) vs Hayden Wood (Oklahoma State) |
| 12:25 PM | 1 | Arizona (3) vs Alabama (4) | Women’s (Consolation) |
Sandra Nordaas (Arizona) vs Angelica Moresco (Alabama) |
| 12:35 PM | 1 | Duke (1) vs Oklahoma State (2) | Men’s (Consolation) |
Shrish Dwivedi (Duke) vs Zach Bauchou (Oklahoma State) |
| 12:45 PM | 1 | Stanford (1) vs USC (2) | Women’s (Championship) |
Albane Valenzuela (Stanford) vs Jennifer Chang (USC) |
| 12:55 PM | 1 | Alabama (3) vs Auburn (4) | Men’s (Championship) |
Davis Riley (Alabama) vs Trace Crowe (Auburn) |
| 1:05 PM | 1 | Stanford (1) vs USC (2) | Women’s (Championship) |
Ziyi Wang (Stanford) vs Malia Nam (USC) |
| 1:15 PM | 1 | Alabama (3) vs Auburn (4) | Men’s (Championship) |
Davis Shore (Alabama) vs Jacob Solomon (Auburn) |
| 1:25 PM | 1 | Stanford (1) vs USC (2) | Women’s (Championship) |
Mika Liu (Stanford) vs Amelia Garvey (USC) |
| 1:35 PM | 1 | Alabama (3) vs Auburn (4) | Men’s (Championship) |
Prescott Butler (Alabama) vs Brandon Mancheno (Auburn) |
| 1:45 PM | 1 | Stanford (1) vs USC (2) | Women’s (Championship) |
Aline Krauter (Stanford) vs Alyaa Abdulghany (USC) |
| 1:55 PM | 1 | Alabama (3) vs Auburn (4) | Men’s (Championship) |
Wilson Furr (Alabama) vs Jovan Rebula (Auburn) |
| 2:05 PM | 1 | Stanford (1) vs USC (2) | Women’s (Championship) |
Andrea Lee (Stanford) vs Gabi Ruffels (USC) |
| 2:15 PM | 1 | Alabama (3) vs Auburn (4) | Men’s (Championship) |
Frankie Capan (Alabama) vs Wells Padgett (Auburn) |
SEMIFINAL RESULTS:
Women’s Division
(1) Stanford def. (4) Alabama, 4-1
(2) USC def. (3) Arizona, 4-1
Stanford (1) vs. Alabama (4)
Andrea Lee (7&5) Mary Mac Trammell
Aline Krauter Kenzie Wright (19 holes)
Ziyi Wang (8&6) Carolina Caminoli
Mika Liu (1up) Jiwon Jeon
Albane Valenzuela (4&3) Angelica Moresco
USC (2) vs. Arizona (3)
Jennifer Chang (1up) Bianca Pagdanganan
Alyaa Abdulghany (2up) Ya Chun Chang
Malia Nam Yu Sang Hou (3&2)
Amelia Garvey (4&2) Sandra Nordaas
Gabi Ruffels (3&2) Haley Moore
Men’s Division
(4) Auburn def. (1) Duke, 4-1
(3) Alabama def. (2) Oklahoma State, 3-2
Duke (1) vs. Auburn (4)
Adrien Pendaries (7&6) Trace Crowe
Shrish Dwivedi Jacob Solomon (6&5)
Evan Katz Jovan Rebula (4&3)
Chandler Eaton Brandon Mancheno (1up)
Alex Smalley Wells Padgett (1up)
Oklahoma State (2) vs. Alabama (3)
Viktor Hovland (2&1) Frankie Capan
Matthew Wolff (4&3) Davis Shore
Hayden Wood Prescott Butler (3&2)
Austin Eckroat Wilson Furr (2up)
Zach Bauchou Davis Riley (4&3)
The East Lake Cup is being contested over three days, following the format from the final three days of the NCAA men’s and women’s golf national championships. Day 1 consists of an individual stroke play competition to determine the individual champion and to seed for two days of match-play competition. The final two days of the competition feature two match-play tournaments hosted simultaneously for the men’s and women’s divisions, with the semifinals taking place on Tuesday and the finals and consolation matches on Wednesday.
Teams for the East Lake Cup are competing on the championship golf course at East Lake Golf Club, home of the TOUR Championship, the season-ending event of the PGA TOUR’s FedExCup Playoffs. The East Lake Cup benefits the East Lake Foundation, a charitable organization dedicated to helping families build better lives and children reach their highest potential through its holistic approach to community revitalization incorporating mixed-income housing, cradle-to-college education and community wellness. Mercedes-Benz, CSX, Bridgestone Golf and ZipRecruiter are sponsors for the 2018 East Lake Cup.
For more information about the East Lake Cup please visit the tournament website www.golfchannel.com/eastlakecup. Stay connected with the championship using the hashtag #EastLakeCup.
-NBC Sports Group-
