ATLANTA, (Oct. 27, 2020) – Ole Miss and South Carolina (women), along with Oklahoma and Pepperdine (men) each won their semifinal match on Tuesday to secure a spot in Wednesday’s championship match at the East Lake Cup in Atlanta. The women’s final will present a matchup of Southeastern Conference (SEC) foes, while the men’s championship match will feature the top two teams in the final Golfstat rankings published on March 19 (Pepperdine – No. 1; Oklahoma – No. 2).
EAST LAKE CUP FINAL DAY NOW AIRING LIVE AT 11:30 A.M. ET WEDNESDAY: Due to anticipated inclement weather on Wednesday, tee times have been moved up for the championship and consolation matches. Tee times now will begin at 8:30 a.m. ET, using split tees (championship matches off No. 1 tee; consolation matches off No. 10 tee). As a result, GOLF Channel’s live tournament coverage now will begin at 11:30 a.m. ET and continue until play concludes. A live College Central show will precede the live tournament telecast, airing from 11-11:30 a.m. ET. Golf Central also is scheduled to follow the live tournament telecast at 2:30 p.m. ET, with the tournament telecast re-airing at 3 p.m. ET.
SEMIFINAL RESULTS:
- WOMEN: (1) Ole Miss def. (4) Texas, 4-0-1; (2) South Carolina def. (3) Florida, 3-1-1
- MEN: (1) Oklahoma def. (4) Texas, 3-2; (2) Pepperdine def. (3) Texas Tech, 3-2
WOMEN’S SEMIFINALS
Kennedy Swann (senior) earned the first point of the day for Ole Miss, and Ellen Hume (junior), Julia Johnson (senior), along with Chiara Tamburlini (sophomore) each followed suit with respective 2&1 victories to help the Rebels advance to Wednesday’s championship match.
“[I’m] really excited to move on and [am] proud of the way the girls finished today,” said Ole Miss head coach Kory Henkes. “We’re going to go out and give it our best again, kind of enjoy this for a moment and hit the reset button and get our minds straight. We’re just glad to be in that championship match.”
In the other women’s semifinal, South Carolina notched 1up victories from sophomores Pauline Roussin-Bouchard and Mathilde Claisse before having to rely on extra holes to clinch the match, courtesy of a win by Lois Kaye Go (senior) in 19 holes.
“It was a phenomenal match, lots of really good golf,” said South Carolina head coach Kalen Anderson. “Just a lot of really good, clutch golf coming in. We’re going to have to be ready to play great golf again tomorrow.”
MEN’S SEMIFINALS
Pepperdine’s Derek Hitchner (junior) and Joe Highsmith (junior) both earned lopsided victories, winning 6&4 and 4&3 respectively. Texas Tech countered with wins from its freshmen duo of Baard Skogen and JP Roller, paving the way for Pepperdine’s Dylan Menante (sophomore) to seize the deciding point with a 2up victory over Andy Lopez (senior).
“I think it’s easy to get wrapped up in the competition and tournaments, but really [you have] to stop and think how fortunate we are to be able to play this fall,” said Pepperdine head coach Michael Beard. “All in all, we’re really excited about tomorrow, and we’ll get a game plan tonight and get ready to go.”
The other semifinal saw golf’s version of The Red River showdown, pitting Big 12 conference adversaries Oklahoma and Texas against one another. What ensued was a battle that came down to the deciding match, as Oklahoma grabbed two hard-earned 19 hole victories from Logan McAllister (junior) and Jonathan Brightwell (redshirt senior), while Texas secured emphatic 5&4 wins from juniors Cole Hammer and Pierceson Coody. The Sooners’ Quade Cummins (redshirt senior) held off Chris Bring (senior) to eliminate the Longhorns’ opportunity to win back-to-back East Lake Cup titles.
“Any time you play Texas, it’s going to be a fight to the finish,” said Oklahoma head coach Ryan Hybl. “The guys just kept fighting and hanging in there. At the end of the day, the goal tomorrow is to just go out and play fantastic golf, and then we’ll settle up.”
*Transcripts of post-round interviews with players and coaches at the 2020 East Lake Cup are available here.*
WEDNESDAY’S CHAMPIONSHIP & CONSOLATION MATCHES:
Women’s Championship Match: (1) Ole Miss vs. (2) South Carolina
Men’s Championship Match: (1) Oklahoma vs. (2) Pepperdine
Women’s Consolation Match: (3) Florida vs. (4) Texas
Men’s Consolation Match: (3) Texas Tech vs. (4) Texas
SEMIFINAL RESULTS:
Women’s Division
(1) Ole Miss def. (4) Texas, 4-0-1
(2) South Carolina def. (3) Florida, 3-1-1
Ole Miss (1) vs. Texas (4)
Kennedy Swann (1up) Sophie Guo
Ellen Hume (2&1) Kaitlyn Papp
Chiara Tamburlini (2&1) Bentley Cotton
Julia Johnson (2&1) Hailee Cooper
Andrea Lignell Tied Ashleigh Park
South Carolina (2) vs. Florida (3)
Pauline Roussin-Bouchard (1up) Annabell Fuller
Mathilde Claisse (1up) Marina Escobar Domingo
Pimnipa Panthong Addie Baggarly (2&1)
Lois Kaye Go (19 holes) Clara Manzalini
Paula Kirner Tied Maisie Filler
Men’s Division
(1) Oklahoma def. (4) Texas, 3-2
(2) Pepperdine def. (3) Texas Tech, 3-2
Oklahoma (1) vs. Texas (4)
Logan McAllister (19 holes) Parker Coody
Patrick Welch Cole Hammer (5&4)
Jonathan Brightwell (19 holes) Travis Vick
Garett Reband Pierceson Coody (5&4)
Quade Cummins (1up) Chris Bring
Pepperdine (2) vs. Texas Tech (3)
RJ Manke Baard Skogen (4&3)
Derek Hitchner (6&4) Garrett Martin
Joe Highsmith (4&3) Markus Braadlie
William Mouw JP Roller (2&1)
Dylan Menante (2up) Andy Lopez
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.
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 help children reach their highest potential through its holistic approach to community revitalization incorporating mixed-income housing, cradle-to-college education and community wellness. The East Lake Cup is one of the largest contributors to the East Lake Foundation, having raised more than $1.5 million for the East Lake Foundation since the tournament’s inception in 2015. ZipRecuriter and Uber Eats are the co-presenting sponsors of the East Lake Cup, with Bridgestone Golf, Mercedes-Benz and Topgolf serving as additional sponsors.
-NBC Sports Group-
