Jennifer Kupcho generally doesn’t show much positive emotion in the midst of heated competition. If she cracks a smile during a tight tournament, it’s definitely notable.
So you knew it was a big deal — and that something monumental was afoot — on Monday when the Colorado resident and Wake Forest junior broke into a wide smile and pumped her fist after sinking a big-breaking 50-foot birdie putt on the 16th hole in Monday’s final round of the Women’s NCAA Division I Championship Finals in Stillwater, Okla.
That gave Kupcho the lead for good after she had trailed by four strokes earlier in the day, and she went on to become the first player to grow up in Colorado to win the individual Women’s DI national title. In the same vein, she’s the first Wake Forest women’s golfer to win the championship. Interestingly, current Colorado resident Gary Hallberg won the men’s NCAA title while playing for Wake Forest in 1979. Colorado-wise, Boulder resident and University of Colorado golfer Hale Irwin captured the men’s NCAA championship in 1967.
It was a sensational way for Kupcho to celebrate turning 21 a week ago — and her parents’ 35th wedding anniversary on Monday.
“It’s awesome,” she said on the Golf Channel telecast. “It’s so fun to have my teammates here. To win this on my parents’ anniversary is even better. I’m really excited for that.”
It was a doubly redeeming outcome for Kupcho, the No. 3-ranked women’s amateur in the world. She won after a heart-wrenching triple bogey on the penultimate hole of last year’s tournament turned a two-stroke lead into a one-stroke loss. And she won after going bogey-double bogey-bogey on her fifth through seventh holes on Monday dropped her from a tie for the lead to four out of first place.
After what happened in 2017, Monday’s victory “was real exciting,” Kupcho said in a Monday night interview with coloradogolf.org. “After the rough stretch at the beginning of the round, it kind of felt like it was going to be a repeat of last year. When I was finally able to come back with a bunch of birdies, it was a relief and it was awesome to have my team there at the end to celebrate with me.
“When I got to the back nine and started making birdies, my whole team was screaming and being loud, and trying to make me laugh. Them doing that helped, I think. It was a little different today.”
Indeed, even when things went awry on the front nine on Monday, the Westminster resident never gave up, and her perseverance paid off. She made five birdies in her final eight holes to vault back to the top of the leaderboard.
“I was a little bit down” after going 4 over in three holes, Kupcho said. “But my assistant coach (Ryan Potter) was able to help me through that, and I was able to gather myself and relax and make a comeback.”
And when she hit the 482-yard, par-5 18th in two, then two-putted for a closing birdie, there was plenty to celebrate for the three-time CWGA Player of the Year and former member of the Hale Irwin Player Program.
Kupcho threw another fist pump, grinned ear to ear, then laughed as her Wake Forest teammates drenched her with bottles of water they brought onto the green. Then she hugged coach Dianne Dailey, then did the same with mom Janet and dad Mike — who have followed her at every college tournament this season. “Pretty memorable 35th anniversary!” Mike Kupcho would later say by text. In the background on the 18th green, a teammate could be heard on the Golf Channel telecast saying, “You’re a legend.”
Indeed, Kupcho has now finished sixth, second and first in her three appearances at the Women’s NCAA Finals, besides becoming just the second player to win two straight Women’s NCAA Regionals.
Monday’s victory — which the Jefferson Academy graduate called the top accomplishment of her stellar career — was the seventh of her college career, and the fourth of this season. Three of those wins have come since the beginning of April. Suffice it to say she will be a very strong candidate for women’s college player of the year honors after being a finalist last year. And she reiterated Monday night that she’ll return to Wake Forest for her senior season “for sure.”
Kupcho, who had matched the women’s course record at Karsten Creek with a first-round 65, closed with a 1-under-par 71 on Monday to post an 8-under-par 280 total. That was good for a two-shot victory over Andrea Lee of Stanford, the fifth-ranked women’s amateur in the world, and Bianca Pagdanganan of Arizona.
Kupcho became the first Women’s NCAA DI winner to lead after each round since Virada Nirapathpongporn of Duke in 2002. She also established a Wake Forest women’s season-long scoring record (70.6), breaking the mark she set last season.
“I am so happy for Jennifer,” Dailey told wakeforestsports.com. “To be able to come back after last year is fantastic. Jennifer has the heart of a champion and nothing was going to keep her from winning it this year. She has worked hard all year for this moment.”
(May 22 Update: Dailey retired on Tuesday after 30 years at the Wake Forest helm.)
CU sophomore Robyn Choi, who qualified in Westminster last week for her second straight U.S. Women’s Open, finished 21st on Monday, the best individual showing ever by a Buff in the Women’s NCAA Finals. Choi, who made the 54-hole cut as an individual as CU missed the team cut, closed with a 72 for a 4-over 292 total.
Interestingly, Kupcho was also in the U.S. Women’s Open qualifying field in Westminster last week, but an off day (74-75) ended her streak of competing in U.S. Women’s Opens at two. She placed 21st in the national championship last summer.
Kupcho’s victory on Monday was the second national championship victory this month by players with strong Colorado connections. Colorado State University teammates Katrina Prendergast and Ellen Secor earlier won the U.S. Women’s Amateur Four-Ball title in California.
Monday’s win will make Kupcho’s coming months even more busy. Already part of the U.S. teams for the Curtis Cup and the Arnold Palmer Cup, Kupcho now receives an invitation to the LPGA Tour’s Marathon Classic, which will be played July 12-15 in Sylvania, Ohio.
Women’s NCAA Division I Finals
May 18-21, 2018 (final) in Stillwater, Okla.
19. (out of 24 teams) Colorado 306-301-297–904
21. Robyn Choi 75-75-70-72–292
42. Brittany Fan 75-74-74–223
67. Kirsty Hodgkins 74-77-76–227
104. Alisha Lau 82-75-77–234
127. Gillian Vance 82-79-85–246
Also
1. Coloradan Jennifer Kupcho, Wake Forest 65-74-70-71–280
67. Coloradan Hannah Wood, Oklahoma 77-77-73–227
For complete results, CLICK HERE.
