The pairings for Monday’s individual stroke play championship of the 2nd annual East Lake Cup presented by Hewlett Packard Enterprise collegiate match play championship in Atlanta, Ga., were announced today, featuring an elite eight team field comprised of the nation’s top-ranked golf programs. Monday’s stroke play competition will crown individual champions and determine seeding for the two days of match play Tuesday and Wednesday.
The East Lake Cup will be staged on Monday-Wednesday, Oct. 31-Nov. 2 at renowned East Lake Golf Club and air live on Golf Channel each day from 3-6 p.m. ET. The first tee time for the women begins at 10:55 a.m. ET and 11:55 a.m. ET for the men.
Headlining the field will be the two reigning NCAA national champions (Oregon men and Washington women); the two current top-ranked programs in the country (Vanderbilt men and UCLA women); and the 2015 East Lake Cup men’s champions, Illinois.
The women’s division will feature Duke junior Leona Maguire and UCLA senior Bronte Law, Nos. 1 and 2 in the world amateur golf rankings respectively, paired together and teeing off at 11:43 a.m. ET. The men’s division will be highlighted by four players ranked in the top-8 in the men’s collegiate individual rankings, including top-ranked Wyndham Clark (senior, Oregon); third-ranked Dylan Meyer (Illinois, junior); sixth-ranked Matthias Schwab (Vanderbilt, senior) and eighth-ranked Doug Ghim (Texas, junior) [based on Golfweek/Sagarin Rankings].
MONDAY PAIRINGS
| Women’s Division | Washington | UCLA | Stanford | Duke |
| 10:55am | Eun Won Park | Clare Legaspi | Sierra Kersten | Lisa Maguire |
| 11:07am | Ellen Takada | Lilia Vu | Shannon Aubert | Ana Belac |
| 11:19am | Wenyung Keh | Bethany Wu | Albane Valenzuela | Sandy Choi |
| 11:31am | Sarah Rhee | Mariel Galdiano | Andrea Lee | Virginia Elena Carta |
| 11:43am | Julianne Alvarez | Bronte Law | Casey Danielson | Leona Maguire |
| Men’s Division | Oregon | Texas | Illinois | Vanderbilt |
| 11:55am | Sulman Raza | Steven Chervony | Bryan Baumgarten | John Augenstein |
| 12:07pm | Nigel Lett | Taylor Funk | Nick Hardy | Will Gordon |
| 12:19pm | Ryan Gronlund | Scottie Scheffler | Michael Feagles | Theo Humphrey |
| 12:31pm | Edwin Yi | Gavin Hall | Edoardo Lipparelli | Patrick Martin |
| 12:43pm | Wyndham Clark | Doug Ghim | Dylan Meyer | Matthias Schwab |
Following Monday’s play, the teams will be seeded for Tuesday’s match play semifinals competition based on the total combined scores of the low four players on each team. Individual champions will be crowned and presented with the Alexa Stirling-Fraser trophy (women) and the Charles R. Yates trophy (men).
The participating universities include:
MEN’S DIVISION
2016 reigning NCAA national champions University of Oregon; runner-up University of Texas; the 2015 East Lake Cup champion University of Illinois, coming off a school-record nine-tournament-win season; and Vanderbilt University, currently the top-ranked program in the country with three top-five finishes – including one win – thus far in the 2016-17 season.
WOMEN’S DIVISION
Featuring all four teams from the 2016 NCAA National Championship semifinals, and headlined by reigning national champions University of Washington; 2016 runner-up and 2015 national champions Stanford University; three-time national champions and current top-ranked program in the country, University of California-Los Angeles (UCLA); and six-time national champions Duke University.
EXPANDED FORMAT FOR 2016
The East Lake Cup will expand to three days of live tournament action, following a format from the NCAA men’s and women’s Golf National Championships. On Monday, Oct. 31, the eight teams will compete in individual stroke play competitions to determine the individual champions and to seed for two days of match-play competition. On Tuesday and Wednesday, Nov. 1-2, two match-play tournaments will be 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.
Oregon won its first-ever NCAA Men’s Golf Team National Championship this past June, defeating Texas 3 to 2 after Sulman Raza earned the deciding point by rolling in a birdie putt on the third playoff hole of his match.
Washington claimed their first NCAA Women’s Golf Team National Championship in May, outlasting defending champion Stanford 3 to 2, thanks to Huskies’ Julianne Alvarez winning her match on the second playoff hole to secure the victory.
Monday, Oct. 31
11 a.m. Stroke Play to determine Tues.-Wed. seeding (Men & Women)
3-6 p.m. Golf Channel Live Coverage
Tuesday, Nov. 1
11 a.m. Semifinal Matches (Men & Women)
3-6 p.m. Golf Channel Live Coverage
Wednesday, Nov. 2
11 a.m. Championship & Consolation Matches (Men & Women)
3-6 p.m. Golf Channel Live Coverage
General Admission and public parking to the East Lake Cup Oct. 31-Nov. 2 is FREE
The mascots for the respective universities will be in attendance at East Lake Golf Club on Monday, Oct. 31 and Tuesday, Nov. 1, interacting with fans and participating in Golf Channel’s news and tournament coverage. In addition, Northern Illinois’ mascot – the host school for the 2017 NCAA Division I Golf Championships – will be on-site at East Lake Golf Club.
-TPR Team
Photo: Hakim Wright