One stroke away: Wake Forest women's golf sees season end in California

The 2026 season for the eighth-ranked Wake Forest women's golf team came to an end on Sunday after it missed the cut for the final round of the NCAA Championships in Carlsbad, California.

The Demon Deacons couldn't recover from a terrible start in the first round. Fifteen schools advanced to Monday's final round. Wake Forest finished one stroke short of tying Northwestern for the 15th spot, which would have led to a playoff.

The team was 12 over after the first round. That put the Deacons tied for 27th in the 30-team field.

"Obviously not how we hoped things would end, but I'm extremely proud of how this group continued to fight," Coach Kim Lewellen said. "We had another wonderful year, and a fantastic fall. I'm grateful for our seniors and all of the hard work they've put into this program. We look forward to being back next year."

Macy Pate finished tied for 28th after rounds of 74-70-72 to finish even par for the tournament. Chutimon 'Cartoon' Rujiranan (73-73-72) tied for 44th, and Chloe Kovelesky (74-73-74) tied for 72nd.

Pate lost in a three-player playoff with Sheridan Clancy of Indiana and Taylor Riley of LSU on Monday morning. Riley advanced as an individual to the final round of stroke play.

Morgan Ketchum and Anne-Steer den Dunnen each shot 79 in the first round, and one of those rounds counted toward the team total that day. To their credit, both battled back in the second and third rounds with Ketchum tying for 96th and den Dunnen tying for 122nd.

Stanford won the team championship. Also advancing from the ACC were Duke, SMU and North Carolina.

• Reached 60 program wins, while Lewellen and assistant coach Ryan Potter achieved 30 wins as a coaching duo.

• Captured back-to-back wins at the ANNIKA Intercollegiate and the Jackson T. Stephens Cup.

• Handed No. 1 Stanford their lone stroke-play loss and one of two match play losses at the Stephens Cup.

• Earned their spot at the 2026 NCAA Championships by claiming the NCAA Tallahassee Regional at 8-under-par.

• Carded their season low 18-hole score during round three, at 10-under (278).

• As a team, earned a combined four individual wins, nine top-5 placements, and 17 top-10 finishes. The group totaled 23 individual rounds in the 60s across the fall and spring.

• Junior Macy Pate won her first collegiate title at the Stephens Cup, while Chloe Kovelesky earned her second as a co-medalist at the ANNIKA.

• Both earned All-ACC team nods and a spot on Team USA at the Arnold Palmer Cup. Additionally, they participated in the 2026 ANWA, both making the 30-player cut to compete at Augusta National.

• Pate led the squad with a scoring average of 71.70, wrapping the season ranked No. 22 on Scoreboard.

• Freshman Cartoon Rujiranan secured her first career win as an individual at the UNCG Collegiate.

• Graduate student Morgan Ketchum fired a 66 (-6) during the final round of the NCAA Tallahassee Regional to secure the co-champ title and her first win as a Deac. She finished with a 54-hole score of 209 (-7). The Winston-Salem native's 18-hole score set a program record at regionals for the lowest third round score by a Deac, overtaking Jennifer Kupcho at 67 (-5) in 2018.

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This story was originally published May 26, 2026 at 4:03 AM.