Defending champion USC and Stanford are in the women’s field for the 2018 East Lake Cup against NCAA champion Arizona and Alabama, which lost to the Wildcats in the 2017 national championship match, the Golf Channel announced.
The event will be played Oct. 29-31 at East Lake Golf Club in Atlanta, home of the Tour Championship, the PGA Tour’s final event of the FedEx Cup playoffs.
In the men’s field are NCAA champion Oklahoma State, 2017 national runner-up Alabama, and Auburn and Arkansas, who reached both the semifinals in last year’s national championships.
“Now approaching the tournament’s fourth year, the East Lake Cup has become one of college golf’s marquee events each fall,” said Molly Solomon, Golf Channel executive producer. “This championship anchors Golf Channel’s year-round commitment to college golf and introduces viewers to golf’s future stars for both the men’s and women’s game.”
USC (pictured after winning the title last year), will be playing under first-year Coach Justin Silverstein after he replaced Andrea Gaston, who moved to Texas A&M after 22 years and three NCAA titles with the Women of Troy.
The Trojans are led by sophomore Jennifer Chang, who had four top-six finishes after joining the Trojans in early enrollment in January after winning three consecutive North Carolina High School Championships.
Chang earned All-Pacific 12 Conference and second team All-American honors.
The Trojans also have junior Allison Corpuz of Hawaii and junior Alyaa Abdulghany of Newport Beach, who both earned All-Pac 12 honorable mention recognition.
Abdulghany was the 2016 USA Today High School Player of the Year and won the 2017 Thunderbird Invitational, the 2017 Toyota Junior Golf World Cup and the 2016 California Women’s State Open.
Corpuz finished the 2017-18 college season with four top-10 results and eight finishes in the top 17, including six in a row. During the summer, she tied for second in the Canadian Women’s Amateur after tying for second the previous year.
Stanford, coached by Anne Walker, is led by junior Andrea Lee, an All-American from Hermosa Beach, who has won three tournaments in each of her first two seasons with the Cardinal, in addition to tying for second in both the East Lake Cup and the NCAA Championships last season while posting nine top-10 finishes in college tournaments.
Lee also won the 2015 and 2017 Southern California Women’s Amateur Championships and was the 2014 Rolex Junior National Player of Year.
The Cardinal also has junior Albane Valenzuela of Switzerland, who is No. 3 in Women’s World Amateur Rankings after finishing second on both the 2017 European Ladies Amateur Championship and the 2017 U.S. Women’s Amateur Championship
Valenzuela placed in the top 10 four times for Stanford last season, including a victory in the NCAA West Regional, second in the Bruin Wave Invitational, a tie for fourth in the Stanford Intercollegiate and a tie for seventh at East Lake Cup.
She also won the 2015 Spanish International Amateur Stroke Play, the 2015 Junior Orange Bowl International Championship, the 2015 Doral Publix Junior Classic and the 2014 Swiss International Amateur.
The East Lake Cup will be played over three days, following the format of the final three days in the NCAA men’s and women’s golf national championships. On the first day, the eight teams will compete in individual stroke play to determine the individual champion and seedings for two days of match-play competition.
On the second day, the men’s and women’s stroke-play winners will play the fourth place teams in match play while the second and third place teams face off, with the winners advancing to the match-play finals.
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.
Since its inception in 2015, the East Lake Cup has raised nearly $1.5 million for the East Lake Foundation.
The East Lake Cup also features the Tom Cousins Award, presented to an outstanding male and female golfer who exemplify the values of the East Lake Foundation by excelling in academics, being engaged in his or her community and overcoming adversity.
This award is named for Tom Cousins, founder of the East Lake Foundation. Divya Manthena of USC, a junior from Rohnert Park who has raised thousands of dollars for charitable organizations since her early teens, and Will Gordon Vanderbilt were the recipients in 2017.
