Jennifer Kupcho has accomplished many firsts in her young golf career, so it shouldn’t be surprising that she added another this week.
On Wednesday evening, the Westminster resident was named to the team that will represent the U.S. in the 2018 Arnold Palmer Cup, which for the first time is including a women’s contingent of players.
“It is a great honor to be on the first team that includes women,” Kupcho (pictured) said by email on Thursday morning. “I can’t wait to play overseas and get to know more men’s college golfers as well as play with my teammate from Wake Forest, Emilia (Migliaccio). I can’t wait to represent the USA!”
Kupcho is a junior at Wake Forest in North Carolina, where Palmer played his college golf. The King passed away in September 2016 at age 87.
The Palmer Cup features the best college golfers from the U.S. squaring off against an International squad in a Ryder Cup-style match-play format. This will be the first year that an International team will be competing instead of one just representing Europe.
The 2018 Palmer Cup is set for July 6-8 at Evian Resort Golf Club in Evian-les-Bains, France. The club annually hosts the Evian Championship on the LPGA Tour.
Each squad will feature 24 players — a dozen men and a dozen women. On the U.S. women’s end of things, 11 of those golfers were announced on Wednesday, appropriately at Bay Hill in Orlando, Fla., site of this week’s Arnold Palmer Invitational on the PGA Tour.
There were six automatic picks for the American women and five committee selections. A coach’s pick will be added on May 4.
Kupcho was among the committee selections. As Kupcho noted, also on the U.S. squad — as an automatic pick — is Wake Forest teammate Migliaccio.
Kupcho, currently No. 3 in the Women’s World Amateur Golf Rankings, was the women’s NCAA individual runner-up last year after leading by two strokes with two holes remaining. In the national individual women’s college rankings this season, Kupcho sits No. 12 according to Golfweek and No. 15 according to Golfstat. So far this season individually, Kupcho has collected a victory, a runner-up and a sixth-place finish among her six tournaments.
The 20-year-old has been a dominant force in Colorado women’s golf for several years and has been making a mark nationally and internationally recently.
Besides finishing second in the Women’s NCAA Championships in 2017, Kupcho qualified for her second straight U.S. Women’s Open, and she went on to finish 21st overall — and second among amateurs — in arguably the most presigious women’s golf tournament in the world.
Kupcho also claimed her first national title as she won the Canadian Women’s Amateur by five strokes. At the U.S. Women’s Amateur, she made the match play round of 64. Collegiately, in the 2017 calendar year Kupcho won two individual titles, including at an NCAA Regional, and she was a finalist for women’s college player of the year.
The Jefferson Academy graduate earned the CWGA highest’s honor — the President’s Award — in 2017 after being named the CWGA Player of the Year for an unprecented three consecutive years (2014-16). She was inducted into the Sportswomen of Colorado’s Hall of Fame last year after being named the Colorado Golf Hall of Fame’s Golf Person of the Year in 2016.
Additionally in 2017, Kupcho won her third consecutive CWGA Stroke Play, this one with a 13-shot victory margin. And at the CoBank Colorado Women’s Open, she placed second for the second time while competing against a field that included many professionals.
The USGA announced in November that Kupcho was one of a dozen American players invited to a December practice session leading up to the 2018 Curtis Cup, a biennial competition between the top women’s amateurs from the U.S. and Great Britain & Ireland. Kupcho isn’t guaranteed a spot on the eight-person U.S. Curtis Cup squad, but has a leg up toward earning a berth in the matches, which will be played June 8-10 in Scarsdale, N.Y.
Also among the women competing in the 2018 Arnold Palmer Cup — but on the International squad — will be Maria Fassi of Mexico and the University of Arkansas, who has qualified several times in Colorado for USGA championships.
The Arnold Palmer Cup was first contested in 1997. It was held at Cherry Hills Country Club south of Denver in 2009, with Coloradan Steve Ziegler competing for the U.S. team.
The Americans lead the all-time series in the Palmer Cup 11-9-1.
Among past Palmer Cup contestants are Dustin Johnson, Justin Thomas, Rickie Fowler, Jon Rahm, Bryson DeChambeau, Billy Horschel and Matt Kuchar.
Here are the 2018 Arnold Palmer Cup teams:
UNITED STATES
Men
Shintaro Ban, UNLVӬ
Zach Bauchou, Oklahoma State
Brad Dalke, Oklahoma
S.M. Lee, Dalton State
Collin Morikawa, CaliforniaӬ
Chandler Phillips, Texas A&M
Davis Riley, AlabamaӬ
Justin Suh, Southern CaliforniaӬ
Sahith Theegala, Pepperdine
Braden Thornberry, Ole Miss
Matthew Wolff, Oklahoma StateӬ
Coach’s Pick
ҬAnnounced May 4
Women
Jamie Freedman, Nova Southeastern
Mariel Galdiano, UCLA
Kristen Gillman, AlabamaӬ
Dylan Kim, Arkansas
Jennifer Kupcho, Wake Forest
Andrea Lee, Stanford
ҬEmilia Migliaccio, Wake Forest
Sophia Schubert, TexasӬ
Lauren Stephenson, Alabama
Alana Uriell, Arkansas
Lilia Vu, UCLAӬ
Coach’s Pick
ҬAnnounced May 4
Coaches
“¨Head Coach — Therese Hession, Ohio State”¨
Head Coach — Ryan Hybl, Oklahoma
“¨Assistant Coach — Ryan Blagg, Baylor”¨
Assistant Coach — Susan Rosenstiel, Alabama
INTERNATIONAL
Men
Harry Hall, UNLV — England
Viktor Hovland, Oklahoma State — Norway”¨
K.K. Limbhasut, Cal — Thailand
Hurly Long, Texas Tech — Germany
Stefano Mazzoli, TCU — Italy”¨
Fredrik Nilehn, Texas Tech — Sweden
“¨Alvaro Ortiz, Arkanasas — Mexico”¨
Jovan Rebula, Auburn — South Africa
“¨Lorenzo Scalise, Tennessee — Italy
Andy Zhang, Florida — China
The R&A Foundation Scholars Tournament Champion
ҬContested April 2-3
Coach’s Pick
ҬAnnounced May 4
Women
Jaravee Boonchant, Duke — Thailand
Maria Fassi, Arkansas — Mexico”¨
Jiwon Jeon, Daytona State — South Korea
Olivia Mehaffey, Arizona State — Northern Ireland”¨
Ainhoa Olarra, South Carolina — Spain”¨
Pimnipa Panthong, Kent State — Thailand
Maddie Szeryk, Texas A&M — Canada
Patty Tavatanakit, UCLA — Thailand”¨
Albane Valenzuela, Stanford — Switzerland
Dewi Weber, Miami — Netherlands”¨
Coach’s Pick
Announced May 4
The R&A Foundation Scholars Tournament ChampionӬ
Contested April 2-3
Coaches
Head Coach — Herb Page, Kent State — Canada”¨
Head Coach — Anne Walker, Stanford — Scotland”¨
Assistant Coach — Jan Dowling, Michigan — Canada”¨
Assistant Coach — Adrien Mork, TCU — France
