GAINESVILLE, Fla. – With 18 holes remaining at the 2009 NCAA East Regional, the Duke women’s golf team stands in seventh place with a 36-hole total of 591, but the Blue Devils are only six shots out of third place at the 6,044-yard, par 70 Mark Bostick Golf Course at the University of Florida in Gainesville, Fla.
Alabama leads the team play with a 575, while Denver (583), Tennessee (585), Vanderbilt (585), Virginia (587), Tulane (588), Duke (591), Georgia (592), North Carolina (303) and Furman (595) round out the top 10. Day one leader East Carolina shot a 313 on Saturday to move into 11th with a 596, while South Carolina (598), Auburn (598) and Coastal Carolina (598) are tied for 12th.
“The important number for me is 16 back,” said Duke Head Coach Dan Brooks. “We are a team that has come back in the past, we are fighters and I think this tournament is still winnable for Duke. We have our sights set on that and everybody is ready to come out and play their best golf on the last day.”
Duke has turned in rounds of 298 and 293 the first two days. The top eight teams and top two individuals not on the eight teams who advance will move on to the NCAA Championship from May 19-22 at the Caves Valley Golf Club in Owings Mills, Md. Duke has advanced to the NCAA Championships the past 11 straight years.
“We had a lot of putts fall in today, which I haven’t seen all year long,” said Brooks. “The problem is they were putts for par. I am seeing all the parts -- all the parts haven’t come together, but the parts are there. Everybody has strengths in their game that seem to be getting better and better and our weaknesses are becoming a little less severe. I hope we can have a good day tomorrow and I know the effort is going to be there.”
Continuing to lead the Blue Devils is senior Jennie Lee, who turned in a two-over-par, 72, and is tied for eighth in the individual action with a 36-hole total of 143. A native of Henderson, Fla., Lee had a solid opening nine as she parred the first six holes before suffering a bogey on the 526-yard, par five seventh as she missed a short putt. She rebounded with a par on No. 8 and then rolled in a 30-foot birdie putt on the ninth to make the turn at even par.
Everything was going well for the two-time All-America selection until No. 11 when she hit her tee shot on the par three over the green and had trouble getting up and down. Lee ended up with a triple-bogey to drop back to three-over-par. She kept scrambling and came back with back-to-back birdies on No. 14 and No. 15. Lee hit her approach shot tight on the 14th and then rolled in a 25-footer for birdie on the 15th.
“I think I played pretty well and I chipped well out there today, which is really important on this course,” said Lee. “I had some good birdies as some putts rolled in. I had trouble on one hole, which got me to three-over-par, but I tried to get back really hard to being focused and tried to get the ball in the hole again.”
Lee couldn’t get up and down on the 16th but pulled out two up-and-downs on No. 17 and No. 18 to close out the day. She finished with six up-and-downs for the afternoon, while notching 28 putts, hit 11-of-13 fairways and 10 greens.
“You talk about a fighter -- she had a rough hole on No. 11 and came right back with a couple of birdies after that,” said Brooks. “She has a lot of game right now -- every part of her game is strong. You have to really give it to Jennie to be coming into the end of her senior year with her game as sharp as it is.”
Both Kim Donovan and Amanda Blumenherst each turned in a three-over-par, 73, on Friday. Donovan, who is from Hopkinton, Mass., enters the final day tied for 38th with a 149. In the second round, she hit 12 greens, nine fairways and had 32 putts.
Donovan had a wild opening nine holes as she notched one birdie, four pars and four bogeys to make the turn with a three-over-par, 38. On No. 7, she drained a five-footer for birdie, but she had a few three-putts on the front to drop her back. She closed the day with an even-par, 35, on the back nine as she rolled in a 15-foot birdie on No. 12 and had a bogey on the 10th to go along with seven pars. She registered a great up-and-down on No. 14 from in front of the green to keep her excellent play going. She hit 12 greens, nine fairways and had 32 putts on the day.
After posting a 77 on day one, Blumenherst was close to being back to her old form as she finished with a 73 and is now tied for 46th with a 150. On the front nine, she rang in seven pars and a bogey on No. 1 and No. 8. On the first and eighth holes, she pulled her drive left and could not get up-and-down for par. She made the turn with a two-over-par, 37. On the final nine, she parred the first three holes before getting unlucky as her drive rolled through the fairway and into the rough. Her approach shot up the hill flew over the flag and ended up 50 feet past the pin in the rough. She made a great chip but could not drain the par putt.
Blumenherst came right back and blasted a three-wood down the middle of the fairway on No. 14 and then stuck her approach shot to within four feet and she made her first birdie of the tournament. The birdie broke a streak of 58 straight holes at the Mark Bostick Golf Course without a birdie, which dated back to the last time Duke played in Gainesville last month.
She stuck her approach on the 165-yard, par three 15th close and just missed a birdie as it stopped just short of going in. Blumenherst closed with two pars and a bogey on No. 18. She finished the day with 34 putts, 13 greens in regulation and hit nine fairways.
Junior Alison Whitaker turned in her second straight round of 75 and is tied for 46th with a 150. A product of Melbourne, Australia, Whitaker had two bogeys and seven pars on the front nine as she made the turn with a 37. She closed the round with three bogeys and six pars. She continues to get up-and-down around the greens as she had six on Friday. In 36-holes so far, Whitaker has gotten up-and-down 10-of-18 times.
Yu Young Lee also posted her same score as the first round as she finished with a 76 on the second day. Lee, who is from Orlando, Fla., is tied for 59th with a 152. She hit 11 fairways, 10 greens and had 34 putts on the afternoon as she did not register a birdie.
For the second straight day, Duke collected six birdies in the round. Three of the six birdies were by Jennie Lee.
“I think we need to keep playing the way we are,” said Jennie Lee on what the team needs to do tomorrow. “We have learned a lot about the course the last two days and I think we need to use the knowledge to our advantage. We need to stay creative out there, play well and play conservative. It is a tough course.”
The Blue Devils will tee off on Saturday in the final round beginning at 8:30 a.m., on hole No. 1 along with North Carolina and Georgia.
Notes:
• Junior Alison Whitaker hit only three fairways on the day, while hitting eight greens and notching 30 putts.
• Jennie Lee had a team-best 28 putts on Friday. In two rounds, she has hit 24-of-26 fairways.
• Duke played from April 6-7 in the Lady Gator Invitational and tied for first with Auburn before falling in a playoff. The Blue Devils shot rounds of 298, 305 and 310 in very tough conditions.
• The top eight teams after 54 holes of action will advance to the NCAA Championship from May 19-22 at the Caves Valley Golf Club in Owings Mills, Md.
• Senior Jennie Lee has counted all 26 rounds she has played this season (26-of-26).
• Duke has a streak of 11 straight NCAA Championship appearances as the last time the Blue Devils did not advance past regionals was in 1997 with a 17th place ledger.
Team Results
1 6 Alabama, U. of +15 F +11 284 291 575
2 20 Denver, Univ. of +23 F +16 287 296 583
T3 27 Tennessee +25 F +13 292 293 585
T3 23 Vanderbilt +25 F +19 286 299 585
5 3 Virginia +27 F +17 290 297 587
6 31 Tulane University +28 F +16 292 296 588
7 12 Duke +31 F +13 298 293 591
8 14 Georgia +32 F +15 297 295 592
9 10 North Carolina +34 F +23 291 303 594
10 46 Furman University +35 F +10 305 290 595
11 37 East Carolina Univ. +36 F +33 283 313 596
T12 43 South Carolina +38 F +10 308 290 598
T12 7 Auburn +38 F +14 304 294 598
T12 Coastal Carolina +38 F +17 301 297 598
15 38 Mississippi, U. of +40 F +13 307 293 600
16 Florida State Univ. +44 F +17 307 297 604
17 30 Florida, U of +46 F +21 305 301 606
18 UCF +51 F +22 309 302 611
T19 50 Charleston, Coll. of +52 F +30 302 310 612
T19 Stetson University +52 F +23 309 303 612
21 Jackson State Univ. +100 F +56 324 336 660
Duke Results
T8 T14 15 Jennie Lee Duke +3 F +2 71 72 143
T38 T51 Kimberly Donovan Duke +9 F +3 76 73 149
T46 T67 21 Amanda Blumenherst Duke +10 F +3 77 73 150
T46 T40 Alison Whitaker Duke +10 F +5 75 75 150
T59 T51 Yu Young Lee Duke +12 F +6 76 76 152
- d - u - k - e -
