09/08/2009 - Duke Sports Information

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. - The Duke women's golf team closed out play at the National Golf Coaches Association (NGCA) Match Play Championship on Tuesday with a 4-1 victory over ninth-seeded Kent State at the LPGA International in Daytona Beach, Fla.

The Blue Devils finished off the three-day event with victories over Kent State (4-1) and Colorado (5-0), while totaling a loss to TCU (3-2).  Duke's 2-1 record in match play was the tied for third-best ledger in the two days.  The Blue Devils also notched an 11-4 individual record in match play which was better than any of the other 15 teams competing.

"Our mission wasn't to go down to the match play and finish where we finished, obviously," said Duke Head Coach Dan Brooks.  "I am not happy about that. This was our first tournament with three new players on our team so I am going to reserve any strong criticisms about what we did because it is all a pretty new thing.  Match play can be an unpredictable thing."

On Tuesday, Duke started off slow as Kent State led in four of the five matches, but the Blue Devils quickly turned it around at the No. 1 and No. 2 positions.  Freshman Lindy Duncan represented the Blue Devils at the first slot against Sarah Bradley.  A product of Fort Lauderdale, Fla., Duncan lost the second hole with a bogey on the par five 14th, but responded with a birdie on the next hole to bring the match back to all square. 

Duncan went on to win her fourth, sixth, seventh, 10th and 11th holes to go 5 up.  She went on to close out the match winning 5 and 3.  Duncan finished her round three-under-par through 15 holes.  In two days of match play, Duncan was the only Blue Devil to go undefeated as she was 3-0.

Stacey Kim, a freshman from Columbus, Ga., played the second position for Duke and also came back from being 1 down through three holes to Martina Gavier.  After winning the fourth and sixth holes, Kim took a 1 up lead and would never trail the rest of the match.  She won 3 and 2 in her match and shot two-under-par through 16 holes.

Senior Alison Whitaker closed out her NGCA Match Play career with a 5 and 3 victory over Mandi Morrow at the No. 5 slot.  Whitaker, who is from Melbourne, Australia, collected a birdie on the first hole to take a 1 up lead and continued to lead 1 up through eight holes before going on a run.  She won her ninth, 10th and 11th holes to go 4 up and then moved her ledger to 5 up with three holes remaining to close out the match. 

In four appearances at the NGCA Match Play, Whitaker notched a 13-1 overall record during  her career.

"We played some good golf in the match play," said Brooks.  "A lot of our rounds were even or under par and that is a good sign.  [Kim] Donovan really played some good golf in the match play portion.  I was excited about that.  All we can do is take the parts that are good and work hard on the parts that need some work, while getting ready for Vanderbilt."

After trailing for the first 12 holes on Tuesday against Shamira Marshall, Blue Devil freshman Courtney Ellenbogen made a great comeback to win 1 up.  Ellenbogen, who is a product of Blacksburg, Va., was 3 down through eight holes before playing the final 11 holes at even par to win the key match.

After winning both of her matches on Monday, junior Kim Donovan came up against a hot golfer in the final match as Mercedes Germino posted a total of five birdies on Tuesday.  A native of Hopkinton, Mass., Donovan was three down through seven holes after Germino birdied five, six and seven.  After being faced with a 4 down situation with nine holes remaining, Donovan started making a comeback.  She won the 10th, 11th and 13th holes to cut the deficit to 1 down and then got the match all square with a birdie and one hole left.  Donovan's comeback ended on the final hole as she suffered a bogey and Germino made a par.  The match concluded in Germino's favor, 1 up. 

LSU won the NGCA Match Play Championship with a 3-1-1 win over Auburn on Tuesday.

Duke will next travel to Nashville, Tenn., to compete in the Mason Rudolph Championship from Sept. 25-27.

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