OWINGS MILLS, Md. – For the third consecutive day, the Duke women’s golf team made its way up the leaderboard as the Blue Devils carded a 14-over-par, 302, on Thursday to move into eighth place at the NCAA Championship with 18 holes remaining at the 6,443-yard, Par 72 Caves Valley Golf Club in Owings Mills, Md.
“It was a really great three-quarters of the day -- maybe even a little more than that,” said Duke Head Coach Dan Brooks. “Just the end got it. I joked with the team, I said you really know how to get the coaches to feel your pain. It is a setup for all of us -- it hurts when it happens. What I mentioned to the team is our job is to stay up -- that is your job in this game -- you absolutely have to stay up and keep believing in possibilities. As soon as you stop doing that, you are not playing golf anymore and you have no chance. We are going to do our job; keep fighting. They give four trophies away -- we are going to try to get some hardware.”
Duke entered the second round in 14th place and were in 12th following Wednesday’s 18 holes of action. The Blue Devils were making their way up the leaderboard throughout the day as at 3:55 p.m., Duke was in tied for sixth and at 4:18 p.m., the Blue Devils were in fourth place following an Amanda Blumenherst birdie. But for the third straight day, Duke had trouble closing as the Blue Devils gave back 11 strokes over the final five holes to finish with a 302, which is eighth. For the three days of play, Duke owns a total of 911 and is only five strokes out of fourth place.
“You can look at it like gosh we cannot finish,” said Brooks. “But you have to remember, golf courses like this are built with the finishing holes hardest. Even though this is the front side, these are tough holes. It is a complicated mentality -- you have to have a mentality that doesn’t just assume you are going to have trouble there. At the same time when you have a little trouble there you cannot beat yourself up to bad. You have to walk that fine line because you can birdies these holes. You can birdie the last two holes -- they all have the capability of doing that. You have to keep that possibility open and not beat yourself up too bad if you don’t do great on them.”
Leading the team play is Southern California, who shot a 293 on Thursday, with a 54-hole total of 889. Arizona State is second with an 891, while UCLA (893) rounds out the top three teams. North Carolina (906) is fourth followed by Virginia (908), Denver (908), Oklahoma State (909), Duke (911), Pepperdine (912), LSU (915), Alabama (918) and Purdue (918) rounding out the top 12.
With a two-under-par, 70, on day three, Southern California’s Jennifer Song moved into the individual lead with a total of 215. Maria Hernandez (218) and second round leader Maria Jose Uribe (218) are tied for second with Alice Kim of UC Davis fourth (219). Blumenherst is seven strokes off the lead and tied for eighth with a 222, after posting a 74 on Thursday.
For the second straight day, the Blue Devils opened play on No. 10 and Duke registered a solid start as it was only four-over-par through the first nine holes.
Continuing to play solid for the Blue Devils is Blumenherst, who is from Scottsdale, Ariz. The reigning three-time National Player of the Year opened her round with a 10-foot birdie and then made a great sand save on No. 11 as she drained a 10-foot par putt. Blumenherst ran into trouble at the 149-yard, down hill par three 12th hole as she flew the green and had a very tough chip out of the rough. She ended up with a double-bogey to move to one-over-par.
Blumenherst parred No. 13 before getting into trouble off the tee and concluded with her second double-bogey over the first nine holes. She was able to regroup and par the next two holes before hitting her five wood to 15 feet from 220 yards out on No. 17 for a chance at an eagle. Blumenherst finished with a birdie as she left her eagle attempt only an inch from the cup. She made the turn at two-over-par, but went on to play the next seven holes at two-under-par with birdies on No. 4 and No. 6. She rolled in long putts on both holes as she drained a 25-footer on No. 4 and a 30-footer on the sixth hole.
Everything was going great for the senior before arriving at the ninth and final hole. She hit her tee shot to the left into the rough and made a great approach shot to the front of the green. Blumenherst ran her first putt by a good ways and ended up with a four-putt, double-bogey to finish at two-over-par, 74. She has now collected rounds of 75, 73 and 74 during the week. For the day, Blumenherst hit 11 fairways, a team-best 14 greens and had 34 putts.
Senior Jennie Lee notched her best start of the week so far as she was even par through nine holes as she posted seven pars, one bogey on No. 12 and a chip-in from off the green for birdie on No. 18. On the back nine, Lee was three over par with six pars and three bogeys to finish with her second straight round of 75. She is tied for 34th with a 228, after hitting 12 fairways, 11 greens and having 32 putts. For the three rounds, Lee has hit 36 out of 42 fairways.
A product of Melbourne, Australia, junior Alison Whitaker had one of her best rounds of the week until she hit her 14th hole of the day, which was No. 5. A two-time All-ACC selection, Whitaker was one-over-par through those 13 holes as she notched seven pars and two bogeys on the first nine and then had her lone birdie of the day on the 492-yard, par five third hole as she drained a birdie putt.
Whitaker then struggled during holes five through eight as she went bogey, double-bogey, bogey and bogey before closing with a par on No. 9. She finished with a six-over-par, 78, and is now tied for 41st with a 229. For the day, Whitaker hit only eight fairways, 13 greens and had 36 putts.
Sophomore Kim Donovan continued with her excellent starts to her rounds as she was one-under-par through five holes, which featured a 10-footer for birdie on the short 330-yard, par four 14th. She went on to make the turn at even par as she suffered a bogey on No. 18. During those first nine holes, she hit her first eight greens, 6-of-7 fairways and her first five holes she was within 15-20 feet on the green each time. On the final nine, Donovan had a bogey on No. 2, but came back to stick a 7-iron to nine feet on No. 4 and rolled in a birdie to get back to even par. Donovan remained at even par until she ran into the 185-yard, par three eighth hole where she could not get up and down and suffered a bogey.
“I was hitting just about every fairway and just about every green,” said Donovan on her excellent start. “I hit eight greens on the front side and I was pretty happy with that. I was rolling the ball pretty well, but the putts were not falling.”
On her last hole of the day, Donovan drove her tee shot to the edge of the bunker and had a very awkward stance for her second shot and logged a double-bogey. She ended with a three-over-par, 75, and is now tied for 57th with a 232. Donovan hit a total of 14 greens, which tied for Blumenherst for the team lead, hit 10 fairways and had 35 putts.
Junior Yu Young Lee closed with an 82 on Thursday and is now 116th overall, but she notched two birdies on the day, which was a high for the Orlando, Fla., product. Lee hit her 5-wood to within a half a foot from 180 yards out on the 396-yard, par four first hole for her first birdie and then notched a birdie on No. 3.
Duke continues to improve each day with the amount of birdies it has made as the Blue Devils carded 10 on Thursday, after posting six the first day and eight the second. In the final round, Duke will tee off beginning at 1:00 p.m., off No. 10 along with Pepperdine and Oklahoma State.
For those fans looking to see the action and cannot be at the Caves Valley Golf Club in person, you can follow the action on Friday with webstreaming live on holes 16-18. From 11-2 and 3:00 until the completion of play, there will be live video of the action. A link can be found on www.GoDuke.com. Livestats is also available at www.GoDuke.com.
Duke Results:
T8 T14 20 Amanda Blumenherst (10) Duke +6 F +2 75 73 74 222
T34 T48 12 Jennie Lee (10) Duke +12 F +3 78 75 75 228
T41 T28 Alison Whitaker (10) Duke +13 F +6 76 75 78 229
T57 T85 Kimberly Donovan (10) Duke +16 F +3 79 78 75 232
116 113 Yu Young Lee (10) Duke +30 F +10 83 81 82 246
Duke Notes:
• If Duke can move into the top five by the end of the day on Friday, the Blue Devils will finish in the top five of the NCAA Championship for the sixth straight year. It would also be the eighth time out of the last nine years the Blue Devils would have finished in the top five. Dan Brooks has led Duke to 11 top five finishes in the NCAA Championship over his 24 years.
• Amanda Blumenherst owns 37 pars over the first three rounds to rank tied for fifth, individually.
• Over the first three rounds, senior Jennie Lee has hit 36-of-42 fairways. Over her final six rounds of golf, she has hit a total of 71 out of her last 81 fairways in the regionals and championship.
• The NCAA Championship is a four-day event that totals 72 holes with 18 holes played each day.
• Duke has won NCAA Championships in 1999, 2002, 2005, 2006 and 2007.
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1 2 3 Team Scores
4 2 1 Southern California 301 295 294 890 +26
T5 T4 2 Arizona State 302 298 291 891 +27
2 1 3 UCLA 296 293 304 893 +29
3 T4 4 North Carolina 299 301 306 906 +42
1 3 5 Denver, Univ. of 294 304 309 907 +43
T9 T9 6 Virginia 305 302 301 908 +44
T7 T4 7 Oklahoma State 303 297 309 909 +45
14 12 8 Duke 308 301 302 911 +47
T17 T13 9 Pepperdine 312 298 302 912 +48
T5 8 10 LSU 302 304 309 915 +51
T9 T9 T11 Alabama, U. of 305 302 311 918 +54
11 T9 T11 Purdue 306 301 311 918 +54
T7 7 13 Wake Forest 303 300 318 921 +57
T21 T18 14 Georgia 316 307 301 924 +60
T12 T13 15 Michigan State 307 303 315 925 +61
T12 17 16 Tennessee 307 313 306 926 +62
T21 T18 17 UT Chattanooga 316 307 305 928 +64
15 15 18 Arizona 310 305 314 929 +65
T19 22 19 TCU 314 316 301 931 +67
16 T20 20 New Mexico 311 314 307 932 +68
T17 16 21 Tulane University 312 305 317 934 +70
T19 T20 22 Texas 314 311 313 938 +74
24 23 T23 Ohio State 323 311 314 948 +84
23 24 T23 UC Irvine 320 316 312 948 +84
Start Finish Player Team Scores
5 1 Jennifer Song Southern California 72 73 71 (F) 216 E
T6 T2 Maria Hernandez Purdue 74 72 72 (F) 218 +2
1 T2 Maria Jose Uribe UCLA 75 66 77 (F) 218 +2
T16 4 Alice Kim * UC Davis 74 75 70 (F) 219 +3
T6 T5 Stephanie Connelly * UCF 72 74 75 (F) 221 +5
T2 T5 Lisa McCloskey Pepperdine 74 69 78 (F) 221 +5
T16 T5 Azahara Munoz Arizona State 78 71 72 (F) 221 +5
T48 T8 Jaclyn Sweeney Arizona State 76 77 69 (F) 222 +6
T9 T8 Sydney Crane North Carolina 75 72 75 (F) 222 +6
T6 T8 Pernilla Lindberg Oklahoma State 74 72 76 (F) 222 +6
T14 T8 Amanda Blumenherst Duke 75 73 74 (F) 222 +6
T28 T8 Calle Nielson Virginia 75 76 71 (F) 222 +6
T2 T8 Nannette Hill Wake Forest 72 71 79 (F) 222 +6
T2 T8 Stephanie Sherlock Denver, Univ. of 70 73 79 (F) 222 +6
T9 T15 Marta Silva Georgia 75 72 76 (F) 223 +7
T28 T15 Rachel Raastad TCU 77 74 72 (F) 223 +7
T20 T15 Belen Mozo Southern California 78 72 73 (F) 223 +7
T14 T15 Lizette Salas Southern California 74 74 75 (F) 223 +7
T16 T15 Stephanie Kono UCLA 73 76 74 (F) 223 +7
T37 T20 Britney Choy New Mexico 73 79 72 (F) 224 +8
T9 T20 Ginny Brown Tennessee 72 75 77 (F) 224 +8
T16 T20 Jennifer Osborn Arizona State 75 74 75 (F) 224 +8
T9 T20 Dawn Shockley Denver, Univ. of 77 70 77 (F) 224 +8
T20 T24 Jane Chin UC Irvine 75 75 75 (F) 225 +9
T48 T24 Kathleen Ekey Alabama, U. of 75 78 72 (F) 225 +9
T20 T24 Carlota Ciganda Arizona State 74 76 75 (F) 225 +9
T37 T24 Lene Krog Virginia 78 74 73 (F) 225 +9
T48 T28 Vicky Villanueva Ohio State 78 75 73 (F) 226 +10
T20 T28 Tiffany Joh UCLA 74 76 76 (F) 226 +10
T37 T28 Caroline Martens LSU 78 74 74 (F) 226 +10
T37 T31 Cindy LaCrosse * Louisville, Univ. of 76 76 75 (F) 227 +11
T37 T31 Maria Salinas UT Chattanooga 75 77 75 (F) 227 +11
T65 T31 Allie White North Carolina 78 76 73 (F) 227 +11
T37 T34 Lindsey Solberg Michigan State 73 79 76 (F) 228 +12
T28 T34 Janine Fellows Tulane University 76 75 77 (F) 228 +12
T37 T34 Emma de Groot UT Chattanooga 79 73 76 (F) 228 +12
T48 T34 Jennie Lee Duke 78 75 75 (F) 228 +12
T20 T34 Caroline Masson Oklahoma State 77 73 78 (F) 228 +12
T20 T34 Camilla Lennarth Alabama, U. of 78 72 78 (F) 228 +12
T28 T34 Megan McChrystal LSU 74 77 77 (F) 228 +12
T28 T41 Jodi Ewart New Mexico 78 73 78 (F) 229 +13
T88 T41 Nathalie Mansson Tennessee 81 77 71 (F) 229 +13
T28 T41 Alison Whitaker Duke 76 75 78 (F) 229 +13
T9 T41 Catherine O'Donnell North Carolina 70 77 82 (F) 229 +13
T37 T41 Glory Yang UCLA 74 78 77 (F) 229 +13
T20 T41 Sydnee Michaels UCLA 75 75 79 (F) 229 +13
T88 T47 Jayvie Agojo Pepperdine 80 78 72 (F) 230 +14
T20 T47 Laura Kueny Michigan State 74 76 80 (F) 230 +14
T65 T47 Juliana Murcia Arizona State 77 77 76 (F) 230 +14
T65 T47 Caroline Hedwall Oklahoma State 76 78 76 (F) 230 +14
T37 T47 Thea Hoffmeister Purdue 76 76 78 (F) 230 +14
T72 T47 Katie Kempter Denver, Univ. of 74 81 75 (F) 230 +14
T28 T47 Tessa Teachman LSU 78 73 79 (F) 230 +14
T72 T54 Kendall Dye * Oklahoma 82 73 76 (F) 231 +15
T48 T54 Amanda Wilson Arizona 76 77 78 (F) 231 +15
T48 T54 Kristen Simpson Virginia 77 76 78 (F) 231 +15
T101 T57 Carolina Andrade Georgia 82 79 71 (F) 232 +16
T88 T57 Kelley Louth Texas 81 77 74 (F) 232 +16
T79 T57 Jessica Wallace Pepperdine 79 77 76 (F) 232 +16
T48 T57 Taylore Karle Pepperdine 79 74 79 (F) 232 +16
T85 T57 Kimberly Donovan Duke 79 78 75 (F) 232 +16
T48 T57 Caroline Kim Southern California 77 76 79 (F) 232 +16
T28 T57 Whitney Neuhauser Virginia 75 76 81 (F) 232 +16
T48 T64 Mallory Hetzel Georgia 77 76 80 (F) 233 +17
T72 T64 Isabelle Boineau Arizona 77 78 78 (F) 233 +17
T79 T64 Nicole Smith Tennessee 76 80 77 (F) 233 +17
T65 T64 Amanda Johnson Oklahoma State 76 78 79 (F) 233 +17
T48 T64 Kate Thomas North Carolina 76 77 80 (F) 233 +17
T37 T64 Karin Kinnerud Oklahoma State 78 74 81 (F) 233 +17
T28 T64 Courtney Harter Alabama, U. of 77 74 82 (F) 233 +17
T88 T64 In-Ah Park Southern California 79 79 75 (F) 233 +17
T48 T64 Ellie Givens Denver, Univ. of 73 80 80 (F) 233 +17
T65 T64 Cheyenne Woods Wake Forest 78 76 79 (F) 233 +17
T88 T74 Patty Chawalitmetha UC Irvine 78 80 76 (F) 234 +18
T98 T74 Marina Alex * Vanderbilt 79 81 74 (F) 234 +18
T88 T74 Moa Duf UT Chattanooga 79 79 76 (F) 234 +18
T37 T74 Nikki Koller Arizona 79 73 82 (F) 234 +18
T48 T74 Brooke Pancake Alabama, U. of 75 78 81 (F) 234 +18
T79 T74 Junthima Gulyanamitta Purdue 80 76 78 (F) 234 +18
T48 T80 Emma Jandel Ohio State 75 78 82 (F) 235 +19
T79 T80 Nicole Vandermade Texas 80 76 79 (F) 235 +19
T48 T80 Shannon Fish Texas 74 79 82 (F) 235 +19
T48 T80 Daniela Holmqvist Tulane University 77 76 82 (F) 235 +19
T85 T80 Lauren Hunt North Carolina 81 76 78 (F) 235 +19
T79 T80 Amalie Valle LSU 76 80 79 (F) 235 +19
T79 T80 Joy Kim Virginia 79 77 79 (F) 235 +19
T95 T87 Rebecca Hellbom New Mexico 79 80 77 (F) 236 +20
T85 T87 Cathryn Bristow * Oregon, U. of 78 79 79 (F) 236 +20
T98 T87 Kaitlin Drolson Pepperdine 80 80 76 (F) 236 +20
T72 T87 Michelle Bowles Michigan State 80 75 81 (F) 236 +20
T48 T87 Maude-Aimee LeBlanc Purdue 76 77 83 (F) 236 +20
T95 T87 Jean Chua Wake Forest 81 78 77 (F) 236 +20
T101 T93 Valentine Derrey TCU 78 83 76 (F) 237 +21
T88 T93 Brooke Beeler TCU 79 79 79 (F) 237 +21
T65 T93 Ashley McKenney Tulane University 78 76 83 (F) 237 +21
T65 T93 Jaqueline Hedwall LSU 74 80 83 (F) 237 +21
T101 T97 Allyson Ferguson TCU 80 81 77 (F) 238 +22
T107 T97 Alejandra Llaneza Arizona 83 79 76 (F) 238 +22
T72 T97 Margarita Ramos Arizona 78 77 83 (F) 238 +22
T48 T97 Aimee Neff Michigan State 80 73 85 (F) 238 +22
T72 T97 Natalie Sheary Wake Forest 80 75 83 (F) 238 +22
T101 T102 Kristin Walla Texas 82 79 78 (F) 239 +23
T110 T102 Linn Gustafsson Tulane University 81 82 76 (F) 239 +23
T101 T102 Sarah Faller Denver, Univ. of 78 83 78 (F) 239 +23
T95 105 Diana Cantu Tennessee 78 81 81 (F) 240 +24
T114 T106 Prisela Campbell TCU 83 82 76 (F) 241 +25
T110 T106 Christine Wolf UT Chattanooga 85 78 78 (F) 241 +25
T101 T106 Rhea Nair Alabama, U. of 80 81 80 (F) 241 +25
T72 T106 Allie Bodemann Wake Forest 73 82 86 (F) 241 +25
T107 110 Lalita Patipaksiri UC Irvine 80 82 80 (F) 242 +26
123 T111 Tess Fordham Georgia 82 88 74 (F) 244 +28
T110 T111 Mikaela Backstedt New Mexico 81 82 81 (F) 244 +28
T118 T111 Shannon Warner Michigan State 83 83 78 (F) 244 +28
T107 T111 Samantha Troyanovich Tulane University 84 78 82 (F) 244 +28
T114 115 Morgan Grantham New Mexico 82 83 80 (F) 245 +29
113 116 Yu Young Lee Duke 83 81 82 (F) 246 +30
122 117 Hillary Packard UC Irvine 87 82 81 (F) 250 +34
T118 T118 Joy Trotter UC Irvine 87 79 85 (F) 251 +35
T125 T118 Gemma Webster Ohio State 87 87 77 (F) 251 +35
T120 120 Lauren Spurlock Tennessee 84 83 85 (F) 252 +36
T114 T121 Caney Hines Texas 79 86 88 (F) 253 +37
T114 T121 Maria Juliana Loza UT Chattanooga 83 82 88 (F) 253 +37
T120 123 Leigh Crosby Georgia 87 80 87 (F) 254 +38
T125 T124 Jessica Hauser Ohio State 93 81 82 (F) 256 +40
124 T124 Vaishavi Sinha Purdue 88 83 85 (F) 256 +40
T98 - In Hong Lim Ohio State 83 77 W - -
