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Courtesy: Duke Sports Information
http://www.goduke.com
Head Coach Dan Brooks and senior Jennie Lee celebrate a green in regulation on Saturday
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GAINESVILLE, Fla. – For the 12th straight year, the Duke women’s golf team will be heading to the NCAA Championship as the Blue Devils carded a final round 10-over-par, 290, and finished tied for sixth at the NCAA East Regional with a 54-hole total of 881 at the 6,044-yard, par 70 Mark Bostick Golf Course at the University of Florida in Gainesville, Fla.
Duke was in a tight battle all morning for one of the top eight positions, but pulled away late to finish in a tie for sixth along with North Carolina. Taking home the team title was Denver with a total of 862, after Pioneers turned in a tournament-best one-under-par, 279, on Saturday. Alabama (866) finished second, while Tennessee (873), Virginia (874), Tulane (876), Duke (881), North Carolina (881) and Georgia (889) rounded out the top eight teams who advanced to the NCAA Championship.
“I have seen regionals where the pack was really tight this way, but we were not in it,” said Duke Head Coach Dan Brooks. “This was quite an experience to be right there. It changes so much -- the golfstat is rolling in and out and you just don’t know where you are.”
Denver sophomore Dawn Shockley turned in a tournament-best four-under-par, 66, on Saturday on her way to winning the individual title with a three-day total of 209.
“I have never seen such a mix,” said Brooks. “It is like this team doesn’t exactly know who it is because as soon as you think we are down and not very good then you will see some impressive things. I am excited about the chance to go to nationals and I think some really special things could happen there for Duke.”
Continuing her stellar play all three days for the Blue Devils was senior Jennie Lee as she concluded the weekend tied for 11th with a 217, which was her best-ever finish in a NCAA Regional. For the three days, she turned in rounds of 71, 72 and 74.
On Saturday, Lee struggled during the first three holes as she posted three straight bogeys to move to three-over-par. A product of Henderson, Nev., Lee rebounded to play the next nine holes at one-under-par with a 15-foot birdie putt on the sixth hole. Lee began hitting the ball so well she hit 12 straight greens from holes four through 15. On the back nine, Lee turned in seven pars and bogeys on No. 13 and No. 16.
“I tried to get the ball on the green and give myself a chance for birdie,” said Lee. “I think that really helped being on the green and not having to chip on every hole. That actually hurt me a little bit because I kept getting frustrated that I wasn’t making the putts. I don’t think I realized how good pars were.”
She finished the day with only one three-putt and closed her round with a key sand save on No. 18 as she sank an eight-foot par putt. Lee hit 11 fairways, 13 greens and had 35 putts on the day.
“This feels great,” said Lee on the team advancing to nationals. “Today was a really frustrating day for me. My putts were not falling, but to know on that final hole I made my one putt that made a difference. It is good to finish on a good note. I am really excited.”
After struggling the first two days with rounds of 77 and 73, senior Amanda Blumenherst was back to her form that won her three straight National Player of the Year awards as she collected a one-under-par, 69, to finish tied for 19th with a 219. She hit nine fairways, 15 greens and had 32 putts on the day.
“It really didn’t sink in until I made the turn -- I never look at the scoreboard but I saw that we were not in the top eight,” said Blumenherst. “I was trying to stay positive and really focus on playing my best and playing one shot at a time. For the team format, you cannot control how your teammates are doing. All you can do is play the best you can and see what happens.”
Over the first eight holes, Blumenherst was two-over-par as she suffered bogeys on No. 5 and No. 7, which came after hitting her drive left of the fairways and couldn’t get up and down. Blumenherst, who is from Scottsdale, Ariz., was firing at the greens all day as she had tap-ins for par on the first four holes.
“That gives you an indication of who she is -- and who she is -- is still lurking around in there,” commented Brooks on Blumenherst. “She hasn’t been her best but her driver wasn’t there for her. Once she started hitting the ball straighter and she could set herself up on these holes and obviously got under par. To go under par on this golf course means a lot of things are going well. Again, it is good signs going into the week of preparation going into nationals.”
She was on fire the final 10 holes as she registered four birdies and played those holes at three-under-par. Prior to this stretch, Blumenherst had made only one birdie over the first 31 holes at the regional. On No. 9, she sank a six-foot birdie putt and on the 490-yard, par five 12th she drained a 10-foot birdie. Blumenherst had her irons dialed in so well she hit her gap wedge within six inches from 100 yards out and made her third birdie of the day. She closed with a six-foot birdie on No. 17 and a par on the 18th.
“I was hitting the ball so much better, which is very positive,” said Blumenherst on her play today. “I mean I had been hitting it well during practice and when I was at Duke playing rounds I was going under par. So I was kind of frustrated with the first two rounds because it was so unlike my practice round -- I was hitting the ball really well. I hit some great putts but they just didn’t go in so it could have been a lot lower actually. So all of those things are very positive and good momentum for nationals.”
The top 20 finish was her 40th of her career, which is a school record, and her 15 greens hit on the day was a team-best.
Junior Alison Whitaker opened the first three holes with three consecutive bogeys before playing spectacular golf the final 16 holes. A product of Melbourne, Australia, Whitaker went on to register 13 straight pars before sinking a four-foot birdie putt on No. 17. The two-time All-ACC selection also had a par on No. 18 to close with a 72. For the weekend, Whitaker tied for 34th with a 222.
Whitaker hit 13 greens, nine fairways and 32 putts, while notching 4-of-5 up-and-down attempts. She hit every green on the back nine.
Kim Donovan, a native of Hopkinton, Mass., closed out her weekend with a 75 and tied for 46th with a 224. She opened her day with two pars before hitting her second shot on the 502-yard, par five third hole near the bushes off the left side of the fairway. Donovan hit her third shot into the bunker on the right side of the green and could not get it up and down for par. She then parred the next hole before suffering two straight bogeys on No. 5 and No. 6. Donovan settled down to par the next eight holes and then had two consecutive bogeys on No. 15 and No. 16.
She regained her form on the short 325-yard, par four 17th as she stuck her 88-yard approach to within three feet for birdie. Donovan then suffered a bogey on No. 18 as she could not get up and down from off the side of the green.
After finishing with two straight rounds of 76, junior Yu Young Lee had a 77 on Saturday. Lee, who is from Orlando, Fla., finished the weekend tied for 67th with a 229. She was only one-over-par through nine holes as she rolled in a 15-footer for birdie on No. 9. Lee struggled on the final nine shooting a six-over-par, 41, which included four pars, four bogeys and one double-bogey.
The group of Blumenherst, Jennie Lee, Donovan and Whitaker played the final nine holes on Saturday at a combined two-over-par with five birdies.
The NCAA Championship will take place from May 19-22 at the Caves Valley Golf Club in Owings Mills, Md. Duke has won five NCAA Championships -- 1999, 2002, 2005, 2006 and 2007. The Blue Devils have finished in the top three the past five straight years.
“One step at a time,” commented Brooks on what is next for the Blue Devils. “We are going to get after our short games, get on some golf courses that challenge us in the area. Nothing really different. We are just going to go and do what we can. We have gotten a little bit better as we have gone along here in the spring. I think we are going to be ready.”
Notes:
• After collecting six birdies in each of the first two rounds, Duke finished with eight on Saturday. Amanda Blumenherst notched four of those birdies.
• In three rounds, Jennie Lee hit 35-of-39 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.
• Senior Jennie Lee has counted all 27 rounds she has played this season (27-of-27).
• The tied for sixth place finish in the NCAA East Regional for Duke is the worst finish at a regional since the Blue Devils were 17th in 1997.
Team Results
1 20 Denver, Univ. of +22 F -1 287 296 279 862
2 6 Alabama, U. of +26 F +11 284 291 291 866
3 27 Tennessee +33 F +8 292 293 288 873
4 3 Virginia +34 F +7 290 297 287 874
5 31 Tulane University +36 F +8 292 296 288 876
T6 12 Duke +41 F +10 298 293 290 881
T6 10 North Carolina +41 F +7 291 303 287 881
8 14 Georgia +49 F +17 297 295 297 889
9 37 East Carolina Univ. +52 F +16 283 313 296 892
10 7 Auburn +53 F +15 304 294 295 893
11 23 Vanderbilt +54 F +29 286 299 309 894
12 43 South Carolina +57 F +19 308 290 299 897
13 Coastal Carolina +58 F +20 301 297 300 898
14 46 Furman University +63 F +28 305 290 308 903
15 Florida State Univ. +67 F +23 307 297 303 907
16 30 Florida, U of +68 F +22 305 301 302 908
T17 38 Mississippi, U. of +69 F +29 307 293 309 909
T17 UCF +69 F +18 309 302 298 909
19 Stetson University +76 F +24 309 303 304 916
20 50 Charleston, Coll. of +84 F +32 302 310 312 924
21 Jackson State Univ. +150 F +50 324 336 330 990
Duke Results
T11 Jennie Lee Duke +7 F +4 71 72 74 217
T19 Amanda Blumenherst Duke +9 F -1 77 73 69 219
T34 Alison Whitaker Duke +12 F +2 75 75 72 222
T46 Kimberly Donovan Duke +14 F +5 76 73 75 224
T67 Yu Young Lee Duke +19 F +7 76 76 77 229
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