Blue Devils Start Slow At NCAA East Regional; In Tied For 10th

Thursday, May 10

Baton Rouge, La.

All Day

Duke University

Day One

Blue Devils Start Slow At NCAA East Regional; In Tied For 10th

5/10/2007 12:00:00 AM | Women's Golf

By: Duke Sports Information

BATON ROUGE, LA.-- The second-ranked and top-seeded Duke Women's Golf team will enter the second round of action at the 2007 NCAA East Regional in unfamiliar ground as the Blue Devils shot a solid three-over-par round of 291 on Thursday and are tied for 10th at the 6,403-yard, Par 72 University Club in Baton Rouge, La.

The nice thing about the round is the Blue Devils are only 10 shots out of the lead and five shots out of fifth place. Leading the overall competition is UCLA with a seven-under-par total of 281 followed by Wake Forest (284), Furman (284), Purdue (285), Louisville (286), Alabama (287), LSU (287), South Carolina (290), North Carolina (290), Duke (291) and Texas A&M (291) in the top-10. The top eight teams and top two individuals not on the teams advancing will be awarded an NCAA Championship invitation after 54-holes of the NCAA East Regional.

“This is a course that you can score on and we need to make a few more putts,” said Head Coach Dan Brooks. “Hopefully tomorrow a few more putts will fall. Everybody seems tuned up and ready to go and we played some good golf today. There are teams playing well and this course is scoreable and playable.”

Leading the Duke charge on day one was senior Anna Grzebien as she collected a one-under-par, 71, on Thursday. A product of Narragansett, R.I., Grzebien had a very solid round with one bogey, two birdies, 15 pars and enters the second day in tied for 17th. She opened with seven straight pars and then collected a birdie on the 202-yard, par three eighth hole to go one-under-par. Grzebien then reeled off eight straight pars before notching a birdie on the 488-yard, par five 17th hole. She hit her second shot just short of the green before making an excellent chip within six feet and then nailing the six-foot birdie putt.

“I was pretty consistent today, but I didn't get many putts to fall as the birdies I had were pretty close,” said Grzebien. “I just played one shot of a time, had good targets and it worked out well. It was mostly fairways and greens.”

On the 16th hole, which is a 161-yard, par three, Grzebien hit her tee shot into the bunker and had a tough and long second shot onto the green. She went on to get the ball up and down to save par and continue her momentum.

“That was huge,” said Grzebien of her up and down on the par three No. 16. “It could have been a big hole with the lie I had. I knew if I could just get it out of there it would roll down there. I still make about a six and a half footer for par so that kept me going.”

The current top-ranked golfer in the nation hit the ball very well all day but like the rest of the Blue Devils couldn't make any putts as she finished with a 73, which included two bogies over the final three holes. A product of Scottsdale, Ariz., Blumenherst was the winner of the LSU/Cleveland Golf Classic two months ago with rounds of 68, 69 and 70, but on Thursday she couldn't get the putter going and posted her second straight over-par round, which was a first for her of the spring.

“I could definitely have played better as my putting atrocious,” said Blumenherst. “I didn't have any three putts but I hit the ball close on every hole, but I didn't make the putts. If a few putts fall tomorrow it can be much lower.”

Blumenherst, who has won four tournaments this spring, opened with five straight pars and then collected her first of two birdies of the day on the 517-yard, par five sixth hole. She then made two pars before suffering her first of three bogies on No. 9. Blumenherst played the next six holes at one-under-par as she picked up a birdie on the 146-yard, par three 13th hole. She hit her tee shot on No. 16 into the bunker and had a short shot out of the bunker which led to the bogey. Blumenherst hit her second shot into the greenside bunker on the 18th and just missed a 13-footer for par to close out her round. She is tied for 31st after day one.

“We have a good team with the talent, but we are just going to need to get a few more putts to fall,” said Blumenherst. “This course is not playing extremely difficult. It is really dry so you can hit bomb drives and have wedges into the hole. I wasn't surprised there are teams going low.”

Also notching a 73 on day one was sophomore Jennie Lee, who is from Henderson, Nev. Lee opened her day with a bogey on the first hole, but came back to make a par on No. 2 and then a birdie on the 552-yard, par five third hole. She then had another par but came back with her second bogey of the morning on the 131-yard, par three. Lee went on the make five straight pars and made the turn at two-over-par, 37. She collected her second birdie of the day on the 491-yard, par five to get back to even par but an uncharastic double-bogey on the 16th after a decent tee shot that went just on the fringe. Lee had a three-putt on the hole. She came right back to birdie the next hole, which was a 488-yard, par five, and then had a par on the final hole. Lee is tied for 31st after day one, but struggled on the green like most of the Blue Devils as she finished with 34 putts.

Freshman Alison Whitaker had another solid day for the Blue Devils as she finished with a two-over-par, 74, on day one and is tied for 52nd. A native of Melbourne, Australia, Whitaker opened with seven straight pars before suffering three straight bogies on No. 8, 9 and 10. She regrouped and played the final eight holes at one-under par as she notched birdies on No. 13 and No. 15, but had her fourth bogey of the day on the 14th.

Duke junior Jennifer Pandolfi played the first nine holes at one-over-par as she made the turn at 37, but was four-over-par on the back nine to finish with a 77 and is tied for 82nd. Duke has finished no lower than second in the last seven straight regional competitions and has advanced to the NCAA Championship nine straight years.

As a team, Duke played the par five holes at five-under-par, but was four-over-par on the par three 16th hole. The Blue Devils will tee off on Friday beginning at 1:20 p.m. off the 10th hole.

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