Blumenherst Falls In A Playoff; Duke Finishes Third In The ACC Championship

GREENSBORO, N.C. ? Duke's 13-year streak of winning the ACC Championship came to a close on Sunday at the 6,355-Yard, Par 71 Sedgefield Country Club in Greensboro, N.C., as Wake Forest claimed its fourth title and the first since 1995. Blue Devil senior Amanda Blumenherst fell in a playoff for the ACC Individual title breaking her three-year run.

Wake Forest won by 24 strokes with rounds of 286, 296 and 287 for a total of 869. North Carolina finished second with an 893, while Duke was third with an 894. The Blue Devils notched rounds of 309, 290 and 295. Duke had previously won ACC titles from 1996-2008. Rounding out the field was N.C. State (896), Virginia (907), Florida State (933), Maryland (941), Miami (981) and Boston College (988).

“It was a pretty long streak so you have to feel great about it,” said Duke Head Coach Dan Brooks. “I guess streaks have to come to an end. It hurts a little bit -- we like to win. It has been great to be on top. We are going to do everything we can to get back on top.”

A native of Scottsdale, Ariz., Blumenherst turned in a final round of 73 for a total of 214, which was tied with Wake Forest's Natalie Sheary for the top individual. Blumenherst sank a six-foot birdie putt on No. 18 to send the individual title into a playoff, after suffering a bogey on the hole before.

“The ACC keeps getting better and better,” said Blumenherst. “Definitely since my freshman year, I can see a really big improvement in everyone's game. The competition keeps getting tighter. It is tough not winning as a team after all of those years and also individually.”

On the first playoff hole, both golfers were sitting well after two shots but Blumenherst's approach from 88 yards was held up by the wind and landed on the front of the green. She had a 40-foot putt for birdie and came up about six feet short. Her par attempt lipped out for bogey and Sheary made her short par putt to win the individual title.

“It was [the same putt as I had before to tie at the end of regulation,” commented Blumenherst on the playoff putt. “I guess I just didn't hit it as hard as I did earlier. It was the exact same line and I even putted it to the same place. I must not have given it enough juice and it broke off at the end.”

Blumenherst had a solid first nine with nine pars, but suffered three birdies out of her first four holes on the back. On No. 10, she was unlucky as her tee shot hit near the edge of the sand trap and went off a rake into the bunker. Blumenherst was forced to blast out of the sand as her ball was near the lip of the bunker. She went on to make a key five-footer for bogey. Then on No. 13, she made a great approach shot after nearly going out of bounds with her tee shot, but had a two-footer lip out for bogey.

“I really didn't pay attention to the score at all until the last hole, when I knew I had to make birdie,” said Blumenherst. “So I really didn't think about her [Natalie] game or Lauren's [Doughtie]. Just played one hole at a time.”

The reigning three-time National Player of the Year, Blumenherst had an incredible fairway shot on the par-five 15th to give her an eagle putt. She went on to two-putt for birdie to take a one-stroke lead in the individual action. Sheary registered a tap-in birdie on the 142-yard, par three 16th to move back into a tie with Blumenherst, while the Duke star notched a great two-putt par.

“I am excited for the way Amanda is playing golf right now and the way she looks on the golf course,” said Brooks. “It is the old Amanda. She won her last tournament and she is getting back to the way she looks when she is winning tournaments. I am really sad for her that she didn't pull this off in the end. I really hurt for Jennie [Lee]. For Jennie to win an ACC [Individual title] would have been a pretty neat thing to. She was so solid. But you have to look at the positives. The positives are both of these players are playing well in their senior year and that bodes well for our team.”

A bogey by Blumenherst on No. 17 gave Sheary a one-stroke lead with one hole remaining but Blumenherst came up huge with a six-foot birdie putt to send it to a playoff on No. 18. For the day, Blumenherst didn't play her best and had two birdies. She finished with rounds of 73, 68 and 73.

Fellow senior Jennie Lee registered a solid tournament with rounds of 72, 70 and 73 to finish third with a 215. A product of Henderson, Nev., Lee began her run on the back nine with a chip-in birdie on the par three 12th from approximately 50 feet. She went on to suffer two straight bogeys, but then two-putted for birdie on the par five 15th hole to move into a tie for the individual lead for a short period. She closed with three consecutive pars to finish one stroke behind the individual leaders.

Lee's third place finish marked the second time in her career she has finished third at the ACC Championship. For the day, she hit 10 greens, nine fairways and had 32 putts.

Junior Alison Whitaker concluded her tournament with a second straight round of 74 to finish tied for 19th with a 228. It marked her third top 20 finish of the season and third consecutive top 20 ledger at the ACC Championship. Whitaker, who is from Melbourne, Australia, had three birdies on the day, including one on No. 18. She finished with 16 greens, seven fairways and 37 putts.

After missing the first day with an illness, junior Yu Young Lee came up big on the final day with a four-over-par, 75. A product of Orlando, Fla., Lee played her final eight holes at one-under-par on the afternoon, including a birdie on No. 15. She posted 35 putts, hit 13 fairways and 13 greens on Sunday.

“I couldn't be prouder of Yu Young Lee,” said Brooks. “She comes in and shoots a 75 today. She has hardly had a golf club in her hand for the last week and a half because she has been having some stomach problems for a while. Yesterday was the first time she laid eyes on this golf course. For her to shoot 75 on a really good Donald Ross golf course -- it just shows me that she has a lot of nerve and she must have been working her tail off to get that score.”

Sophomore Kim Donovan struggled again on Sunday to finish with an 84. For the weekend, she was 30th with a 246 in the individual action, while collecting no birdies and eight pars.

Duke will next await the NCAA Regional announcement on Monday, April 27.

Notes:

? Amanda Blumenherst's three-straight ACC Individual crowns still remains as a first in men's or women's ACC golf history.

? As a team, Duke notched only six birdies in the first round, but came back to notch 10 birdies in round two and eight on the third day.

? With North Carolina finishing ahead of Duke in the team standings, UNC receives one point in the Carlyle Cup standings, which is a year-long competition between Duke and North Carolina. UNC now leads 12.5-8.5.

? Duke's roster was trimmed to only five golfers after the Christmas holiday with freshman Mina Harigae turning professional. Yu Young Lee played in all nine tournaments this season prior to the ACC Championship.

? Overall, Duke has won the ACC Championship in 1984, ?85, ?93, ?96, ?97, ?98, ?99, 2000, ?01, ?02, ?03, ?04, ?05, ?06, ?07 and ?08.

? Ten different Blue Devils have claimed individual honors at the ACC Championship? Mary Anne Widman (1984), Evelyn Orley (1985), Kathi Poppmeier (1994), Jenny Chuasiriporn (1996 & 1997), Beth Bauer (1999), Maria Garcia-Estrada (2000), Nirapathpongporn (2001), Candy Hannemann (2002), Brittany Lang (2004 & 2005), Blumenherst (2006, 2007 and 2008).

- d - u - k - e -

1 2 3 Team Scores
1 1 1 Wake Forest 286 296 287 869 +17
3 5 2 North Carolina 300 306 287 893 +41
5 2 3 Duke 309 290 295 894 +42
4 3 4 North Carolina St. 302 298 296 896 +44
2 4 5 Virginia 295 310 302 907 +55
T6 6 6 Florida State Univ. 317 314 302 933 +81
T6 7 7 Maryland, U. of 317 318 306 941 +89
9 9 8 Miami, U. of 339 326 316 981 +129
8 8 9 Boston College 334 328 326 988 +136

Start Finish Player Team Scores
1 1 Natalie Sheary Wake Forest 66 74 74 214 +1
2 2 Amanda Blumenherst Duke 73 68 73 214 +1
3 3 Jennie Lee Duke 72 70 73 215 +2
4 4 Nannette Hill Wake Forest 70 73 74 217 +4
T11 T5 Jean Chua Wake Forest 73 77 69 219 +6
6 T5 Lauren Doughtie North Carolina St. 74 71 74 219 +6
14 T7 Catherine O'Donnell North Carolina 77 74 70 221 +8
5 T7 Calle Nielson Virginia 69 75 77 221 +8
T11 9 Allie White North Carolina 73 77 72 222 +9
T9 T10 Jessica Hollandsworth Maryland, U. of 74 75 74 223 +10
T15 T10 Macarena Silva Florida State Univ. 76 76 71 223 +10
T15 T10 Allie Bodemann Wake Forest 79 73 71 223 +10
T7 T13 Kathleen Strandberg North Carolina St. 75 73 76 224 +11
T7 T13 Emily Street North Carolina St. 75 73 76 224 +11
T23 15 Whitney Neuhauser Virginia 78 79 68 225 +12
T9 T16 Sydney Crane North Carolina 73 76 77 226 +13
T17 T16 Cheyenne Woods Wake Forest 77 76 73 226 +13
T21 T18 Kate Thomas North Carolina 77 79 71 227 +14
T17 T18 Caroline Westrup Florida State Univ. 75 78 74 227 +14
T19 20 Alison Whitaker Duke 80 74 74 228 +15
T11 21 Kristen Simpson Virginia 74 76 79 229 +16
T19 22 Lene Krog Virginia 74 80 78 232 +19
25 23 Lauren Hunt North Carolina 80 79 74 233 +20
T26 24 Maria Ronderos Miami, U. of 79 81 74 234 +21
T21 T25 Jennifer Hirano Miami, U. of 80 76 81 237 +24
T28 T25 Whitney Wenglasz Florida State Univ. 81 80 76 237 +24
T23 27 Lara Peffley Maryland, U. of 79 78 83 240 +27
31 28 Alexis Holmes Maryland, U. of 80 83 78 241 +28
T33 T29 Kerri Connolly Maryland, U. of 84 82 76 242 +29
T28 T29 Eunice Yim Boston College 84 77 81 242 +29
36 T29 Joanna Saleeby North Carolina St. 86 81 75 242 +29
T26 32 Jennie Arseneault Virginia 78 82 83 243 +30
T33 33 Kelsey Rockey Boston College 86 80 79 245 +32
30 34 Kimberly Donovan Duke 84 78 84 246 +33
32 35 Hannah Thomson Florida State Univ. 85 80 84 249 +36
T33 36 Meghan Martinek Boston College 81 85 84 250 +37
38 T37 Hilary Lawson Maryland, U. of 85 88 78 251 +38
41 T37 Begona Sarabia Miami, U. of 89 86 76 251 +38
37 T37 Stephanie Hu Boston College 83 86 82 251 +38
T39 40 Lacey Agnew Florida State Univ. 87 87 81 255 +42
T39 41 Anabelle Paulino Miami, U. of 91 83 85 259 +46
44 - Meghan Chapman North Carolina St. 78 A 71 - -
42 - Yu Young Lee Duke A 84 75 - -
43 - Natalie Draganza Boston College W W W - -