Three Duke Golfers Fire Rounds of 69 at Mason Rudolph

Friday, September 24

Nashville, Tenn.

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Duke University

Day One at Mason Rudolph Championship

Three Duke Golfers Fire Rounds of 69 at Mason Rudolph

9/24/2010 9:11:00 PM | Women's Golf

By: Duke Sports Information

FRANKLIN, Tenn. - Three Duke women's golfers turned in three-under-par rounds of 69 on Friday in the opening day of the 2010 Mason Rudolph Women's Championship, which was being played at the 6,281-yard, par 72 Vanderbilt Legends Club in Franklin, Tenn.

Senior Kim Donovan, sophomore Lindy Duncan and freshman Laetitia Beck each were three-under-par on Friday and tied for 10th overall, which is four shots off the lead. Atop the leaderboard after day one is Michelle Shin of Wake Forest with a seven-under-par, 65.

"We went five under and we counted a four over so that is the neat thing about it," said Duke Head Coach Dan Brooks. "We are excited about the energy on the team right now and feel good about it. We have golf at the top of the list with the team, which is very important to get your energy into what we are all about. Early in the season, that is the challenge -- making sure everyone is focused on the task at hand and we are forming into a team that is doing that. So that is great."

It marks the first time since Oct. 23, 2005 that the Blue Devils have registered three rounds in the 60s on the same day of competition. The last time was at the Stanford Pepsi Intercollegiate when Liz Janangelo (65), Anna Grzebien (67) and Amanda Blumenherst (68) went low to lead Duke to an 18-under-par ledger and the team championship.

As a team, fifth-ranked Duke fired a five-under-par, 283, and is fourth overall through 18 holes of play. The Blue Devils are five shots off leader LSU, who carded a 10-under-par, 278, on Friday. Rounding out the top 10 was Purdue (279), California (279), Duke (283), Georgia (284), UCLA (284), Alabama (285), Florida (286), Southern California (286) and Wake Forest (286).

Duke carded its second straight under-par round after the Blue Devils turned in a 280 to close out the NCAA Fall Preview a couple of weeks ago.

Donovan, who is a product of Hopkinton, Mass., had the hottest start for Duke on Friday with birdies on her first three holes to move to three-under-par. She was hitting her irons tight and didn't have longer than a 10-footer for birdie to start out. She closed the front nine with four pars to go along with bogeys on No. 4 and No. 9 to make the turn at one-under-par, 35. Donovan was flawless on the back nine with seven pars and back-to-back birdies on the 13th and 14th holes to finish with a 69.

"I have watched Kim grow a lot and she is just a lot more of a mature player," commented Brooks. "She looks poised out there, is comfortable in her game and I think that is when you can really make some things happen -- when you are comfortable. You get more and more comfortable in that position. She made a par on No. 16 after hitting it in the hazard on a par three. To not let that become a disaster is what it is all about."

Her back nine included a remarkable par on the 152-yard, par three 16th as she hit her tee shot in the water. Donovan was able to drop on the fringe and sank a 35-foot putt for par. She hit 14 greens, 10 fairways and had 28 putts on the day. Her round of 69 marks the second straight 18-hole ledger in the 60s for Donovan, which is a first in her four years at Duke.

A native of Fort Lauderdale, Fla., Duncan turned in her third consecutive round of under par on Friday with a 69. She opened her day with five pars and a bogey on the third hole before notching her first birdie of the day on the 473-yard, par four No. 7. Duncan had a bogey on the eighth and par on No. 9 to make the turn at one-over-par, 38. She closed her day with four birdies over her final nine holes on No. 10, No. 11, No. 14 and No. 18. She hit a team-high 17 greens, 10 fairways and had 32 putts in round one.

Beck, who is from Caesarea, Israel, collected her second straight under par round with a 69 on day one. The 18 holes could have been even better as she totaled five birdies and was four-under-par heading to No. 15 but suffered a double-bogey. Beck regrouped well to close with two pars and a birdie on No. 17. Beck hit 14 greens, seven fairways and totaled 29 putts on Friday.

Freshman Alejandra Cangrejo closed out her day with a birdie on No. 18 to finish with Duke's fourth counting score of the day at four-over-par, 76. Courtney Ellenbogen added a 77 for the Blue Devils with one birdie in her round. Cangrejo is tied for 68th, while Ellenbogen is tied for 76th heading into day two.

As a team, Duke collected 19 birdies on the day.

Seeing her first action of the 2010-11 campaign as an individual sophomore Stacey Kim notched a 79 and is tied for 85th.

Duke will tee off on Saturday morning beginning at 8:45 a.m., along with UCLA and Georgia.

- d - u - k - e -

1 Team Scores
1 LSU 278 -10
T2 Purdue 279 -9
T2 California 279 -9
4 Duke 283 -5
T5 Georgia 284 -4
T5 UCLA 284 -4
7 Alabama, U. of 285 -3
T8 Florida, U of 286 -2
T8 Southern California 286 -2
T8 Wake Forest 286 -2
T11 North Carolina 289 +1
T11 Vanderbilt 289 +1
13 Oklahoma State 293 +5
T14 Auburn 294 +6
T14 Texas 294 +6
16 Stanford 298 +10
17 Charleston, Coll. of 307 +19

Start Finish Player Team Scores
- 1 Michelle Shin Wake Forest 65 -7
- T2 Tessa Teachman LSU 67 -5
- T2 Brooke Pancake Alabama, U. of 67 -5
- T2 Maude-Aimee LeBlanc Purdue 67 -5
- T5 Camilla Lennarth Alabama, U. of 68 -4
- T5 Numa Gulyanamitta Purdue 68 -4
- T5 Andrea Watts Florida, U of 68 -4
- T5 Emilie Burger Georgia 68 -4
- T5 Pia Halbig California 68 -4
- T10 Mary Michael Maggio LSU 69 -3
- T10 Laetitia Beck Duke 69 -3
- T10 Kim Donovan Duke 69 -3
- T10 Courtney McKim Oklahoma State 69 -3
- T10 Lindy Duncan Duke 69 -3
- T10 Nicola Roessler California 69 -3
- T10 Stephanie Kono UCLA 69 -3
- T17 Megan McChrystal LSU 70 -2
- T17 Marta Silva Georgia 70 -2
- T17 Lisa McCloskey Southern California 70 -2
- T17 Victoria Park Oklahoma State 70 -2
- T17 Haley Stephens Texas 70 -2
- T17 Ani Gulugian UCLA 70 -2
- T17 Daniela Holmqvist California 70 -2
- T17 Nicole Vandermade Texas 70 -2
- T25 Alexandra Stewart Purdue 71 -1
- T25 Megan Grehan Vanderbilt 71 -1
- T25 Marina Alex Vanderbilt 71 -1
- T25 Inah Park Southern California 71 -1
- T25 Sally Watson Stanford 71 -1
- T25 Lee Lopez UCLA 71 -1
- T25 Casey Grice North Carolina 71 -1
- T25 Jackie Chang North Carolina 71 -1
- T33 Jacqueline Hedwall LSU 72 E
- T33 Lauren Stratton Vanderbilt 72 E
- T33 Haley Wilson Auburn 72 E
- T33 Cydney Clanton Auburn 72 E
- T33 Marika Lendl Florida, U of 72 E
- T33 Cyna Rodriguez Southern California 72 E
- T33 Amelia Hill Georgia 72 E
- T33 Katherine Perry North Carolina 72 E
- T33 Joanne Lee California 72 E
- T42 Thea Hoffmeister Purdue 73 +1
- T42 O. Kristinsdottir Wake Forest 73 +1
- T42 Laura Gonzalez Purdue 73 +1
- T42 Natalie Sheary Wake Forest 73 +1
- T42 Rebecca Durham Stanford 73 +1
- T42 Jessica Yadloczky Florida, U of 73 +1
- T42 Rachel Morris Southern California 73 +1
- T42 Evan Jensen Florida, U of 73 +1
- T42 Mia Piccio Florida, U of 73 +1
- T51 Courtney Harter Alabama, U. of 74 +2
- T51 Rene Sobolewski * Vanderbilt 74 +2
- T51 Milena Savich Georgia 74 +2
- T51 Brianna Do UCLA 74 +2
- T51 Marta Sanz * Auburn 74 +2
- T51 Carlota Ciganda * Arizona State 74 +2
- T57 Anna Leigh Keith Vanderbilt 75 +3
- T57 Diana Fernandez Auburn 75 +3
- T57 Cheyenne Woods Wake Forest 75 +3
- T57 Patricia Sanz Auburn 75 +3
- T57 Kathryn Miranda Charleston, Coll. of 75 +3
- T57 Catherine O'Donnell North Carolina 75 +3
- T57 Joi Pentin California 75 +3
- T57 Courtney Gunter North Carolina 75 +3
- T57 Madison Pressel Texas 75 +3
- T57 Ainhoa Nogales Charleston, Coll. of 75 +3
- T57 Giulia Molinaro * Arizona State 75 +3
- T68 Sarah Thead * North Carolina 76 +4
- T68 Stephanie Meadow Alabama, U. of 76 +4
- T68 Jennifer Kirby Alabama, U. of 76 +4
- T68 Tess Fordham Georgia 76 +4
- T68 Kristina Wong Stanford 76 +4
- T68 Jocelyn Alford Oklahoma State 76 +4
- T68 Aleja Cangrejo Duke 76 +4
- T68 Lizette Salas Southern California 76 +4
- T76 Courtney Ellenbogen Duke 77 +5
- T76 Megan Rosenfeld * Texas 77 +5
- T76 Anna Martin Charleston, Coll. of 77 +5
- T79 Amalie Valle LSU 78 +6
- T79 Karlin Beck Auburn 78 +6
- T79 Piper Miller Stanford 78 +6
- T79 Josephine Janson Oklahoma State 78 +6
- T79 Sydney Burlison Stanford 78 +6
- T79 Tiffany Lua UCLA 78 +6
- T85 Hillary Wood Oklahoma State 79 +7
- T85 Rebecca Lee-Bentham Texas 79 +7
- T85 Stacey Kim * Duke 79 +7
- T88 Julia Thead Vanderbilt 80 +8
- T88 Gaby Balit * Vanderbilt 80 +8
- T88 Leigh Whittaker Charleston, Coll. of 80 +8
- 91 Katelyn Sepmoree Texas 81 +9
- 92 Alexandra Bodemann Wake Forest 82 +10
- 93 Vanessa Koechli Charleston, Coll. of 87 +15