Beck Shoots Even-Par 72 to Pace Blue Devils

Friday, October 7

Chapel Hill, N.C.

All Day

Duke University

Day One at Tar Heel Invitational

Beck Shoots Even-Par 72 to Pace Blue Devils

10/7/2011 5:03:00 PM | Women's Golf

By: Duke Sports Information

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. - Duke University sophomore Laetitia Beck carded an even-par, 72, on Friday in the opening round of the Tar Heel Invitational to pace the 11th-ranked Blue Devil women's golf team at the 6,285-yard, par 72 Finley Golf Course in Chapel Hill, N.C.

A native of Caesarea, Israel, Beck opened her round with a birdie on the first hole, which was the 369-yard, par four No. 10. She suffered a bogey on the 12th hole, but came back with her second birdie on No. 13. Beck closed the first nine with four pars and a bogey on the 15th to make the turn at even par. She started the final nine with a bogey, but rang off five straight pars before sinking a birdie on No. 7.

Overall, Beck sits tied for 16th, but she will not be competing on Saturday in round two due to observing the Jewish holiday Yom Kippur. Her even par round on Friday marked the fourth round of even or under par on the season.

As a team, Duke struggled on the opening day shooting a 10-over-par, 298, and is 14th overall. Alabama started strong shooting a seven-under-par, 281, to lead by four strokes over LSU (284) and Wake Forest (284). Auburn (287), South Carolina (289), North Carolina (290), N.C. State (291), Michigan State (291), Tennessee (293), Tulane (295), Georgia (295), Louisville (296), Virginia (297) and Duke (298) rounded out the top 14 teams.

Coming off her third collegiate victory in the last tournament, junior Lindy Duncan posted a two-over-par, 74, in the first round and is tied for 43rd. Duncan, who is out of Fort Lauderdale, Fla., posted two birdies on the day. She headed to the final hole looking to get a birdie in order to close at even par but her drive went to the right in the hazard and had to drop. Duncan broke a string of seven consecutive pars with a bogey to close.

Junior Stacey Kim turned in a 75 and is tied for 52nd overall. Kim, who is out of Columbus, Ga., connected on one birdie and played the final nine holes at even par. She hit 10 greens, nine fairways and had 31 putts on the day.

With a five-over-par, 77, sophomore Alejandra Cangrejo is tied for 64th, while freshman Irene Jung turned in an 82 without any birdies. Jung did chip-in from off the green for par on No. 8 as she was 13 feet away. Cangrejo hit nine greens, seven fairways and had 31 putts.

Duke will tee off on Saturday in the second round beginning at 9:45 a.m., along with Arkansas and Virginia.

Live scoring will be available at www.golfstat.com.

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