CHAPEL HILL, N.C. – Junior
Erica Shepherd continued her solid play Saturday at the Tar Heel Invitational as she carded a 2-under-par, 70, and is in second place individually heading into the final round at the 6,393-yard, par-72 Finley Golf Course in Chapel Hill, N.C.
A product of Greenwood, Ind., Shepherd carded a career-best 36-hole ledger of 8-under-par, 136, and is only three shots behind Rachel Kuehn of Wake Forest, who sits at 11-under, 133. Coming off registering a career-low 66 on day one, Shepherd posted a 2-under, 70, on Saturday and is tied with Melena Barrientos of Clemson for second.
Shepherd opened day two with four pars, before rolling in a 6-footer for birdie on the 145-yard, par-3 fifth hole. She added seven more pars and then collected her second birdie on No. 13 with a 13-foot putt. After missing the fairway on the 404-yard, par-4 15th, Shepherd suffered her lone bogey of the day. She nearly drained another birdie on No. 17, but closed strong as she hit her 9-iron from 130 yards on the 18th and sank the four-foot birdie to finish with a 70. Shepherd hit 10 fairways, 15 greens and rolled 31 putts on Saturday.
Wake Forest holds the team lead with a 16-under, 560, while Virginia Tech (564), Clemson (565), Michigan (570), Vanderbilt (573), Duke (573), Alabama (573), Kentucky (574), North Carolina (577) and Mississippi State (577) round out the top 10 teams. The Blue Devils have carded rounds of 286 and 287 over the first two days.
Freshman
Rylie Heflin signed for a career-low 2-under-par, 70, as she moved up to tied for 27th with an even-par, 144. On Saturday, Heflin moved into the red early by draining a 5-foot birdie on the 522-yard, par-5 third hole. She then suffered back-to-back bogeys on No. 5 and No. 6 to drop to 1-over-par. As she was getting set to make the turn, Heflin hit her pitching wedge from 115 yards to 15 feet and sank the birdie to get back to even. She suffered another bogey on No. 11, but came back strong with her first collegiate eagle on the 481-yard, par-5 13th. From 210 yards out, Heflin hit her 3-hybrid to 20 feet and rolled in the putt to get back to 1-under. She closed with four pars and a six-foot birdie on No. 17. Heflin, who is from Avondale, Pa., hit 15 greens, 13 fairways and had 33 putts on the day.
"I definitely had a great session warming up this morning and that definitely gave me a lot of confidence," said Heflin. "While I was on the course, I just trusted everything and when I had a good hole I wouldn't get caught up in it and I would just build off of it. That really helped me. Yesterday, I struggled a little with putting and worked on it after the round yesterday. This morning I just felt much better about it and it was able to show on the course."
Continuing her solid play was sophomore
Anne Chen, who netted a 1-over, 73, and is tied for 23rd with a 143. Chen opened the day with three pars and then collected a 13-foot birdie to move to 1-under. She went on to make the turn with a 1-under, 35, as she sank a 23-foot birdie on No. 9. A native of Sugar Land, Texas, Chen played the back nine at 2-over-par to finish with a 73. She hit 10 fairways, 12 greens and had 32 putts.
Sophomore
Phoebe Brinker notched 14 pars on the day en route to a 2-over, 74. She was limited to only one birdie on Saturday, which came on the 388-yard, par-4 11th hole as she hit her pitching wedge from 124 yards to two feet and sank the putt. The Wilmington, Del., product hit 13 greens, eight fairways and had 33 putts.
With one of the best finishes for the Blue Devils in the second round, junior
Megan Furtney was even-par over her final nine holes with two birdies, two bogeys and five pars. Furtney, who hails from St. Charles, Ill., sank a 30-foot birdie on No. 15 and then hit her 54-degree wedge to 11 feet for birdie on No. 17. She was even par over seven holes on the front nine, but was 4-over on the other two holes as she finished with a 4-over, 76. She hit 11 greens, seven fairways and had 31 putts.
Duke will tee off Sunday beginning at 8:45 a.m., with a shotgun start off holes four, five, six and seven along with Vanderbilt, Alabama and Kentucky.
#GoDuke
Duke Results
1 T2
Erica Shepherd Duke 66 70 136 -8
T9 T23
Anne Chen Duke 70 73 143 -1
T53 T27
Rylie Heflin Duke 74 70 144 E
T71 T72
Phoebe Brinker Duke 76 74 150 +6
T93 T91
Megan Furtney Duke 83 76 159 +15
1 2 Team Scores
2 1 Wake Forest 283 277 560 -16
1 2 Virginia Tech 282 282 564 -12
T4 3 Clemson 285 280 565 -11
T4 4 Michigan 285 285 570 -6
T6 T5 Vanderbilt 286 287 573 -3
T6 T5 Duke 286 287 573 -3
T6 T5 Alabama 286 287 573 -3
3 8 Kentucky 284 290 574 -2
9 T9 North Carolina 289 288 577 +1
11 T9 Mississippi State 293 284 577 +1
14 11 Michigan State 296 285 581 +5
10 12 Furman 290 295 585 +9
T12 T13 UNCW 295 293 588 +12
T12 T13 North Carolina State 295 293 588 +12
16 15 Ohio State 298 291 589 +13
17 16 Maryland 299 291 590 +14
15 17 SMU 297 294 591 +15
19 18 Rollins College 301 295 596 +20
18 19 North Carolina 300 309 609 +33
Start Finish Player Team Scores
T9 1 Rachel Kuehn Wake Forest 70 63 133 -11
1 T2
Erica Shepherd Duke 66 70 136 -8
T9 T2 Melena Barrientos Clemson 70 66 136 -8
T9 4 Krista Junkkari North Carolina 70 68 138 -6
T18 T5 Hailey Borja Michigan 71 68 139 -5
T39 T5 Becca DiNunzio Virginia Tech 73 66 139 -5
T4 T5 Emily Mahar Virginia Tech 69 70 139 -5
T4 T8 Kayla Smith North Carolina 69 71 140 -4
T9 T8 Celina Sattelkau Vanderbilt 70 70 140 -4
T2 T8 Benedetta Moresco Alabama 68 72 140 -4
T18 T11 Julia Lopez Ramirez Mississippi State 71 70 141 -3
T4 T11 Haylin Harris * Michigan State 69 72 141 -3
T27 T11 Ivy Shepherd Clemson 72 69 141 -3
T27 T11 Polly Mack Alabama 72 69 141 -3
T18 T11 Mimi Rhodes Wake Forest 71 70 141 -3
T2 T11 Laney Frye Kentucky 68 73 141 -3
T53 T17 Hannah Levi Mississippi State 74 68 142 -2
T18 T17 Anna Morgan Furman 71 71 142 -2
T27 T17 Emilie Overas Alabama 72 70 142 -2
T39 T17 Jensen Castle Kentucky 73 69 142 -2
T9 T17 Carolina Lopez-Chacarra Wake Forest 70 72 142 -2
T18 T17 Maria Vittoria Corbi Maryland 71 71 142 -2
T9 T23 Tess Davenport Vanderbilt 70 73 143 -1
T9 T23
Anne Chen Duke 70 73 143 -1
T39 T23 Keera Foocharoen Virginia Tech 73 70 143 -1
T18 T23 Jillian Bourdage Ohio State 71 72 143 -1
T53 T27
Rylie Heflin Duke 74 70 144 E
T27 T27 Anika Dy Michigan 72 72 144 E
T27 T27 Callista Rice Clemson 72 72 144 E
T27 T27 Monet Chun Michigan 72 72 144 E
T18 T27 Savannah Grewal Clemson 71 73 144 E
T27 T27 Virunpat Olankitkunchai Wake Forest 72 72 144 E
T39 T33 Virginie Ding Vanderbilt 73 72 145 +1
T9 T33 Sarah-Eve Rheaume Furman 70 75 145 +1
T27 T33 Vanessa Knecht * Wake Forest 72 73 145 +1
T64 T33 Valentina Rossi Michigan State 75 70 145 +1
T53 T33 Valery Plata Michigan State 74 71 145 +1
T9 T33 Ashley Lau Michigan 70 75 145 +1
T39 T33 Ashley Chow SMU 73 72 145 +1
T39 T33 Lauren Olivares North Carolina State 73 72 145 +1
T39 T33 Lauren Walsh Wake Forest 73 72 145 +1
T53 T33 Maria Villanueva Kentucky 74 71 145 +1
T27 T33 Patricie Mackova Maryland 72 73 145 +1
T4 T33 Symone Henriques Virginia Tech 69 76 145 +1
T53 T45 Mallory Fobes UNCW 74 72 146 +2
T27 T45 Blair Stockett Mississippi State 72 74 146 +2
T39 T45 Phu Khine UNCW 73 73 146 +2
T39 T45 Mikaela Schulz Michigan 73 73 146 +2
T39 T45 Serena Shah SMU 73 73 146 +2
T4 T45 Marissa Wenzler Kentucky 69 77 146 +2
T53 T45 Elizabeth Kondal Rollins College 74 72 146 +2
T53 T45 Faith Choi Ohio State 74 72 146 +2
T27 T53 Sophia Burnett Furman 72 75 147 +3
T53 T53 Aleks Golde North Carolina 74 73 147 +3
T71 T53 Leila Raines Michigan State 76 71 147 +3
T64 T53 Aneka Seumanutafa Ohio State 75 72 147 +3
T18 T53 Ginnie Lee Virginia Tech 71 76 147 +3
T64 T58 Malu Brinker UNCW 75 73 148 +4
T39 T58 Louise Yu Vanderbilt 73 75 148 +4
T18 T58 Nicole Lu North Carolina 71 77 148 +4
T71 T58 Madi Olson SMU 76 72 148 +4
T64 T58 Inja Fric North Carolina State 75 73 148 +4
T53 T58 Lea Klimentova North Carolina State 74 74 148 +4
T64 T58 Brooke Biermann Michigan State 75 73 148 +4
T71 T58 Panassaya Somchit Maryland 76 72 148 +4
T77 T66 Ariel Yu Vanderbilt 77 72 149 +5
T77 T66 Abbey Daniel Mississippi State 77 72 149 +5
T39 T66 Stephany Kim North Carolina 73 76 149 +5
T39 T66 Deborah Spair UNCW 73 76 149 +5
T27 T66 Nina Rissi Michigan State 72 77 149 +5
T64 T66 Berni Villalba Rollins College 75 74 149 +5
T77 T72 Crista Izuzquiza North Carolina 77 73 150 +6
T71 T72
Phoebe Brinker Duke 76 74 150 +6
T39 T72 Isabel Amezcua North Carolina State 73 77 150 +6
T77 T75 Savannah Hylton Furman 77 74 151 +7
T77 T75 Natalie Ambruester North Carolina State 77 74 151 +7
T53 T75 Sarah Edwards Alabama 74 77 151 +7
T77 T78 Anna Wills UNCW 77 75 152 +8
T64 T78 Katie James SMU 75 77 152 +8
T53 T78 Jennifer Jung Rollins College 74 78 152 +8
T85 T81 Kyra Cox Furman 78 75 153 +9
T71 T81 Lauren Miller Mississippi State 76 77 153 +9
T85 T81 Skylar Thompson Ohio State 78 75 153 +9
T91 T81 Carla Alvarez Perez Rollins College 82 71 153 +9
T77 T85 Natalia Aseguinolaza North Carolina 77 77 154 +10
T85 T85 Kristin Jamieson Ohio State 78 76 154 +10
T77 T87 Kennedy Pedigo SMU 77 78 155 +11
90 T87 Angela Garvin Maryland 80 75 155 +11
89 T89 Nicole Adam North Carolina 79 78 157 +13
T71 T89 Riley Quartermain North Carolina 76 81 157 +13
T93 T91
Megan Furtney Duke 83 76 159 +15
95 T91 Lindsay May Clemson 84 75 159 +15
T91 T91 Marta Lopez Echevarria Kentucky 82 77 159 +15
T93 94 Karla Vazquez Setz Maryland 83 77 160 +16
T85 95 Katharina Hesse Rollins College 78 83 161 +17
96 - Angelica Moresco Alabama D 76 - -