Blue Devils Finish Strong Heading into Final Round of the ANNIKA

Tuesday, September 13

Lake Elmo, Minn. (Royal Golf Club)

Duke University

Annika Intercollegiate

Photo by: Lindy Brown, Duke Communications

Blue Devils Finish Strong Heading into Final Round of the ANNIKA

9/13/2022 5:39:00 PM | Women's Golf

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LAKE ELMO, Minn. – The Duke women's golf team rolled in 17 birdies on the back nine on Tuesday at the ANNIKA Intercollegiate Presented by 3M, as the Blue Devils shook off a slow start to finish with a 4-under-par, 284, at the 6,408-yard, par 72 Royal Golf Club in Lake Elmo, Minn.

With 18 holes remaining, Duke is in fourth with a 36-hole ledger of even-par 576, after carding rounds of 292 and 284. Virginia continues to hold the lead with a 9-under, 567, while Wake Forest (573), South Carolina (574), Michigan (576), Duke (576), Texas (579), Florida (580), Oregon (581), Arizona State (585) and Auburn (593) round out the top 10 teams.

Blue Devil junior Phoebe Brinker and rookie Andie Smith each fired 3-under-par scores of 69 on Tuesday to pace Duke in round two. Brinker, who hails from Wilmington, Del., moved up to a tie for seventh with a 3-under-par, 141. Virginia's Amanda Sambach leads the individual action with an 11-under, 133.


How It Happened
•   Duke featured a slow start to the day with only four birdies and all five golfers over par on the front nine. Overall, the Blue Devils made the turn at 8-over-par.
•   On the back it was a different story, as Duke started rolling in birdies and finished with 17 on the back nine. The Blue Devils shot 12-under-par over the final nine holes to move from 10th-place on the leaderboard up to a tie for fourth.
•   Freshman Andie Smith went out first for the Blue Devils. She was 3-over-par over the first six holes, but was able to get her putter rolling starting with an 8-footer for birdie on No. 8. Smith then birdied four out of the first five holes on the back nine as she drained three putts over 25 or more feet for birdie. She closed with a 10-footer for birdie on No. 16 and a two-putt birdie on the par-5 No. 18. Smith hit 13 greens, 13 fairways and rolled 29 putts.
•   After turning in an even-par, 72, on day one, Phoebe Brinker birdied four out of the final seven holes on Tuesday to finish with a 3-under, 69. She was 1-over through 11 holes and just couldn't get many putts to drop until the back nine. Brinker dialed in her irons and stuck approaches on No. 12 and No. 13 to four feet and six feet, respectively, and made the birdie putts. She then hit her 54-degree wedge on No. 14 from 95 yards to nine feet and birdied her third straight. She two-putted for birdie on No. 18 to finish the day.
•   Junior Anne Chen also couldn't get putts to drop early and made the turn at 3-over, 39. She caught fire on the back nine by hitting approach shots to within four feet on three straight holes – No. 10-12 – and making birdie. Chen hit her 9-iron on No. 10 from 121 yards to three feet and then hit her 9-iron again on No. 11 from 129 yards to four feet, before using a grip down 4-hybrid on No. 12 from 180 yards and placed it to three feet for another birdie. She parred the next five holes and closed the day with a bogey on No. 18 to finish with 73. Chen is tied for 44th overall.
•   Erica Shepherd carded a 73 on Tuesday and enters the final round in a tie for 17th with a 145. She opened the day by sinking an 18-footer for par on No. 1 and then rolled in a 10-footer for birdie on No. 3. Shepherd then was 3-over-par during the next seven holes, but closed strong with a 2-under-par ledger over her final eight holes. This included a six-foot birdie on No. 11 and a two-putt birdie on No. 18. Her first putt on No. 18 was from 92 feet and was labeled as "the toughest putt I have ever had."
•   After a day one score of 1-under, 71, sophomore Rylie Heflin signed for a 76 on Tuesday and is tied for 27th on the individual leaderboard. She collected one of only eight birdies on hole No. 1 on Tuesday to open the day, but was six-over-par over the next 10 holes. Heflin posted back-to-back birdies coming in as she hit her 58-degree wedge from 65 yards on No. 15 to three feet, while sticking her 5-iron from 180 yards to 10 feet on No. 16.

Notes
•   After carding 16 birdies on day one as a team, Duke had 17 birdies on the back nine and a total of 21 birdies on the day. The 17 birdies on the back nine was a team best.
•   The 3-under-par, 69, for Smith was a career best. Smith carded six birdies on the back nine and seven for the day. She also posted two up-and-downs over the first four holes of the day.
•   Brinker hit 14 greens, 12 fairways and had 32 putts in round two. The 14 greens were a Duke best for the day.
•   Duke leads the field with a 3.13 scoring average on par-3 holes.
•   The Blue Devils own 37 birdies over the first 36 holes, which is tied for second behind South Carolina (40).
•   Smith is tied for first in the tournament with a 2.88 scoring average on par-3 holes.
•   Duke is coming off a runner-up finish a year ago at the ANNIKA Intercollegiate.

Quotes
"Really taking each hole at a time, hitting my shots to a good spot on the green where I wanted to and just giving it a good roll on the putts and really focusing on my speed." – Duke freshman Andie Smith on what went well for her today.

"Yeah, it did. I kind of put it on cruise control and just went with what I was feeling and worked out for me." – Duke freshman Andie Smith on getting her putter working on the back nine today.

"I am real proud of the team. These greens are rolling nicely, but there were some very tough pins. I am proud of them for hitting the ball to the right place. They did a great job." -- Duke head coach Dan Brooks

Up Next
Duke will tee off on Wednesday morning at 9 a.m. (ET) in the final round along with Michigan and Texas.

To stay up to date with Blue Devils women's golf, follow the team on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook by searching "DukeWGOLF".

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