Blue Devils Fall in Match Play at ACC Championship

Saturday, April 15

Greensboro, N.C. (Sedgefield Country Club)

Duke University

ACC Championship vs. Clemson (Semifinals)

Photo by: Duke Athletics

Blue Devils Fall in Match Play at ACC Championship

4/15/2023 4:09:00 PM | Women's Golf

Scoring

GREENSBORO, N.C. – The Duke women's golf team had its run at the 2023 ACC Championship come to an end with a 3-1-1 loss to Clemson on Saturday at the 6,092-yard, par-72 Sedgefield Country Club in Greensboro, N.C.

The Blue Devils, seeded No. 5 heading into the ACC Championship, made a great run into match play by finishing second in stroke play, but ran into a tough Clemson team on Saturday.

How It Happened
•   Freshman Andie Smith started things off for the Blue Devils on Saturday morning against Melena Barrientos. With a par on hole No. 1, Smith took a 1UP lead, but Barrientos came back to register a birdie on No. 3 to tie the score. Barrientos took her first lead of the day with a par on No. 6, but Smith responded on No. 8 as she hit her wedge from 55 yards to seven feet for birdie to tie the score. Smith 2-putted for birdie on the par-5 No. 10 to take the lead again, but Barrientos tied the score with a birdie of her own at No. 12. Smith drained a 15-foot birdie on No. 13 to take the lead for good and put the match away with a 15-foot birdie on No. 17 with a 2&1 victory.
•   With Duke holding a 1-0 lead, Clemson came back with a win of its own as Isabella Rawl posted a 5&4 win over Megan Furtney. Rawl birdied No. 1 to take her first lead, but Furtney's par on No. 3 tied the score. With a par on No. 6, Rawl regained the lead and never relinquished it winning 5&4.
•   Duke senior Erica Shepherd dropped the first hole and trailed the entire match with Chloe Holder, before falling 3&2. Shepherd birdied No. 5 to cut the Holder lead to 1UP, but Holder birdied No. 12 to go 2UP and closed the match on No. 16 with a par.
•   Blue Devil junior Anne Chen opened with back-to-back pars and led, 2UP, early, against Savannah Grewal. Grewal came back with a par and birdie the next two holes to tie the score. Another birdie on No. 8 by Grewal gave her a 1UP lead, but Chen responded with a birdie of her own on No. 9 to tie the score. Grewal birdied No. 10 and led 1UP, but Chen birdied No. 13 to tie the score once again. Chen took the lead back with a par on No. 14 and led 1UP heading into the 17th hole. Grewal stuck her approach to inches for birdie to send the match to hole No. 18. Chen needed to drain a 20-foot birdie to extend the match on No. 18 and she came through in the clutch. On the first extra hole, both golfers birdied No. 10 and were on No. 11 when the match was clinched by the Tigers.
•   Coming off shooting 12-under the last 54 holes, Duke's Phoebe Brinker was paired with Annabelle Pancake, who shot 7-under in stroke play. Pancake birdied the first hole and took the lead, before extending the advantage to 3UP through eight holes. Brinker sank a 25-foot birdie on No. 9 to cut into the lead. She sank a 5-foot birdie on No. 12 and then parred No. 13 to tie the score with five holes remaining. Brinker bogeyed No. 14 to drop back once again, both golfers birdied the par-5 hole No. 15 and then Pancake stuck her approach on 17 for a birdie to close the match.

Notes
•   Duke competed in the match play portion of the ACC Championship for the third straight year, since the league moved to match play to decide the title.
•   The Blue Devils fell in the semifinals for the second straight year, after winning the title in 2021 at Sedgefield.
•   Phoebe Brinker dropped her first match-play contest of her career in the ACC Championship as she was 2-0-1 in two appearances.
•   Andie Smith is now 4-1 in match play since joining the Blue Devils.

Quotes
"Well, it was a good conference championship from the standpoint that prior to NC State, we hadn't been having a really good spring. And we now have had two tournaments where we've played Duke golf. It didn't come out in the end the way we wanted it to, but these two tournaments were what Duke does -- bodes well for the future." -- Duke head coach Dan Brooks

What is Next
Duke awaits the NCAA Regional selection show, which will take place on Wednesday, April 26 at 1 p.m., live on the Golf Channel.

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

#GoDuke

ACC Championship Match Play Semifinals
Clemson def. Duke 3-1-1
Andie Smith (DU) def. Melena Barrientos (CU) 2&1
Anne Chen (DU) vs. Savannah Grewal (CU) Tied
Isabella Rawl (CU) def. Megan Furtney (DU) 5&4
Chloe Holder (CU) def. Erica Shepherd (DU) 3&2
Annabelle Pancake (CU) def. Phoebe Brinker (DU) 2&1
Order of finish: 1, 3, 4, 5