Blue Devils Advance to Championship of Wolfpack Match Play

Monday, April 3

Raleigh, N.C. (Lonnie Poole Golf Club)

Duke University

Wolfpack Match Play

Photo by: Kelsey Groff / Duke Athletics

Blue Devils Advance to Championship of Wolfpack Match Play

4/3/2023 7:54:00 PM | Women's Golf

Scoring Gallery

RALEIGH – The fourth-seeded Duke women's golf team collected a pair of 3-2 wins over host NC State and top-seeded South Carolina on Monday to advance to the championship of the Wolfpack Match Play Invitational, which is being contested at the Lonnie Poole Golf Course in Raleigh, N.C.

The Blue Devils will face sixth-seeded North Carolina on Tuesday in the championship beginning at 9:10 a.m., off hole No. 1. Duke senior Megan Furtney was the only Blue Devil to win both of her matches on Monday, while all five Duke golfers won at least one match on the day.

How It Happened – Duke 3, NC State 2 (Quarterfinals)
•   Fourth-seeded Duke and fifth-seeded NC State went off on hole No. 10 to open their match in the morning.
•   The Blue Devils held leads in all five matches over the first nine holes.
•   After Isabel Amezcua took a 1UP lead on hole No. 11, but Duke's Megan Furtney parred No. 12 to tie the match. Furtney drained a key 12-foot par putt on No. 14 to keep the match tied and then drained a 15-foot birdie on No. 15 to take her first lead of the match. She drained an 8-footer for birdie on No. 16 and then parred No. 17 to go ahead, 3UP. Furtney never trailed the rest of the way winning, 2&1.
•   Caitlin Whitehead took a 1UP lead with a par on No. 12, but Blue Devil junior Phoebe Brinker won back-to-back holes (No. 13 and No. 14) to take a 1UP lead. On No. 14, she rolled in a 15-footer for birdie. After Whitehead birdied No. 17 to tie the match, the contest remained all square until Brinker won No. 3 with a par. Brinker never relinquished the lead after that as she won No. 4, No. 5 and No. 6 to close the match with a 4&3 win.
•   Duke was able to get its third win of the day to clinch the victory as Anne Chen defeated Natalie Armbruester, 3&2. Armbruester took the first lead on No. 14 with a par, but Chen collected a birdie on No. 17 to tie the match. Chen parred No. 18 to take her first lead and would never relinquish the lead the rest of the match. Chen got hot on her second nine birding four straight holes from No. 2-5 to go ahead, 3UP. She closed the match with a par on No. 16.
•   After holding a lead on eight of the first 11 holes, Erica Shepherd's opponent, Vania Simont, got hot on the second nine by birding back-to-back holes on No. 4 and No. 5 to take a 2UP lead. Simont would go on to win, 2&1, as the golfers tied the final three holes they played.
•   Duke's Andie Smith built as big as a 2UP lead through seven holes, but Lauren Olivares came back to tie the match with a par on No. 1 (their 10th hole). Olivares birdied No. 4 to take a 1UP lead, but Smith tied the match with a par on No. 6. After a par on No. 8, Olivares took a 1UP lead and Smith wasn't able to win the final hole on her way to dropping the match.

How It Happened – Duke 3, South Carolina 2 (Semifinals)
•   In the semifinals, fourth-seeded Duke faced top-seeded South Carolina and opened the match on hole No. 1.
•   Duke's Erica Shepherd was able to put the first point on the board for Duke as she defeated Katherine Muzi 4&2. After trailing by as many as two holes on the front nine, Shepherd won hole No. 7 and then birdied No. 8 to tie the match. Muzi regained the lead with a par on No. 9, but Shepherd parred No. 10 to even the contest once again. Shepherd won hole No. 11 and then sank a 5-foot birdie on No. 12 to take a 2UP lead and would close the match on No. 16.
•   Going off last for the Blue Devils, Andie Smith never trailed against Mia Sandtorv Lussand and she registered a 3&2 win. Smith took her first lead on No. 4, but Lussand birdied No. 5 to tie the match. On No. 6, Smith parred to regain the lead and she wouldn't let it go the rest of the match. She had a tap-in birdie on No. 7 to go 2UP and was solid the rest of the way.
•   Phoebe Brinker trailed for 11 of the first 16 holes against Mathilde Claisse, but won hole No. 16 with a par and birdied No. 17 to tie the match. Both golfers parred No. 18 to send the match to extra holes where Claisse won on the match on the first playoff hole.
•   Anne Chen also had her match go to extra holes, after holding a 1UP lead heading to No. 18. Justine Fournand birdied her final hole to tie the match. On the first playoff hole, Fournand won.
•   As Brinker and Chen were finishing their matches, it all came down to Duke's Megan Furtney and Louise Rydqvist of South Carolina. Furtney won the first hole and held at least a 1UP lead for the entire match. After Rydqvist drained a 30-foot birdie on No. 2, Furtney sank an 8-footer for birdie to halve the hole. She extended her lead to 2UP after a 2-putt birdie on the par-5 seventh. Furtney dropped hole No. 10 and held a 1UP lead throughout the rest of the match. Leading 1UP heading to No. 18, Furtney had a solid tee shot and then 2-putted for par to win the match and send Duke into the championship.

Notes
•   Sophomore Rylie Heflin also played Louisville's Ryann Honea in an exhibition match in the morning and won the final hole to win 1UP.
•   In the afternoon, Heflin was dominant defeating Maline Kraus of Virginia, 6&5.
•   Megan Furtney is 3-1-1 in two appearances in the Wolfpack Match Play.
•   Erica Shepherd now owns a career match play record of 13-6-1.
•   North Carolina defeated seventh-seeded Virginia Tech (4-0-1) in the semifinals and third-seeded Virginia, 3-2, in the quarterfinals.

Next Match
Duke will face sixth-seeded North Carolina on Tuesday in the championship with a start time slated for 9:10 a.m.

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Quarterfinals
Duke 3, NC State 2
Megan Furtney (Duke) def. Isabel Amezcua (NCSU) 2&1
Anne Chen (Duke) def. Natalie Armbruester (NCSU) 3&2
Phoebe Brinker (Duke) def. Caitlin Whitehead (NCSU) 4&3
Vania Simont (NCSU) def. Erica Shepherd (Duke) 2&1
Lauren Olivares (NCSU) def. Andie Smith (Duke) 1UP

Semifinals
Duke 3, South Carolina 2
Mathilde Claisse (SC) def. Phoebe Brinker (Duke) 1UP in 19 holes
Justine Fournand (SC) def. Anne Chen (Duke) 1UP in 19 holes
Erica Shepherd (Duke) def. Katherine Muzi (SC) 4&2
Megan Furtney (Duke) def. Louise Rydqvist (SC) 1UP
Andie Smith (Duke) def. Mia Sandtorv Lussand (SC) 3&2

Exhibition
Rylie Heflin (Duke) def. Ryann Honea (Louisville) 1UP
Rylie Heflin (Duke) def. Maline Kraus (Virginia) 6&5

Championship
Duke/North Carolina
9:10 a.m. – Megan Furtney (Duke) vs. Megan Streicher (UNC)
9:20 a.m. – Anne Chen (Duke) vs. Crista Izuzquiza (UNC)
9:30 a.m. – Erica Shepherd (Duke) vs. Kayla Smith (UNC)
9:40 a.m. – Phoebe Brinker (Duke) vs. Krista Junkkari (UNC)
9:50 a.m. – Andie Smith (Duke) vs. Riley Quarternain (UNC)