Blumenherst Tied For The Lead At Central Regional; Duke Second

Thursday, May 11

College Station, Texas (Traditions Club)

All Day

Duke University

Day One

Amanda Blumenherst Takes Home Five Awards At NGCA Banquet

Blumenherst Tied For The Lead At Central Regional; Duke Second

5/11/2006 12:00:00 AM | Women's Golf

By: Duke Sports Information

BRYAN, TEXAS- Freshman Amanda Blumenherst carded a two-under-par, 70, on Thursday and is tied for the lead at the NCAA Central Regional after 18 holes of action at the 6,289-Yard, Par 72 Traditions Club, while No. 1 ranked and top seeded Duke is second with a five-over-par, 294, in Bryan, Texas.

The top-ranked golfer in the nation from Scottsdale, Ariz., Blumenherst is tied for the individual action along with Devan Anderson from Texas, after registering a tournament-best seven birdies on the day. The 5-9 freshman opened the regional by hitting her drive out of bounds on the first hole but settled down to make a par on the second hole. Blumenherst then went on a birdie spree collecting four birdies in a span of five holes, including three in a row on holes five, six and seven. She closed out her day with a birdie on the par four, 387-yard 18th hole to move to two-under-par to take the individual lead. Her seven birdies on the day ties a career best in one round.

In the team standings, Southern California leads the competition by one stroke with a 293, while Duke (294), Pepperdine (303), Florida (303), Michigan State (306), Northwestern (308), Ohio State (309), Kent State (309), Texas (311) and Nebraska (313) rounds out the top 10.

Sophomore Jennifer Pandolfi continued her excellent golf in the spring with an one-under-par, 71, which was only her third under par round of the season. A Navarre, Fla., product, Pandolfi is one stroke off the lead tied with three other golfers. On the day, she opened with a birdie on the 356-yard, par four second hole but then was unlucky on the 488-yard, par five No. 3 as her drive went through the fairway and she finished with a double-bogey. Pandolfi concluded the final 15 holes at two-under-par as she totaled birdies on No. 9, 14, 15.

In the first NCAA action of her career, freshman Jennie Lee opened play at even par over her first nine holes, but bogied four of the first five holes on the back nine and had a double-bogey on the 143-yard, par three 16th hole combined with birdies on No. 15 and 18 to finish with a four-over-par, 76. She is tied for 20th in the individual competition.

Liz Janangelo and Anna Grzebien, the current 10th and 11th ranked players, respectively, in the Golfweek/Sagarin Performance Index, shot rounds of 77 and 79 on the day for the Blue Devils. The Duke duo have combined to register 155 birdies in 51 rounds this season, but managed only one on Thursday. Janangelo, a native of West Hartford, Conn., hit the ball well on day one but suffered a triple-bogey on the 381-yard, par four 12th hole to go along with three other bogies. She had an eagle putt on No. 15 and settled with her only birdie on the day. Heading into day two, she is tied for 30th, individually.

Battling a sore back on the first day, Grzebien turned in 79 and is tied for 45th. A product of Narragansett, R.I. and the defending NCAA East Region Champion, Grzebien made the turn at three-over-par and was four-over-par on the final nine holes. She has not shot better than 78 in the first round of the last three tournaments.

As a team, Duke notched 15 birdies on the day and played the four par fives at two-under-par. Duke will tee off on Friday beginning at 12:40 p.m. along with Southern California and Pepperdine.

Duke Quotes

Dan Brooks, Head Coach

"It is a good golf course and there was a little bit of a wind blowing out there today. Whenever you have a good golf course and the conditions are a little bit challenging, it is a good thing for the better teams. We felt good about the conditions today. I saw a lot of patience out there and everyone was hanging in really well. It wasn't the kind of golf that would give you exactly what you wanted as you are going to miss some more greens than you want. I was real proud of the team today."

On the Traditions Club Course:

"It is a difficult course. The creek runs along 11 holes, you have a lot of hills and the greens are well-bunkered with deep bunkers. You have a lot of treachery out there. I think the better players are going to shine here."

On Jennifer Pandolfi's play:

"I was really proud of Jennifer. She had quite of a finals week and we just got out of finals. For her to come in here and shoot under par is fantastic."

On Amanda Blumenherst continued her stellar play:

"What can you say. How can you hope for anything more than that."

What do you say to the team going into tomorrow:

"It has never been the case where I say a whole lot to the group. We try to train well, try to stay focused on one shot at a time. That is the nature of the game and they are good at it."

Freshman Amanda Blumenherst

On opening the tournament with a double-bogey on No. 1:

"I had kind of a fluke drive off the first tee. Then, I hit a provisional right down then middle of the fairway. It was just a weird thing to happen so I wasn't worried about it."

On having seven birdies today and playing so well:

"I have been hitting my irons so well all year and felt this week I turned them in even more. I was able to hit my irons real close and then make my putts."

On having good iron play being the key on this course:

"I grew up on a Jack Nicholas course in Indiana, Sycamore Hills, so I am used to these type of greens. You need to hit them to make birdies and even make pars because of the shape and speed of the greens. I was prepared to really depend on my irons and putting."

On trying to come out and win individually as well as a team:

"Definitely, we come out here as a team to win but also every tournament I go out looking to win."

Sophomore Jennifer Pandolfi

"My short game was really good today. I have been working on it quite a bit lately with coach [Dan Brooks] and Kalen [Anderson]. I have improved my feel and touch around the green."

On playing better as of late:

"I have been practicing more. In the fall, I was running a lot [preparing for a marathon]. I think not running so much and thinking more about golf? that might have something to do about it but I am not sure."

- d - u - k - e -

rank team scores
1 Southern California 293 293 +5
2 Duke 294 294 +6
3 Florida 301 301 +13
4 Pepperdine 303 303 +15
5 Michigan State 306 306 +18
6 Northwestern Univ. 308 308 +20
T7 Ohio State 309 309 +21
T7 Kent State 309 309 +21
9 Texas 311 311 +23
10 Nebraska, U. of 313 313 +25
11 Oklahoma State 314 314 +26
12 Southern Methodist 316 316 +28
T13 Baylor 318 318 +30
T13 Texas A&M University 318 318 +30
T15 TCU 319 319 +31
T15 Tulsa 319 319 +31
17 Missouri, U. of 320 320 +32
18 Birmingham−Southern Col. 327 327 +39
19 Jacksonville St. 335 335 +47
20 Jackson State Univ. 343 343 +55
21 St. Francis Univ.−PA 355 355 +67

start finish player school scores
− T1 Devan Andersen Texas 70 70 −2
− T1 Amanda Blumenherst Duke 70 70 −2
− T3 Irene Cho Southern California 71 71 −1
− T3 Stephanie Connelly Ohio State 71 71 −1
− T3 Jennifer Pandolfi Duke 71 71 −1
− T3 Samantha Richdale * Illinois State Univ. 71 71 −1
− T7 Ellen Hoeper Missouri, U. of 73 73 +1
− T7 Alice Kim Northwestern Univ. 73 73 +1
− T7 Paola Moreno Southern California 73 73 +1
− T7 Whitney Myers Florida 73 73 +1
− T7 Dewi Schreefel Southern California 73 73 +1
− T12 Sara Brown Michigan State 74 74 +2
− T12 Dayna Burleigh Michigan State 74 74 +2
− T12 Tara Delaney Kent State 74 74 +2
− T12 Karin Kinnerud Oklahoma State 74 74 +2
− T12 Ashley Knoll Texas A&M University 74 74 +2
− T12 Anna Rehnholm Baylor 74 74 +2
− T18 Leanne Bowditch Pepperdine 75 75 +3
− T18 Jennifer Hong Northwestern Univ. 75 75 +3
− T20 Jayvie Agojo Pepperdine 76 76 +4
− T20 Julia Best Texas 76 76 +4
− T20 Marina Choi Pepperdine 76 76 +4
− T20 Tiffany Chudy Florida 76 76 +4
− T20 Veronica Felibert Southern California 76 76 +4
− T20 Sandra Gal Florida 76 76 +4
− T20 Ornella Jouven Florida 76 76 +4
− T20 Jennie Lee Duke 76 76 +4
− T20 Carolina Llano Pepperdine 76 76 +4
− T20 Kira Meixner Kent State 76 76 +4
− T30 Jennifer Ackerson Southern Methodist 77 77 +5
− T30 Cas Bridge Tulsa 77 77 +5
− T30 Elin Emanuelsson TCU 77 77 +5
− T30 Elizabeth Janangelo Duke 77 77 +5
− T30 Catalina Marin Southern California 77 77 +5
− T30 Chrissie McArdle Nebraska, U. of 77 77 +5
− T30 Jennifer Selfinger Ohio State 77 77 +5
− T30 Eileen Vargas Pepperdine 77 77 +5
− T30 Becky Wood Kent State 77 77 +5
− T39 Camille Blackerby TCU 78 78 +6
− T39 Amanda Costner * Kansas, U. of 78 78 +6
− T39 Leisl Hasbrouck Tulsa 78 78 +6
− T39 Amanda Johnson Oklahoma State 78 78 +6
− T39 Emily Klein Birmingham−Southern Col. 78 78 +6
− T39 Stephanie Ruiz Nebraska, U. of 78 78 +6
− T45 Kate Ackerson Southern Methodist 79 79 +7
− T45 Elli Brown Nebraska, U. of 79 79 +7
− T45 Laura Cross Southern Methodist 79 79 +7
− T45 Anna Grzebien Duke 79 79 +7
− T45 Dana Je Ohio State 79 79 +7
− T45 Lauren Johnson Texas A&M University 79 79 +7
− T45 Brittany Johnston Northwestern Univ. 79 79 +7
− T45 Rachel Meikle Michigan State 79 79 +7
− T45 Holly Niederkohr Michigan State 79 79 +7
− T45 Allison Stewart Nebraska, U. of 79 79 +7
− T45 Jill Stupiansky Birmingham−Southern Col. 79 79 +7
− T45 Josefin Svenningsson Baylor 79 79 +7
− T57 Kelley Louth Texas 80 80 +8
− T57 Catherine Matranga TCU 80 80 +8
− T57 Sara Sackett Nebraska, U. of 80 80 +8
− T57 Amy Schmucker * Michigan 80 80 +8
− T61 Maddie Augustsson Missouri, U. of 81 81 +9
− T61 Candie Herrera Oklahoma State 81 81 +9
− T61 Mercedes Huarte Jacksonville St. 81 81 +9
− T61 Lacey Jones Southern Methodist 81 81 +9
− T61 Pernilla Lindberg Oklahoma State 81 81 +9
− T61 Danielle Roseberry Tulsa 81 81 +9
− T61 Heather Scholten Northwestern Univ. 81 81 +9
− T61 Sherry Summers Baylor 81 81 +9
− T69 Carling Coffing Ohio State 82 82 +10
− T69 Kirby Dreher Kent State 82 82 +10
− T69 Kate Meyer Texas A&M University 82 82 +10
− T69 Mallorie Underwood Oklahoma State 82 82 +10
− T69 Stephanie Wavro Missouri, U. of 82 82 +10
− T69 Gemma Webster Ohio State 82 82 +10
− T75 Mallory Blackwelder Florida 83 83 +11
− T75 Lauren Dodge Birmingham−Southern Col. 83 83 +11
− T75 Samantha Milosh St. Francis Univ.−PA 83 83 +11
− T75 Brenda Norris Texas A&M University 83 83 +11
− T75 Kristina Rothengatter Southern Methodist 83 83 +11
− T75 Katie Trachok Northwestern Univ. 83 83 +11
− T75 Polly Travica Tulsa 83 83 +11
− T82 Stacey Bieber TCU 84 84 +12
− T82 Alexandra Espinosa Jacksonville St. 84 84 +12
− T82 Allison Martin Baylor 84 84 +12
− T82 Carrie Morris TCU 84 84 +12
− T82 Heather Rose Michigan State 84 84 +12
− T82 Chelsea Schriewer Missouri, U. of 84 84 +12
− T82 Kelli Strubinger Missouri, U. of 84 84 +12
− T89 Shasta Averyhardt Jackson State Univ. 85 85 +13
− T89 Louise Fleming Jacksonville St. 85 85 +13
− T89 Brittany Givilancz Texas 85 85 +13
− T89 Shanelle Howell Jacksonville St. 85 85 +13
− T89 Meredith Jones Baylor 85 85 +13
− T89 Christa Spedding Texas A&M University 85 85 +13
− T95 Joi Hart Jackson State Univ. 86 86 +14
− T95 Caney Hines Texas 86 86 +14
− T95 Mirielle LaBlanc Jackson State Univ. 86 86 +14
− T95 Nikeya Peay Jackson State Univ. 86 86 +14
− T99 Karen Delaney Kent State 87 87 +15
− T99 Alyson Mitchell Birmingham−Southern Col. 87 87 +15
− T101 Portia Abbott Jacksonville St. 88 88 +16
− T101 Megan Schaeffer St. Francis Univ.−PA 88 88 +16
− T103 Michaela Cavener Tulsa 89 89 +17
− T103 Jordan Hardy Birmingham−Southern Col. 89 89 +17
− 105 Mary Kate Williams St. Francis Univ.−PA 90 90 +18
− 106 Stephanie Switzer St. Francis Univ.−PA 94 94 +22