Duke Finishes Second At Central Regional; Advances To NCAA Championship

Saturday, May 13

College Station, Texas (Traditions Club)

All Day

Duke University

Day Three

Duke Finishes Second At Central Regional; Advances To NCAA Championship

5/13/2006 12:00:00 AM | Women's Golf

By: Duke Sports Information

BRYAN, TEXAS- For the ninth straight year, the Duke women's golf team has advanced to the NCAA Championships as the Blue Devils placed second at the Central Regional with a 54-hole total of 885, which was played at the 6,289-Yard, Par 72 Traditions Club in Bryan, Texas.

The Blue Devils turned in round of 291 on the final day, but Southern California posted a tournament-best ledger of 286 on Saturday to finish two strokes ahead of Duke with an 883. Rounding out the top-eight teams were Pepperdine (903), Florida (910), Oklahoma State (916), Texas A&M (919), Kent State (919) and Nebraska (922). With Duke finishing in the top-eight, the Blue Devils advance to the NCAA Championships from May 23-26 at the Scarlett Golf Course in Columbus, Ohio.

After being tied for the individual lead for the first two days, freshman Amanda Blumenherst carded a one-over-par, 73, and finished second with a three-day total of 218. Taking home the individual crown was Southern California's Irene Cho, who posted a three-under-par, 69, in the final round to finish with a 214. Blumenherst opened her day with a bogey on the first hole and then suffered a double-bogey on the 371-yard, par four eighth hole. She then settled down to play her final 10 holes at two-under-par with birdies on No. 10 and 17.

Prior to heading back to Durham, N.C. for graduation on Sunday, senior Liz Janangelo registered a 75 to close out her tournament. She finished in third place with a 54-hole total of 221. A product of West Hartford, Conn., Janangelo opened the day a little rocky with bogies on the first, third and fifth holes but got one back with a birdie on No. 8. Janangelo closed out the first nine with a bogey on the 183-yard, par three ninth hole but played the final nine holes even with nine pars. Her third place finish was the second-best finish of her season, other than winning the Stanford Pepsi Intercollegiate in October.

Sophomore Jennifer Pandolfi continued her solid play with a two-over-par, 74, on Saturday to finish with a 222, which was tied for fourth. It marked her third straight top-10 and fifth consecutive top-20 finish for the product of Navarre, Fla. Pandolfi was even par through 13 holes on the final day with two birdies and two bogies, but had bogies on the 14th and 16th holes on her way in.

Carding the best round of her week in Texas, junior Anna Grzebien posted a 69 in the final round to lead the Blue Devils. Led by sand saves on the first two holes, Grzebien opened at two-under-par through eight holes with birdies on No. 5 and No. 8. After going in the bunker on the par three ninth hole off the tee, she ended up suffering a double-bogey to bring her score back to even after nine holes. Grzebien responded by notching birdies on the 10th and 12th holes to get back to two-under-par. She then stuck her second shot within inches on the 362-yard, par four 17th hole to move to three-under-par with a birdie. Her round of 69 was the lowest score of the spring since she totaled a 68 in February at the Arizona Wildcat Invitational. Grzebien finished tied for 19th with a 227.

Freshman Jennie Lee concluded her tournament with a three-over-par, 75, and was tied for 35th with a 231. Once again she opened with a solid first nine holes at even par, but was had bogies on the 16th and 18th holes to finish the round. On the week, she was two-over-par during her opening nine holes but was 14-over-par on the final nine.

Duke collected 15 birdies on Thursday, 10 on Friday and 13 on Saturday. The Blue Devils played the par-fives at two-under-par and for the tournament were six-under-par on par fives. Last season, Duke finished second at the East Regional and went on to win its third NCAA Championship.

Duke Quotes

Dan Brooks, Head Coach

“We go into tournaments trying to win. We do it all year long. Part of the reason is so that when we get to regionals we have the same mind set. That is how we came into this tournament. So we are not happy that we didn't win it but the ultimate goal is achieved. It was never a spoken goal because we were talking about winning this thing. You are hoping to get out of it what you need to get out of and that is a trip to nationals.”

“We don't really look at this tournament as just a tournament to get yourself to nationals. We are trying to win this tournament like we win all tournaments. If you look at it that way then you could say that about all tournaments. You could say it isn't nationals so it doesn't matter. You try to win and it is unfortunate that we didn't get to win this tournament but the good news is we are going to nationals so that is exciting.”

Is it ever good to finish second to wake the team up before nationals?

“I think every competitor figures out a way to pull a positive out of any situation. So if we would have won it then we are on a role-- let's go do it again. If we don't win it then we are saving it up for nationals. The fact is you just give your best effort in every tournament. If we would have won regionals then we would be every bit as equipped to win nationals as we are now.”

On having different golfers step up each day:

“We had an interesting tournament because we had some high and low points for everyone. We have a little bit of work to do between now and nationals. It will be a real important week of practice.”

On Anna Grzebien's play:

“I am very happy for her. She and her teacher have been working very hard on her swing and she has been so dedicated to it. I am just very proud of her of having the patience to stay with it at this point. Last year, she won regionals and nationals-- to stay dedicated to what they are working on during this time is impressive. I am very happy for her.”

Junior Anna Grzebien

On shooting 69 on the final day:

“It was nice. I trusted everything a lot more and I hit the ball a lot better which was the difference. I just gave myself better birdie opportunities. I stayed in the fairways and greens most of the day. If I missed a green it was in a good place to get up and down. I made a couple of good saves. It was a good way to end it because I haven't been shooting the way I wanted to.”

On finishing second like last year as a team in the Regionals:

“You know you always want to win but it kind of makes you a little more hungry for the big tournament. It could work in our favor this way.”

Freshman Amanda Blumenherst

“I didn't start out very well on the front side-- it was kind of shaky. I was able to turn it around on the back side and shoot two-under. I was able to bring it back a little so that was good.”

On finishing second individually and as a team going into NCAA Championships:

“Only can go up. I played alright, but I could have played better. Irene [Cho] played well so I didn't give it away or anything like that. We will definitely go out to nationals with the idea of winning individually and as a team.”

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