Duke Opens Mason Rudolph In Second Place; Shoot Five-Under-Par

Friday, September 15

Nashville, Tenn.

All Day

Duke University

Day One

Top-ranked Blue Devils Open In Third At Bryan National Collegiate

Duke Opens Mason Rudolph In Second Place; Shoot Five-Under-Par

9/15/2006 12:00:00 AM | Women's Golf

By: Duke Sports Information

FRANKLIN, TENN. ? The No. 1 ranked Duke Women's Golf team opened the 2006-07 slate with a five-under-par ledger of 283 on Friday at the Mason Rudolph Collegiate Championship and sits in second place behind Georgia at the 6,217-yard, Par 72 Ironhorse Course at the Vanderbilt Legends Club in Franklin, Tenn.

Georgia came out and turned in an impressive eight-under-par 280 on Friday and leads the championship. Duke is in second at 283 followed by UCLA (287), Stanford (291), Arizona (292), Virginia (293), Louisiana State (298), Purdue (298), Oklahoma State (299), Wake Forest (300) and Arkansas (300) rounding out the top-11.

“We had a good day today,” said Duke Head Coach Dan Brooks. “I am really proud of the team as this was a good way to start off the season. I have to give my hat off to Georgia as they played great today. We are going to have a battle on our hands this weekend.”

Leading the Blue Devils on the day was junior Jennifer Pandolfi with a two-under-par, 70, which was her best season-opening round of her career. A product of Navarre, Fla., Pandolfi kicked off the day with three birdies over her first six holes and made the turn at two-under-par. She suffered her second bogey on the par-four 11th hole, but finished with six pars and one birdie on the par-four 17th hole. In the individual leaderboard, Pandolfi is tied for fourth.

“Jennifer was our last person to qualify for this tournament and received the spot in a playoff,” said Brooks. “She really demonstrated her ability to rise to the occasion today.”

Senior Anna Grzebien, sophomore Jennie Lee and freshman Alison Whitaker each carded one-under-par rounds of 71 on Friday and are tied for ninth. Grzebien came out with bogey on the first hole and then tallied 11 straight pars before birding holes No. 13 and No. 16. A product of Narragansett, R.I., Grzebien closed with a bogey on the 17th and a birdie on the par-five 18th hole.

Lee, out of Henderson, Nev., began the day two-over-par through the first six holes, but settled down to birdie No. 8 and No. 9, and made the turn at even par, 36. She fired two pars to start the back nine and totaled a bogey on the par-three 12th before carding birdies on No. 15 and No. 16 to go to one-under-par for the day. Just like Grzebien, Lee finished off the day with a bogey on the 17th and a birdie on No. 18 to finish with a 71.

“I actually made some good ups and downs today,” said Lee. “I made a lot of birdies even though I struggled with my putting. We did really well today as a team and it is going to be an exciting next two days.”

Playing in her first collegiate tournament, Whitaker came out and notched three birdies on the afternoon on holes No. 8, 13 and 17. The Melbourne, Australia product suffered bogeys on holes one and 12.

After counting all 34 rounds as a freshman, Amanda Blumenherst posted a one-over-par, 73, on Friday and had her scored thrown out for the team total for the Blue Devils. Blumenherst, a native of Scottsdale, Ariz., began the day with bogies on the first two holes, but came back and registered a birdie on No.6. Due to a bogey on the ninth hole, she made the turn at two-over-par 38. Blumenherst came back on the back nine and got her score back to even par through 15 holes with birdies on No. 12 and 15. A bogey on the closing par-five 18th hole sent her back to one-over-par for the day and is tied for 20th.

Freshman Rebecca Kim played as an individual and posted a 79, which is tied for 76th. The Tigard, Ore., product, Kim totaled one birdie and an eagle on the par five, 547-yard 14th hole.

“I hit a good drive and then hit a decent second shot to start off the hole,” said Kim of the eagle on No. 14. “My third shot was dead on and I heard it hit the pin but couldn't see it. When I went up and I didn't see the ball and I looked in the cup and there it was. It was pretty cool.”

As a team, Duke collected 18 birdies on the day and played the par-fives at one-under-par. All five Blue Devils began the day with a bogey on the par-four first hole. Duke will tee off on Saturday beginning at 9:30 a.m. along with Georgia and UCLA. Kim will tee off at 8:14 a.m. off hole 10.

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