Blumenherst, Duke Finish Second At Bryan Park National Collegiate

BROWNS SUMMITT, N.C. ? After leading the Bryan Park National Collegiate through the first two rounds, the top-ranked Duke women's golf team turned in a 310 on Sunday and finished in second place behind Florida at the 6,319-Par 72 Players Course in Browns Summitt, N.C. Florida carded a 307 on the final day to win by two strokes over the Blue Devils on a day when the temperature never got above 40 degrees along with a slight drizzle.

Florida registered a 54-hole total of 906 to win the team title, while Duke (908), Auburn (909), Arkansas (913), Furman (915), Michigan State (919), Wake Forest (919), Virginia (919), North Carolina (930) and N.C. State (934) rounded out the top 10.

“I still think there are some good things, developmentally, going on with our team,” said Duke Head Coach Dan Brooks. “We are progressing and it definitely was a better performance than Georgia [last weekend] and we still have things to get done in the short game area.”

Duke junior Amanda Blumenherst earned a second place finish with a three-day total of 217, after registering a 74 on Sunday. Taking home the individual title was Arkansas' Stacy Lewis, who posted a 77 on the final day and totaled a total of 216.

Blumenherst, a native of Scottsdale, Ariz., kicked off her day with four pars and a birdie on No. 2 over the first five holes. She then ran into trouble on holes six and seven with a double-bogey and a bogey before notching pars on No. 8 and No. 9. After making the turn at two-over-par, 38, Blumenherst had bogeys on No. 11 and No. 18 to go along with birdies on No. 12 and No. 17 and five pars. For the tournament, Blumenherst led the field with 11 birdies and a seven-under-par ledger on par fives.

The other four golfers for the Blue Devils struggled on the day as Alison Whitaker had a 78, Jennie Lee turned in a 79, Jennifer Pandolfi totaled a 79 and Kim Donovan added an 81. Whitaker finished the weekend tied for 21st with 230, Lee was tied for 29th with a 232, Pandolfi concluded the weekend tied for 37th with a 234 and Donovan was tied for 45th with a 235.

As a team, Duke registered nine birdies for the second straight day, after collecting 15 birdies in round one on Friday.

Duke will next be off until April 19-21 when the Blue Devils will play in the ACC Championship in Daytona Beach, Fla. Looking to claim its 13th straight ACC title, Duke will play at the LPGA International for the second time in the last year. In their last appearance at the LPGA International, the Blue Devils claimed their third straight and fifth NCAA Championship last May.

Duke's Results
Amanda Blumenherst 70-73-74=217 (2nd)
Alison Whitaker 73-79-78=230 (T21st)
Jennie Lee 73-80-79=232 (T29th)
Jennifer Pandolfi 78-77-79=234 (T37th)
Kim Donovan 79-75-81=235 (T45th)

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