Play Suspended On Day Two Of NCAA Championships; Duke Moves Up To 12th

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. ? After battling through an eight-hour round of golf and winds that exceeded 60 miles per hour on Wednesday at the NCAA Championship, the Duke women's golf team moved up to 12th place but still remain 15 shots off the leaders, Southern California and UCLA at the 6,424-Yard, Par 72 University of New Mexico Championship Golf Course in Albuquerque, N.M. Due to high winds, play was suspended twice and for good a final time at 4:55 p.m., with only 12 teams finishing an entire 18 holes.

The Blue Devils had a much better start to Wednesday's round as Kim Donovan, Amanda Blumenherst and Jennie Lee each notched a birdie on their first hole, which was the 496-yard, par-five 10th hole. Duke continued to play well on the opening nine holes and made the turn at two-over-par as a team, while counting a three-under-par, 33, by Blumenherst, one-under-par, 35, by Lee, even-par for Donovan and a two-over-par ledger for senior Jennifer Pandolfi.

As Duke made the turn, the high winds picked up with gusts approximately 50 miles per hour. The Blue Devils lost seven strokes on No. 1 and No. 2 as Lee was four-over-par, Pandolfi was two-over-par and Donovan also had a bogey. As Duke headed to the fifth through eighth holes, play was called due to high winds at 1:10 p.m. At the break, the Blue Devils stood at 16-over-par and eight strokes behind first round leader Southern California.

Play resumed at 3:19 p.m. and Duke finally finished its last group at 4:50 p.m., which was five minutes before play was suspended for the second time at 4:55 p.m. -- again due to high winds. With the final five holes completed after the first suspension of play, the Blue Devils lost seven strokes to finish with a 12-over-par, 300.

Southern California and UCLA lead the action with a 36-hole total of 584, while Duke owns a total of 599. Other teams that have finished 36 holes and are above the Blue Devils are Denver (587) and Arizona State (591). Belen Mozo of Arizona State leads the individual action with a four-under-par, 140.

Turning in Duke's best round of the day was Blumenherst, who carded a one-under-par, 71. The Scottsdale, Ariz., product was hot from the start with birdies on No. 10, No. 14 and No. 17 on her way to making the turn at three-under-par, 33. She capped off her first nine holes with a 20-foot birdie putt on the difficult 170-yard, par-three 17th. On the back nine when the winds started to really howl, Blumenherst struggled slightly with a bogey on No. 3 and two three-putt bogeys on No. 6 and No. 8. She did drain a 25-foot birdie putt on the fourth hole in-between.

For the day, Blumenherst notched 33 putts, hit 15 greens, but only hit 8-of-14 fairways. She now owns a two-day total of 146 and is tied for 17th.

In only her second career NCAA Tournament round, Donovan turned in a two-over-par, 74, on Wednesday and is now tied for 61st with a 151. After opening her day with a birdie on the first hole, she could not get up-and-down from just off the green on the 12th hole, which moved her back to even par. Donovan collected another bogey on No. 15, but came back to roll in a birdie on the 378-yard, par-four 16th. She went on to make the turn at even par, but kicked off her back nine with bogeys on No. 1 and No. 3. Donovan still kept battling and registered a 30-foot birdie putt on the fifth hole to move back to one-over-par. She closed with a bogey on No. 6 and turned in three straight pars during very difficult conditions to finish with a 74.

After turning in her worst round as a collegiate golfer, sophomore Alison Whitaker kept strong on day two and gave the Blue Devils a round of four-over-par, 76. The Melbourne, Australia product opened her round with two three-putt bogeys over the first three holes and then suffered bogeys on No. 15 and No. 16, before settling down to play her final 11 holes at even par.

Whitaker notched a birdie on the 404-yard, par-four first hole after suffering a double-bogey the day before. She then had a bogey on No. 2 but came back to collect birdies on the fourth and sixth holes. She drained an eight-footer for birdie on No. 4 and then hit a knockdown lob wedge to a foot and had her third birdie of the day. Going into the wind on the 362-yard, par-four eighth hole, Whitaker got unlucky on her approach shot and ended with a double-bogey. For the day, she had 33 putts, hit 12 greens and nine fairways.

For the second straight day, Lee kicked off her round with solid play over her first nine holes, but once again she struggled on her final nine to finish with a 79. She enters Thursday tied for 80th with a 153. A product of Henderson, Nev., Lee had one birdie and eight pars on the first nine holes for the second consecutive day to make the turn at one-under-par.

Trouble started coming on No. 1 after she made the turn as she got unlucky on her approach shot as it went just off the green. She went on to suffer her first bogey of the day. On the 179-yard, par-three second hole, Lee placed her approach shot into the middle of the green and was primed for a par, but she ended with a triple-bogey after five-putting as high winds were barreling down on her. Over the final seven holes, she had bogeys on No. 3, No. 5, No. 7 and No. 9 to finish the final nine holes with an eight-over-par, 44. For the round, she hit 12 greens, nine fairways and had 36 putts.

Coming off posting a one-over-par, 73, on day one, Pandolfi had a rough day on Wednesday as she posted a seven-over-par, 79. She was two-over-par over her first nine holes with bogeys on No. 14 and No. 15, and turned in a five-over-par, 41, on the back to close with a 79. She enters Thursday tied for 73rd with a 152. Pandolfi, who is from Navarre, Fla., had a very nice birdie on her final hole as she went at very tough winds.

As a team, Duke turned in 12 birdies, which was four more than the day before. The Blue Devils will kick off their third round on Thursday beginning at 12:30 p.m., with a shotgun start.

Duke Results
Amanda Blumenherst 75-71=146 (+2, T17th)
Kim Donovan 77-74=151 (+7, T61)
Jennifer Pandolfi 73-79=152 (+8, T73)
Jennie Lee 74-79=153 (+9, T80)
Alison Whitaker 82-76=158 (+14, T114)

Duke Quotes

Head Coach Dan Brooks
“It was a heck of a windy day. I think my team shot 12 over for the day. Compared to our 11-over the day before, I would say we played some pretty good golf today. The wind definitely blew harder after we came in and went back out. What can you say, it was really, really tough conditions. I have to hand it to my team. They fought really hard and played in some tough stuff.”

Amanda Blumenherst

What was the most difficult thing for you out there:
“Putting by far - no question. It is hard to look down at your putt and see it moving back and forth and making sure you don't ground your club. You don't want it to move and get a penalty for that. It is just hard mentally putting a good stroke on it because you can kind of see it shake a little.”

“I almost felt like it [the wind] was calmer before we were pulled off [the course]. It is great to have us continue to play because it really wouldn't have been fair to call the tournament and have the afternoon round not play [as she was talking the horn sounded to stop play for the second time]. I know it is kind of the luck of the draw, but yesterday it got windy at the end and we played through it, but it wasn't nearly like this. Those afternoon groups didn't have to have a little break in their round and they also now might not even have to finish in this and play in calmer conditions tomorrow, where there isn't anything you can do about it. It really isn't fair.”

Kim Donovan
“It was tough. You put the best swing you can on it and whatever happens, happens. You cannot get frustrated by the wind because everyone is playing in it. So it is the same conditions for everyone.”

“I hit the ball pretty well today and I chipped a lot better. I was able to get up and down when I missed greens and I putted pretty well for the most part, except for missing a few short ones. Other than that it wasn't to bad.”

Duke Notes:
? Kim Donovan had 32 putts, hit 11 fairways and 12 greens on the day.

? Duke trailed in the 2005 NCAA Championship by 10 strokes midway through the third round and came back to win the title.

? Duke has won NCAA titles in 1999, 2002, 2005, 2006 and 2007.

? The Blue Devils last played in the NCAA Championship in Albuquerque, N.M., was in 1987, which was Head Coach Dan Brooks first NCAA Championship appearance as the head coach at Duke. The Blue Devils went on to finish tied for seventh, which was tied for the best finish Duke had posted in NCAA play.

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