Blumenherst Opens With Lead At The Mason Rudolph Championship

Friday, September 26

Nashville, Tenn.

All Day

Duke University

Day One

Blumenherst Opens With Lead At The Mason Rudolph Championship

9/26/2008 12:00:00 AM | Women's Golf

By: Duke Sports Information

DURHAM, N.C. ? Duke senior Amanda Blumenherst carded five birdies on Friday in the opening round at the Mason Rudolph Women's Championship on her way to carding a five-under-par, 67, at the Legends Club North Course in Franklin, Tenn.

Her round of 67 matched the low round of the day as she is tied with Auburn's Candace Schepperle (67) for first, individually. UCLA's Sydnee Michaels (68) is third, while Vanderbilt's Marina Alex (69) and Arkansas' Alex Schulte (69) are tied for fourth.

“I couldn't be happier for her [Amanda], “ said Duke Head Coach Dan Brooks. “That was Amanda there -- that is Amanda doing what Amanda does. She gets on a course with a little bit of a wind and she just thrives in that environment.”

In the team standings, Duke posted a four-over-par, 292, on Friday and sit tied for sixth overall. Leading the event is Oklahoma State (286), while UCLA (287), Southern California (288), Arizona State (289), Vanderbilt (291), Duke (292), Florida (292), Arizona (297), Arkansas (298), Alabama (298) and Auburn (298) round out the top 11 squads.

“As we frequently do in the fall -- we have some developmental things going on,” said Brooks. “We are working on swings and we try to knock that stuff out in the fall. I think we are ok. We certainly want to be trying to win these tournaments so we are back a little bit, but not as far back as last tournament.”

Blumenherst, who is a native of Scottsdale, Ariz., opened the day with birdies on No. 2 and No. 7 as she made the turn at two-under-par, 34. On the back nine, she collected a birdie on the 352-yard, par four 10th hole and headed to the 17th and 18 holes at three-under-par. The reigning three-time National Player of the Year, Blumenherst closed the round with birdies on the last two holes to finish with a 67.

Over her career, Blumenherst has won the Mason Rudolph Women's Championship in 2007 and 2005, while she finished tied for eighth in 2006. Her round of 67 is the second-best ledger at the Mason Rudolph as she totaled a 66 in the first round last year.

Collecting a very exciting round on Friday was fellow senior Jennie Lee, who finished with a one-over-par, 73. She enters the second round tied for 23rd, after carding six birdies, seven bogeys and five pars on the day. Jennie Lee, who is from Henderson, Nev., made the turn at one-over-par, 37, and closed the back nine at even-par, 36.

Junior Yu Young Lee registered a career-best round of 74 on Friday as the Orlando, Fla., native notched three birdies and five bogeys. Yu Young Lee opened with a birdie on the second hole followed by a bogey on No. 3. She closed the front nine with five pars and a bogey on No. 6, to make the turn at one-over-par, 37. Yu Young Lee went par, bogey, par and bogey over the first four holes on the back nine before going two-under-par over the next four holes with birdies on No. 15 and No. 17. She closed the day with a bogey on No. 18 and enters the second round tied for 30th.

“I am real excited for her,” said Brooks. “I am not surprised. She's got a lot of talent so I wasn't surprised but I am very pleased for her. I am happy for us because she came through at a very important time.”

Both junior Alison Whitaker and sophomore Kim Donovan turned in rounds of six-over-par, 78, and are tied for 58th in the individual action. Whitaker suffered bogeys on each of the final three holes to finish with a 78, while Donovan notched birdies on No. 17 and No. 18 to close with a 78.

“The course if very scoreable just because the greens are very puttable, but the wind makes it interesting,” said Brooks. “It was definitely playable but not easy. Yu Young Lee's round of 74 was a good round today.”

As a team, Duke registered 17 birdies on day one.

-d-u-k-e-

1 Team Scores
1 Oklahoma State 286 -2
2 UCLA 287 -1
3 Southern California 288 E
4 Arizona State 289 +1
5 Vanderbilt 291 +3
T6 Duke 292 +4
T6 Florida, U of 292 +4
8 Arizona 297 +9
T9 Alabama, U. of 298 +10
T9 Arkansas, U. of 298 +10
T9 Auburn 298 +10
12 Wake Forest 300 +12
13 Purdue 302 +14
14 Tennessee 307 +19
15 UT Chattanooga 308 +20
16 UCF 309 +21
17 Stanford 313 +25

Start Finish Player Team Scores
- T1 Candace Schepperle Auburn 67 -5
- T1 Amanda Blumenherst Duke 67 -5
- 3 Sydnee Michaels UCLA 68 -4
- T4 Marina Alex Vanderbilt 69 -3
- T4 Alex Schulte Arkansas, U. of 69 -3
- T6 Karin Kinnerud Oklahoma State 71 -1
- T6 Natalie Sheary Wake Forest 71 -1
- T6 Caroline Masson Oklahoma State 71 -1
- T6 Pernilla Lindberg Oklahoma State 71 -1
- T6 Amanda Wilson Arizona 71 -1
- T6 Stephanie Kono UCLA 71 -1
- T6 Jessica Yadloczky Florida, U of 71 -1
- T6 Megan Grehan Vanderbilt 71 -1
- T6 Stefanie Endstrasser Southern California 71 -1
- T6 Jennifer Song Southern California 71 -1
- T6 Lizette Salas Southern California 71 -1
- T17 Cydney Clanton Auburn 72 E
- T17 Maria Hernandez Purdue 72 E
- T17 Juliana Murcia Arizona State 72 E
- T17 Jennifer Osborn Arizona State 72 E
- T17 Azahara Munoz Arizona State 72 E
- T17 Kathleen Ekey Alabama, U. of 72 E
- T23 Maude-Aimee LeBlanc Purdue 73 +1
- T23 Caroline Hedwall Oklahoma State 73 +1
- T23 Brittany Nelson Florida, U of 73 +1
- T23 Anna Nordqvist Arizona State 73 +1
- T23 Lucy Nunn Arkansas, U. of 73 +1
- T23 Evan Jensen Florida, U of 73 +1
- T23 Jennie Lee Duke 73 +1
- T30 Alejandra Llaneza Arizona 74 +2
- T30 Andrea Messer Vanderbilt 74 +2
- T30 Glory Yang UCLA 74 +2
- T30 Diana Cantu Tennessee 74 +2
- T30 Maria Jose Uribe UCLA 74 +2
- T30 Nathalie Mansson Tennessee 74 +2
- T30 Brooke Pancake Alabama, U. of 74 +2
- T30 Yu Young Lee Duke 74 +2
- T30 Jessy Tang UCF 74 +2
- T30 Camilla Lennarth Alabama, U. of 74 +2
- T40 Brittany Benvenuto Arizona 75 +3
- T40 Junthima Gulyanamitta Purdue 75 +3
- T40 Cheyenne Woods Wake Forest 75 +3
- T40 Tiffany Joh UCLA 75 +3
- T40 Hannah Yun Florida, U of 75 +3
- T40 Belen Mozo Southern California 75 +3
- T46 Jaclyn Sweeney Oklahoma State 76 +4
- T46 Lila Barton Stanford 76 +4
- T46 Victoria Alimonda Southern California 76 +4
- T46 Kayla Stewart UT Chattanooga 76 +4
- T46 Emma de Groot UT Chattanooga 76 +4
- T46 Stephanie Connelly UCF 76 +4
- T52 Allie Bodemann Wake Forest 77 +5
- T52 Margarita Ramos Arizona 77 +5
- T52 Jean Chua Wake Forest 77 +5
- T52 Nannette Hill Wake Forest 77 +5
- T52 Sydney Burlison Stanford 77 +5
- T52 Jacqui Concolino Vanderbilt 77 +5
- T58 Patricia Sanz Auburn 78 +6
- T58 Katy Nugent Arkansas, U. of 78 +6
- T58 Andrea Watts Florida, U of 78 +6
- T58 Lauren Spurlock Tennessee 78 +6
- T58 Kristin Ingram Arkansas, U. of 78 +6
- T58 Kimberly Donovan Duke 78 +6
- T58 Helena Blomberg Alabama, U. of 78 +6
- T58 Maria Salinas UT Chattanooga 78 +6
- T58 Alison Whitaker Duke 78 +6
- T58 Christine Wolf UT Chattanooga 78 +6
- T68 Brooke Goodwin Vanderbilt 79 +7
- T68 Kelli Shean Arkansas, U. of 79 +7
- T68 Courtney Harter Alabama, U. of 79 +7
- T68 Mayule Tomimbang UCF 79 +7
- T72 Nikki Koller Arizona 80 +8
- T72 Rebecca Durham Stanford 80 +8
- T72 Mari Chun Stanford 80 +8
- T72 Ki-Shui Liao Stanford 80 +8
- T72 Victoria Tomko UCF 80 +8
- T77 Mariana Macias Auburn 81 +9
- T77 Liisa Kelo Arizona State 81 +9
- T77 Ginny Brown Tennessee 81 +9
- T77 Rebecca Watson * Tennessee 81 +9
- T81 Camie Mess Purdue 82 +10
- T81 Sarah Thead Auburn 82 +10
- T81 Maria Juliana Loza UT Chattanooga 82 +10
- T81 Marika Lendl UCF 82 +10
- T85 Lauree Southerden Purdue 83 +11
- T85 Emily Sills Tennessee 83 +11
- T85 Madison Overbey * Auburn 83 +11
- 88 Lauren Uzelatz * Florida, U of 85 +13
- 89 Shelcie Takenouchi * Southern California 86 +14
- 90 Christine Brown * Vanderbilt 87 +15