Duncan Finishes Fourth; Blue Devils Tied For Sixth at Northrop

Wednesday, February 10

Los Angeles, Calif.

All Day

Duke University

Day Three

Duncan Finishes Fourth; Blue Devils Tied For Sixth at Northrop

2/10/2010 7:00:00 PM | Women's Golf

By: Duke Sports Information

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PALOS VERDES, Calif. - Duke University freshman golfer Lindy Duncan turned in a career-best fourth place finish on Wednesday at the Northrop Grumman Regional Challenge, which was being played at the 5,912-yard, Par 71 Palos Verdes Golf Club in Palos Verdes, Calif.

Duncan, who is a product of Fort Lauderdale, Fla., totaled rounds of 67, 76 and 73 to finish with a 54-hole total of 216, which was fourth overall in the individual action. Her final round included one birdie and one eagle that came on the sixth and 11th holes, respectively. Duncan's first collegiate eagle came on the 350-yard, par four 11th as she hit her four-iron from 165 yards into the cup. She now owns five career top 20 finishes out of five tournaments.

"The 67 is very impressive," said Duke Head Coach Dan Brooks. "To come out of the winter we have had and for her being from Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., where she really doesn't experience much winter and then to play that kind of golf is very impressive."

Taking home the individual title was Pepperdine's Lisa McCloskey, who fired a three-day total of 211, which won by three strokes over Taylore Karle (214) of Pepperdine and Jennifer Song (214) of Southern California.

In the team results, Duke placed tied for sixth with rounds of 292, 305 and 303 for a total of 900. Southern California brought home the team title with a 54-hole ledger of 876. Pepperdine (879), Ohio State (897), UCLA (898), Arizona State (898), Denver (900), Duke (900), Wake Forest (904), Florida (911) and TCU (912) rounded out the top 10.

"Our winter has been rough," said Brooks. "If you expect to come into a tournament after having snow and rain and do as well as you will do when you have had five or six weeks of good preparation then you are going to be disappointed. It is sort of a difficult tournament to play in because it is hard to feel prepared and it is one of the best fields in the country. I guess the feeling is a little bit mixed. We are not to excited about the scores we shot, but we take it with an understanding. We are learning everything we can from it."

After a first round with 14 birdies, Duke couldn't get the under-par scores nearly as often as the Blue Devils totaled eight birdies on Tuesday and eight in the final round. Big numbers continued to hinder Duke's play as five double-bogeys were posted on the scorecards.

Freshman Courtney Ellenbogen closed Wednesday's round with a 76, which was very adventurous. A native of Blacksburg, Va., Ellenbogen posted a team-high four birdies, but had seven bogeys, six pars one double-bogey. She began her day on hole seven and was on fire with birdies on her first two holes. Ellenbogen suffered a bogey on No. 9 but came back to notch another birdie on the 10th hole. She turned in a bogey on No. 11, a par on No. 12 and registered her fourth birdie on the 13th to move back to two-under-par. Ellenbogen struggled the rest of the way with four bogeys over a five-hole finish on the back nine and a double-bogey on the final hole to drop her to 76. She finished tied for 17th with a 224, which marked her second career top 20 finish.

Carding her best round of the week was junior Kim Donovan, who fired a 74, after posting rounds of 79 and 77 the first two days. Donovan, who is out of Hopkinton, Mass., was one-under-par through the first eight holes before closing with four bogeys and seven pars. She placed tied for 38th with a 230. On the day, she hit 10 greens, had 31 putts and hit 10 fairways.

Both senior Alison Whitaker (80) and Stacey Kim (80) struggled on Wednesday in their rounds. Whitaker closed the tournament tied for 54th with a 234, while Kim was tied for 67th with a 238.

Duke will next travel to the Wildcat Invitational from Feb. 22-23 in Tucson, Ariz.

Duke Results
4 Lindy Duncan (6)   Duke +3 F +2 67 76 73 216
T17 Courtney Ellenbogen (7B)   Duke +11 F +5 74 74 76 224
T38 Kim Donovan (8)   Duke +17 F +3 79 77 74 230
T54 Alison Whitaker (7A)   Duke +21 F +9 72 82 80 234
T67 Stacey Kim (9)   Duke +25 F +9 80 78 80 238