Whitaker Places Tied for Second; Duke Fifth at the Wildcat

Tuesday, February 23

Tucson, Ariz.

All Day

Duke University

Day Two

Whitaker Places Tied for Second; Duke Fifth at the Wildcat

2/23/2010 6:00:00 PM | Women's Golf

By: Duke Sports Information

TUCSON, Ariz.- Duke University senior Alison Whitaker closed the Wildcat Invitational on Tuesday with a 36-hole total of 141 to finish in tied for second place, which marks her second-best finish of her four-year career. The tournament was played at the 6,146-yard, Par 71 Arizona National Golf Club in Tucson, Ariz.

Whitaker, a native of Melbourne, Australia, opened the invitational with a two-under-par, 69 on Monday and then totaled a 72 on Tuesday to close with a one-under-par, 141. The 141 was a season-best for her during 36 holes, while registering a total of seven birdies. Whitaker kicked off her play on Tuesday on fire one again with two birdies over her first three holes and led the tournament.

"Playing in the rain we had yesterday with the wind and today with the wind today -- that is just all about attitude," said Duke Head Coach Dan Brooks. "Whenever you are in those conditions, and you finish at the top it just means you had a great attitude -- you were tough and kept your chin up. To come out on top or near the top, you had to be very patient."

On her fifth hole, which was actually the 336-yard, par four No. 8, she had a bogey but came back on the 10th with a birdie to move back to two-under-par for the day. Whitaker closed the day with three bogeys over her final 11 holes to finish with a 72.

Caroline Hedwall of Oklahoma State took home the individual title after carding a five-under-par, 66, on Tuesday on her way to finishing with a 136. Juliana Murcia of Arizona State (141) tied with Whitaker for second.

As a team, Duke shot a 303 on Tuesday and finished the two-day invitational in fifth place with a total of 599. Arizona State (576) won the title by 12 strokes over Arizona (588), while Stanford (595), California (596), Duke (599), New Mexico (601), Pepperdine (602), Auburn (605), Denver (607) and Oklahoma State (608) rounded out the top 10.

"We had a sunnier day today, but I am not sure if we really had a more score able day," said Brooks. "The wind blew hard and there is no rough to stop the ball. Once the ball takes off a little bit laterally in these fairways, it is running in the desert. With the short rough and no wind it is easier; with the short rough and high wind it makes it harder."

Freshman Lindy Duncan turned in a tied for 27th place finish on Tuesday led by her second collegiate eagle on the 487-yard, par five fifth hole, which was her final hole of the day. Duncan hit driver and then placed a six-iron from 165 yards away to two inches for eagle. It marks the second straight tournament she has notched an eagle this spring.

"This is a tough golf course and the conditions were really rough," said Duncan. "I didn't have much going on -- I didn't hit the ball well and didn't putt very well. In this kind of weather, you have to have at least one part of your game sharp and I felt like I was just a little off all week."

Duncan, who is out of Fort Lauderdale, Fla., carded rounds of 77 and 74 to finish with a 36-hole total of 151. It marks the first time in her collegiate career she has finished out of the top 20.

Fellow freshman Courtney Ellenbogen posted a 79 on Tuesday to close tied for 36th with a 153, while Kim Donovan added a 78 and placed tied for 40th. Freshman Stacey Kim was tied 67th after carding rounds of 77 and 83.

"I take some positives away from this tournament -- there is no question about that," said Brooks. "We have had a rough winter so I don't think we are at the best we can play by any stretch. That is why you train and practice otherwise you would be at your best all the time. We haven't had the kind of preparation that we will have by April or May."

Duke will have a month off before returning to action at the Liz Murphey Collegiate Classic in Athens, Ga., on March 26-28.

Duke Results
T2    Alison Whitaker (4)   Duke -1 F +1 69 72 141
T27 Lindy Duncan (6A)   Duke +9 F +3 77 74 151
T36 Courtney Ellenbogen (5)   Duke +11 F +8 74 79 153
T40   Kim Donovan (6B)   Duke +12 F +7 76 78 154
T67   Stacey Kim (7)   Duke +18 F +12 77 83 160

- d - u - k - e -

1 2 Team Scores
1 1 Arizona State 290 286 576 +8
3 2 Arizona 294 294 588 +20
2 3 Stanford 293 302 595 +27
7 4 California 302 294 596 +28
5 5 Duke 296 303 599 +31
6 6 New Mexico 301 300 601 +33
4 7 Pepperdine 295 307 602 +34
11 8 Auburn 308 297 605 +37
T8 9 Denver, Univ. of 304 303 607 +39
T8 10 Oklahoma State 304 304 608 +40
10 11 Tennessee 307 309 616 +48
T12 12 Southern California 309 310 618 +50
T12 13 Oregon, U. of 309 310 619 +51
16 14 Washington 315 307 622 +54
15 15 UNLV 314 312 626 +58
14 16 Tulane University 312 315 627 +59

Start Finish Player Team Scores
3 1 Caroline Hedwall Oklahoma State 70 66 136 -6
2 T2 Alison Whitaker Duke 69 72 141 -1
T13 T2 Juliana Murcia Arizona State 74 67 141 -1
T6 T4 Jodi Ewart New Mexico 72 72 144 +2
T13 T4 Cydney Clanton Auburn 74 70 144 +2
T10 T4 Jennifer Johnson Arizona State 73 71 144 +2
1 T7 Taylore Karle Pepperdine 68 77 145 +3
T10 T7 Margarita Ramos Arizona 73 72 145 +3
T4 T7 Carlota Ciganda Arizona State 71 74 145 +3
T6 T10 Jaclyn Sweeney Arizona State 72 74 146 +4
T4 T10 Sally Watson Stanford 71 75 146 +4
T13 T12 Alejandra Llaneza Arizona 74 73 147 +5
T13 T12 Rebecca Durham Stanford 74 73 147 +5
T22 T14 Patty Sanz Auburn 75 73 148 +6
T22 T14 Kate Hildahl Oregon, U. of 75 73 148 +6
T13 T14 Emily Childs California 74 74 148 +6
T38 T17 Pia Halbig California 77 72 149 +7
T22 T17 Danielle Kang Pepperdine 75 74 149 +7
T10 T17 Ellie Givens Denver, Univ. of 73 76 149 +7
T13 T17 Joanne Lee California 74 75 149 +7
T6 T17 Isabelle Boineau Arizona 72 77 149 +7
T47 T22 Maribel Lopez Porras Tulane University 78 72 150 +8
T22 T22 Nathalie Mansson Tennessee 75 75 150 +8
T38 T22 Daniela Holmqvist California 77 73 150 +8
T6 T22 Kristina Wong Stanford 72 78 150 +8
T38 T22 Belen Mozo Southern California 77 73 150 +8
T22 T27 Carlie Yadloczky * Auburn 75 76 151 +9
T22 T27 Victoria Park Oklahoma State 75 76 151 +9
T47 T27 Karinn Dickinson Washington 78 73 151 +9
T33 T27 Therese Koelbaek UNLV 76 75 151 +9
T38 T27 Diana Cantu Tennessee 77 74 151 +9
T57 T27 Sherlyn Popelka Arizona 79 72 151 +9
T38 T27 Lindy Duncan Duke 77 74 151 +9
T57 T34 Sarah Faller Denver, Univ. of 79 73 152 +10
T33 T34 Angela King Stanford 76 76 152 +10
T22 T36 Nikki Koller Arizona 75 78 153 +11
T13 T36 Courtney Ellenbogen Duke 74 79 153 +11
T13 T36 Sara Monberg Tennessee 74 79 153 +11
T38 T36 Kimberly Kim Denver, Univ. of 77 76 153 +11
T33 T40 Kelly Drack Denver, Univ. of 76 78 154 +12
T57 T40 Larissa Eruera * Arizona State 79 75 154 +12
T33 T40 Bethany Buchner New Mexico 76 78 154 +12
T38 T40 Lisa McCloskey Pepperdine 77 77 154 +12
T22 T40 Kaitlin Drolson Pepperdine 75 79 154 +12
T13 T40 Jennifer Song Southern California 74 80 154 +12
T47 T40 Natasha Krishna UNLV 78 76 154 +12
T33 T40 Kim Donovan Duke 76 78 154 +12
T47 T48 Britney Choy New Mexico 78 77 155 +13
T68 T48 Anya Alvarez Washington 80 75 155 +13
T47 T50 Lila Barton Stanford 78 78 156 +14
T68 T50 Candace Schepperle Auburn 80 76 156 +14
T22 T50 Kendra Little Oregon, U. of 75 81 156 +14
T57 T53 Lizette Salas Southern California 79 78 157 +15
T47 T53 Stephanie Sherlock Denver, Univ. of 78 79 157 +15
T57 T53 Haley Wilson Auburn 79 78 157 +15
T47 T53 Ashley Edwards Oregon, U. of 78 79 157 +15
T57 T57 Inah Park Southern California 79 80 158 +16
T38 T57 Samantha Troyanovich Tulane University 77 81 158 +16
T22 T57 Rebecca Hellbom New Mexico 75 83 158 +16
T85 T57 Sarah Salvo New Mexico 85 73 158 +16
T57 T57 Caroline Kim Southern California 79 79 158 +16
T57 T57 Brittany Benvenuto * Arizona 79 79 158 +16
T68 T63 Roseanne Niven California 80 79 159 +17
T57 T63 Martine de Gannes Pepperdine 79 80 159 +17
T47 T63 Janine Fellows Tulane University 78 81 159 +17
T47 T63 Sadena Parks Washington 78 81 159 +17
T82 T67 Giulia Molinaro Arizona State 83 77 160 +18
T38 T67 Stacey Kim Duke 77 83 160 +18
T47 T67 Courtney McKim Oklahoma State 78 82 160 +18
T82 T70 Molly Aronsson Washington 83 78 161 +19
T74 T70 Eyglo Oskarsdottir Oklahoma State 81 80 161 +19
T85 T72 Cheyenne Hickle Oregon, U. of 85 77 162 +20
T74 T72 Ginny Brown Tennessee 81 81 162 +20
T74 T72 Felicia Eastick Oregon, U. of 81 81 162 +20
T57 T72 Darcie Richmond Washington 79 83 162 +20
T57 T72 Ashley McKenney Tulane University 79 83 162 +20
T68 T77 Kristen Schelling UNLV 80 83 163 +21
T68 T77 Bethany Glassford * UNLV 80 83 163 +21
T22 T77 Sydney Burlison * Stanford 75 88 163 +21
T79 T80 Anna Christenson * Denver, Univ. of 82 82 164 +22
T79 T80 Leigh Henderson * Tennessee 82 82 164 +22
T68 T80 Mandi Incorvaia UNLV 80 84 164 +22
T79 T80 Lauren Spurlock Tennessee 82 82 164 +22
T85 T84 Linn Gustafsson Tulane University 85 81 166 +24
T74 T84 Erica Omlid * Oregon, U. of 81 85 166 +24
T90 T86 Alejandra Guacaneme UNLV 89 78 167 +25
84 T86 Cyna Rodriguez * Southern California 84 83 167 +25
T74 T88 Emily Mason * Arizona 81 90 171 +29
89 T88 Karlin Beck Auburn 88 83 171 +29
T85 90 Kyndall Ardoin * Arizona 85 89 174 +32
93 T91 Marie Tschida * Arizona 95 84 179 +37
92 T91 Hillary Wood Oklahoma State 93 86 179 +37
T90 - Ashley Malaska * Arizona 89 W - -