Duke's Comeback at ACCs Stalls; Finishes Third

Sunday, April 18

Greensboro, N.C.

All Day

Duke University

Day Three

Duke's Comeback at ACCs Stalls; Finishes Third

4/18/2010 5:45:00 PM | Women's Golf

By: Duke Sports Information

GREENSBORO, N.C. - The fourth-ranked Duke women's golf team almost made history on Sunday at the 2010 ACC Championship. The Blue Devils entered the final round 15 strokes behind Wake Forest, but rallied to take the lead at the start of the back nine but dropped some shots on the way into the clubhouse to finish third behind ACC Champion Wake Forest and runner-up Virginia at the Par 71, 6,355-Yard Sedgefield Country Club.

The ACC title for Wake Forest was its second straight at Sedgefield and the third place finish marked the second year in a row Duke has turned in a third place ledger. The Blue Devils had won 13 straight ACC titles prior to the last two years.

"I couldn't really ask for anything more than what I saw this last day," said Duke Head Coach Dan Brooks. "They fought all the way to the end. The back side is challenging and you have to get things going your way there. It just didn't happen to be that way. Today was the case of us doing everything you possibly can, but it didn't wind up working for us on the back side. The previous golf -- yesterday in particular -- was a little more than that. I am not exactly sure what it was but it wasn't just us getting bad bounces. We are going to have some talks, see if there is anything we can do and mostly we are going to keep doing what we have been doing and get ready for regionals."

Wake Forest carded rounds of 286, 285 and 298 for a total of 869 to win by four strokes over Virginia (873). The Blue Devils totaled rounds of 288, 298 and 288 for a total of 22-over-par, 874, which was third. Rounding out the field were Florida State (901), North Carolina (906), Maryland (915), N.C. State (927), Miami (965) and Boston College (987).

Duke was four-under-par at one point and took the lead by one stroke over Wake Forest at 12:59 p.m., but the Blue Devils dropped eight strokes during the back nine to fall into third place at the finish. During the tough stretch on the back nine on holes 14-17, Duke registered two double-bogeys, five bogeys and three birdies.

"I was pleased as I could be," commented Brooks on the early comeback. "I was trying not to get ahead of myself. I ask them not to think about score and results when they are playing. Well, I have to do the same thing -- I cannot get ahead of myself. We were in a good place to be. When I was at the ninth green, we were still two shots back and two shots back is not winning; it is two shots back. We had work left to do -- we needed to get it done on the back side, but didn't quite do that. Our effort was good and there was some good golf on the back side."

As a team, the Blue Devils had all five golfers finish in the top 16 of the field, which was the highest of any squad. Duke freshmen Lindy Duncan and Stacey Kim each placed tied for fourth in their first ACC Championship appearance with a three-day total of 216, which was three-over-par.

Duncan, who is from Fort Lauderdale, Fla., opened Sunday's action two-under-par through nine holes with birdies on No. 4 and No. 8. On the back nine, Duncan was two-over-par with three bogeys and one birdie along with five pars. Her lone birdie came on the 456-yard, par five 15th, after hitting her second shot on the green and two-putted. She finished the day at even-par, 71. Duncan's top-five placement marked the fourth top-five finish of the season out of nine tournaments.

After holding the individual lead at one point on day one, Kim turned in a 73 on Sunday. A product of Columbus, Ga., Kim also started strong as she was two-under-par through six holes but suffered bogeys on No. 7, 11, 12, 14 and 15 before sticking her approach shot on No. 18 to within inches for birdie. She scrambled all day as she hit only seven greens, 13 fairways, but had 27 putts. Her top five finish was the second of the season.

"I could go on and on about Stacey," said Brooks. "She has been extremely coach able and a very hard worker. I think she made some discoveries about herself. She discovered she is a really good player. I told her this is not an easy ACC -- we have a strong ACC. She came in and made a heck of a run at winning against a really good ACC field. I just hope the pain of losing a few strokes coming goes away soon and she gets back to realizing all the great things she did. Over five-sixth of her golf in this tournament was spectacular. That is really good."

Senior Alison Whitaker came out with three birdies over her first seven holes, after posting back-to-back birdies on No. 6 and No. 7 to move to one-under-par. Whitaker, who is from Melbourne, Australia, then suffered a bogey on the ninth and 10th holes to go to one-over-par. After hitting her tee shot out of bounds on No. 15, she made a great up-and-down for bogey, but suffered a four-putt double-bogey on the 142-yard, par three 16th on the next hole.

"I think we are all very pleased with the front nine," said Whitaker. "In regards to the back nine, we just need to get tougher mentally. It is just a shame to make up so much ground and then lose it on the back nine. That is something in past years we have prided ourselves on is how tough we are. We are a young team and I had a couple of slip-ups myself on the back nine. We just need to get better at bringing the trophy home. Often times tournaments are not won on the last 18 holes, last nine holes or the last couple of holes and this one was. We had a chance to take it and we didn't take advantage of it. We just need to go back, keep working hard and hopefully next time our chance comes around we will learn from this time and we will do a little better."

Whitaker stormed back on the next hole to hit her approach shot within inches to get a shot back but missed a birdie attempt on 18 to finish at three-over-par, 74. She was tied for eighth overall for the tournament with a 219, which marked her third top 10 finish of the year.

"I wanted to know [the score making the turn]," commented Whitaker. "I think for me it gives me a bit of a push. I think all of us were very aware of where we were. I had coach [Brooks] come out and tell me where we were scoring wise as well. I knew what had to be done and it is frustrating when you know what has to be done and you don't get it done. I saw a couple of putts falling on their side and not on ours. That was just the difference to be honest with you. I saw a lot of their girls holing putts and a lot us missing ours. You just cannot afford to do that when you are trying to win a tournament."

After turning in rounds of 78 and 76 the first two days, junior Kim Donovan fired an even-par, 71, on Sunday to close in tied for 12th with a 54-hole total of 219. A native of Hopkinton, Mass., Donovan's top 20 finish was the third in a row. She posted three birdies on No. 1, No. 8 and No. 13 along with three bogeys and 13 pars in the final round. Donovan hit 10 greens, 11 fairways and had 27 putts.

Freshman Courtney Ellenbogen also turned in the best round of her first ACC Championship as she finished with a two-over-par, 73, on her way to placing tied for 16th. A product of Blacksburg, Va., Ellenbogen opened with a double-bogey on the first hole but holed out from 140 yards for eagle on No. 2 with a nine iron to move back to even par. She went on to make the turn at three-over-par, but closed out her round with birdies on No. 13, No. 16 and No. 18 to finish strong. Ellenbogen hit nine fairways, nine greens and had 27 putts.

Duke will await the NCAA Regionals, which will be held on May 6-8, 2010.

Notes:

As a team, Duke registered 15 birdies in the first round, 12 on day two and 16 in the final round.
Courtney Ellenbogen totaled Duke's second eagle of the ACC Championship (Alison Whitaker on day one).
Duke was trying to win an ACC Championship starting three freshmen in the lineup, which had never been done before.
Wake Forest, Virginia and Duke all were tied for the lead at two different times on the back nine.
The Blue Devils had won the ACC Championship 13 straight years before coming to Sedgefield Country Club last year when Wake Forest won the title.

- d - u - k - e -

Duke Results
T8 T4 Lindy Duncan Duke 71 74 71 (F) 216 +3
T4 T4 Stacey Kim Duke 70 73 73 (F) 216 +3
T8 T8 Alison Whitaker Duke 69 76 74 (F) 219 +6
T24 T12 Kim Donovan Duke 78 76 71 (F) 225 +12
T24 T16 Courtney Ellenbogen Duke 79 75 73 (F) 227 +14

1 2 3 Team Scores
1 1 1 Wake Forest 286 285 298 869 +17
T2 T2 2 Virginia 288 298 287 873 +21
T2 T2 3 Duke 288 298 288 874 +22
T5 5 4 Florida State Univ. 301 298 302 901 +49
7 4 5 North Carolina 302 291 313 906 +54
4 6 6 Maryland, U. of 299 305 311 915 +63
T5 7 7 North Carolina St. 301 304 322 927 +75
8 8 8 Miami, U. of 318 324 323 965 +113
9 9 9 Boston College 324 323 340 987 +135

Start Finish Player Team Scores
T1 1 Michelle Shin Wake Forest 70 70 71 (F) 211 -2
T4 T2 Calle Nielson Virginia 70 73 69 (F) 212 -1
3 T2 Brittany Altomare Virginia 72 69 71 (F) 212 -1
T8 T4 Lindy Duncan Duke 71 74 71 (F) 216 +3
T4 T4 Stacey Kim Duke 70 73 73 (F) 216 +3
T4 T6 Kate Thomas North Carolina 74 69 75 (F) 218 +5
T1 T6 Cheyenne Woods Wake Forest 70 70 78 (F) 218 +5
T8 T8 Alison Whitaker Duke 69 76 74 (F) 219 +6
T4 T8 Dolores White Wake Forest 73 70 76 (F) 219 +6
10 10 Maria Salinas Florida State Univ. 72 74 74 (F) 220 +7
T11 11 Nicole Agnello Virginia 71 77 76 (F) 224 +11
T11 T12 Macarena Silva Florida State Univ. 76 72 77 (F) 225 +12
T24 T12 Kim Donovan Duke 78 76 71 (F) 225 +12
T24 T12 Lauren Greenlief Virginia 75 79 71 (F) 225 +12
23 15 Natalie Sheary Wake Forest 77 75 74 (F) 226 +13
T16 T16 Carly Hunt Maryland, U. of 72 78 77 (F) 227 +14
T11 T16 Courtney Gunter North Carolina 74 74 79 (F) 227 +14
T24 T16 Courtney Ellenbogen Duke 79 75 73 (F) 227 +14
T20 T19 Emily Street North Carolina St. 73 78 77 (F) 228 +15
T16 T19 Christine Shimel Maryland, U. of 74 76 78 (F) 228 +15
T20 T19 Allie Bodemann Wake Forest 73 78 77 (F) 228 +15
15 T22 Kathleen Strandberg North Carolina St. 73 76 80 (F) 229 +16
T27 T22 Lacey Agnew Florida State Univ. 78 77 74 (F) 229 +16
T11 T22 Jessica Hollandsworth Maryland, U. of 74 74 81 (F) 229 +16
T16 T25 Catherine O'Donnell North Carolina 78 72 80 (F) 230 +17
T16 T25 Jessica Negron Florida State Univ. 75 75 80 (F) 230 +17
T27 27 Begona Sarabia Miami, U. of 80 75 79 (F) 234 +21
T20 T28 Meghan Chapman North Carolina St. 78 73 85 (F) 236 +23
33 T28 Hannah Thomson Florida State Univ. 79 80 77 (F) 236 +23
T36 T28 Kerri Connolly Maryland, U. of 79 82 75 (F) 236 +23
T34 T31 Jordan Allyne North Carolina 84 76 79 (F) 239 +26
T30 T31 Hayley Brown Maryland, U. of 81 77 81 (F) 239 +26
T30 T33 Julie Saleeby North Carolina St. 81 77 82 (F) 240 +27
29 T33 Brooke Baker North Carolina St. 77 80 83 (F) 240 +27
T36 35 Christina Hirano Miami, U. of 81 80 80 (F) 241 +28
38 T36 Kelsey Rockey Boston College 84 78 81 (F) 243 +30
T30 T36 Sarah Thead North Carolina 76 82 85 (F) 243 +30
T39 38 Shelby Gilbert Miami, U. of 76 87 81 (F) 244 +31
T39 39 Maria Ronderos Miami, U. of 81 82 83 (F) 246 +33
T34 40 Eunice Yim Boston College 81 79 87 (F) 247 +34
42 41 Carrie Barbee Boston College 81 84 85 (F) 250 +37
41 42 Meghan Martinek Boston College 78 86 89 (F) 253 +40
43 43 Kaela Klune Boston College 85 82 87 (F) 254 +41
44 44 Whitney Neuhauser Virginia 94 85 76 (F) 255 +42
45 45 Melanie Kleiner Miami, U. of 89 92 85 (F) 266 +53