Ellenbogen Notches Career-Best 69 on Thursday at NCAAs

Thursday, May 20

Wilmington, N.C.

All Day

Duke University

Day Three

Ellenbogen Notches Career-Best 69 on Thursday at NCAAs

5/20/2010 8:00:00 PM | Women's Golf

By: Duke Sports Information

WILMINGTON, N.C. - Heading into the third round of the 2010 NCAA Women's Golf Championship, the Duke women's golf team had its sights set on making one of its usual comebacks, but it was not meant to be as the Blue Devils carded a 12-over-par, 300, and is in tied for 13th place overall with 18 holes left at the 6,368-yard, Par 72 Country Club of Landfall in Wilmington, N.C.

Duke fired an even-par, 288, on day one but over the last two rounds the Blue Devils struggled with totals of 303 and 300 and enter Friday's final round with a 54-hole ledger of 891. Holding the team lead is Purdue, after carding a team-best eight-under-par, 280, on Thursday. The Boilermakers (858) own a seven shot lead over Southern California (865), while Arizona State (871), Alabama (871), Arizona (875), Vanderbilt (879), UCLA (882), Auburn (884), Florida State (885), Texas A&M (885), Oklahoma State (885), South Carolina (890), Duke (891), Pepperdine (891) and Virginia (892) round out the top 15 teams.

"I just really feel bad for the other players -- they have worked really hard and I know they still felt that hope was alive to win this championship," said Duke Head Coach Dan Brooks. "We are going to go into the last day playing for place. We are trying to move Duke University up in the field and we are going to play hard, but we are realistic. We are going to come out the last day and play hard. That is all this team does."

Out of the last 13 NCAA Championships, Duke has finished out of the top seven only twice -- 2000 (14th) and 2003 (T10th) so the Blue Devils will be looking to close strong on Friday in the final round.

Blue Devil freshman Courtney Ellenbogen continued her stellar play on Thursday as she fired a season-best three-under-par, 69, as she notched six birdies on the day. A product of Blacksburg, Va., Ellenbogen was hot from the start as she notched birdies on No. 11 and No. 12 to move to two-under-par. She then sandwiched a birdie on No. 15 with bogeys on the 14th and 16th holes, but closed her first nine holes with a birdie on No. 18 to make the turn at two-under-par.

"I hit the ball really well and got some putts to drop so that kind of brought me under par," said Ellenbogen. "It was a lot of fun out there. I have been striking the ball well. The goal here is to hit a lot of greens and give myself a lot of birdie chances."

Overall, Ellenbogen notched four birdies over her first nine holes and had only 11 putts. She registered birdies on No. 3 and No. 4, which included a 35-foot birdie putt on the third hole, to move to four-under-par. Ellenbogen stayed at four-under until she suffered a bogey on the 168-yard, par three No. 8 as she missed the green on her tee shot and wasn't able to get it up and down.

"I am real happy for Courtney," said Brooks. "It is just a fantastic round of golf. She was four-under at one point. The work she has done on her game, on her swing -- it is paying off. She is hitting the ball straight and I couldn't be any happier for her."

Ellenbogen had a team-best 27 putts on the afternoon, while also notching 12 fairways and 13 greens in regulation. Over the three days, Ellenbogen has totaled rounds of 74, 73 and 69 and is tied for 10th with a 216.

Leading in he individual competition is Arizona State freshman Jennifer Johnson with a nine-under-par, 207. Caroline Hedwall of Oklahoma State is second with a 208, while Jennifer Song of Southern California and Maude-Aimee LeBlanc of Purdue are tied for third with a 210.

Senior Alison Whitaker battled through a bad back on Thursday as she tweaked it on her fourth hole of the day. Whitaker, who is out of Melbourne, Australia, played strong and finished with a 75. She enters the final round tied for 49th with a 224. On the day, Whitaker opened with four bogeys over her first seven holes but settled down to play her final 11 holes at one-under-par. She collected back-to-back birdies on No. 17 and No. 18, which included a two-putt from 70 feet on the 18th. Whitaker hit 15 greens on the day, while totaling 36 putts and 12 fairways hit.

"It was a bit of a battle today," said Whitaker. "I had a couple of injury flair ups out there so I was trying to stay on top of things and stay positive, because when you are fighting against your own brain it makes it a little hard. But overall I think I did well to hang in there."

Blue Devil freshman Lindy Duncan continued to struggle in her first NCAA Championship and closed the third round with a season-worst 78. She enters Friday tied for 65th with a 226, after posting a team-best 10 top 20 finishes on the year. A native of Fort Lauderdale, Fla., Duncan had three tough holes on Thursday otherwise her round was solid as she notched a team-best 15 pars. Duncan suffered a double-bogey on No. 12 and a bogey on No. 15, which both occurred after missing the fairway with her drive. She then suffered a triple-bogey on the 16th hole as her tee shot found the water. Duncan played her final 11 holes at even par as she registered 11 consecutive pars. She hit 11 greens, 11 fairways and had 32 putts on the day.

Both junior Kim Donovan and freshman Stacey Kim each turned in rounds of 79 on Thursday. Kim, who is from Columbus, Ga., was even par through six holes before suffering a triple-bogey on the 16th and a double-bogey on No. 17. She came back to notch a birdie on the 18th and was three-over-par during the final nine to finish with a 79. On the day, Kim hit only six greens, had 10 fairways hit and had 30 putts. She is tied for 114 with a 237 through three days.

A product of Hopkinton, Mass., Donovan didn't get off to a good start as she hit her first shot of the day out of bounds and managed two birdies on the afternoon. After making the turn at two-over-par, Donovan rolled in a 15-foot birdie on the first hole to get back to one-over-par, but she closed with a double-bogey, three bogeys and four pars to finish with a 79. In the individual action, she is tied for 74th with a 227. Donovan hit only eight fairways, eight greens, but notched 28 putts. Her highlight of the day came at the 16th hole as she rolled in a putt from clear across the green for birdie.

As a team, Duke notched 11 birdies on Thursday but six of those came from Ellenbogen. The Blue Devils will tee off on Friday in the final round beginning at 9:06 a.m. along with Pepperdine and Virginia.

Live video streaming and live scoring will be available for Friday's final round. Check out http://all-access.cbssports.com/player.html?code=ncaa&media=180433 for live video streaming and www.golfstat.com for live scoring.

Notes:

As a team, Duke registered 11 birdies for the second day in a row. The Blue Devils had 15 birdies in round one.
Duke has won NCAA Championships in 1999, 2002, 2005, 2006 and 2007 under Head Coach Dan Brooks.
Duke won the NCAA Fall Preview October as the Blue Devils came back from being down 10 shots on the final day to win by one stroke over Auburn and UCLA.

- d - u - k - e -

Duke Results

Start Finish Player Team Scores
T29 T10 Courtney Ellenbogen Duke 74 73 69 216 E
T49 T49 Alison Whitaker Duke 74 75 75 224 +8
T44 T65 Lindy Duncan Duke 72 76 78 226 +10
T49 T74 Kim Donovan Duke 68 81 78 227 +11
T111 T114 Stacey Kim Duke 79 79 79 237 +21

1 2 3 Team Scores
2 3 1 Purdue 284 294 280 858 -6
1 1 2 Southern California 282 288 295 865 +1
T3 5 T3 Arizona State 288 293 290 871 +7
T6 2 T3 Alabama, U. of 289 288 294 871 +7
T12 6 5 Arizona 296 286 293 875 +11
T12 8 6 Vanderbilt 296 292 291 879 +15
T3 4 7 UCLA 288 292 302 882 +18
9 T9 8 Auburn 293 296 295 884 +20
T6 T11 T9 Florida State Univ. 289 302 294 885 +21
T14 T15 T9 Texas A&M 297 302 286 885 +21
11 T9 T9 Oklahoma State 295 294 296 885 +21
T19 14 12 South Carolina 300 297 293 890 +26
T3 T11 T13 Duke 288 303 300 891 +27
T14 T18 T13 Pepperdine 297 306 288 891 +27
10 7 15 Virginia 294 291 307 892 +28
22 T15 16 New Mexico 303 296 295 894 +30
18 13 T17 Texas 299 296 300 895 +31
8 17 T17 TCU 292 308 295 895 +31
24 T18 19 Tulane University 311 292 297 900 +36
T14 20 20 Tennessee 297 307 300 904 +40
23 24 T21 Kent State 307 305 297 909 +45
T19 21 T21 Stanford 300 307 302 909 +45
17 22 23 San Jose State Univ 298 310 313 921 +57
21 23 24 Oregon 302 309 313 924 +60

Start Finish Player Team Scores
1 1 Jennifer Johnson Arizona State 67 70 70 207 -9
T3 2 Caroline Hedwall Oklahoma State 70 70 68 208 -8
2 T3 Jennifer Song Southern California 67 71 72 210 -6
T3 T3 Maude-Aimee LeBlanc Purdue 67 73 70 210 -6
T7 5 Numa Gulyanamitta Purdue 73 69 70 212 -4
T3 6 Margarita Ramos Arizona 71 69 74 214 -2
T25 T7 Katie Burnett South Carolina 72 74 69 215 -1
T18 T7 Jennifer Kirby Alabama, U. of 75 70 70 215 -1
T9 T7 Cydney Clanton Auburn 72 71 72 215 -1
T11 T10 Jodi Ewart New Mexico 73 71 72 216 E
T29 T10 Danielle Kang Pepperdine 74 73 69 216 E
T18 T10 Jessica Negron Florida State Univ. 69 76 71 216 E
T29 T10 Courtney Ellenbogen Duke 74 73 69 216 E
T29 T10 Laura Gonzalez Purdue 70 77 69 216 E
T11 T10 Brooke Pancake Alabama, U. of 70 74 72 216 E
T18 T16 Erica Popson Tennessee 72 73 72 217 +1
T25 T16 Camilla Lennarth Alabama, U. of 73 73 71 217 +1
T29 T16 Brooke Goodwin Vanderbilt 76 71 70 217 +1
T44 T19 Sarah Zwartynski Texas A&M 72 76 70 218 +2
T11 T19 Kimberly Kim * Denver, Univ. of 73 71 74 218 +2
T58 T19 Jessica Wallace Pepperdine 78 72 68 218 +2
T11 T19 Candace Schepperle Auburn 73 71 74 218 +2
T58 T23 Julia Boland Texas A&M 72 78 69 219 +3
T9 T23 Megan McChrystal * LSU 72 71 76 219 +3
T18 T23 Maria Salinas Florida State Univ. 70 75 74 219 +3
T29 T23 Lizette Salas Southern California 74 73 72 219 +3
T18 T23 Brittany Altomare Virginia 70 75 74 219 +3
T11 T28 Sally Watson Stanford 73 71 76 220 +4
T29 T28 Victoria Park Oklahoma State 75 72 73 220 +4
T29 T28 Juliana Murcia Arizona State 73 74 73 220 +4
T29 T28 Marina Alex Vanderbilt 75 72 73 220 +4
T49 T32 Mercedes Germino Kent State 76 73 72 221 +5
T71 T32 Carlota Ciganda Arizona State 76 75 70 221 +5
T29 T32 Tiffany Lua UCLA 76 71 74 221 +5
T18 T32 Belen Mozo Southern California 73 72 76 221 +5
T58 T36 Sarah Beth Davis Texas A&M 76 74 72 222 +6
T58 T36 Maribel Lopez Porras Tulane University 77 73 72 222 +6
T71 T36 Isabelle Boineau Arizona 75 76 71 222 +6
T29 T36 Stephanie Kono UCLA 76 71 75 222 +6
T11 T36 Nicole Agnello Virginia 74 70 78 222 +6
T58 T41 Valentine Derrey TCU 73 77 73 223 +7
T25 T41 Brooke Beeler TCU 70 76 77 223 +7
T11 T41 Cheyenne Hickle Oregon 71 73 79 223 +7
T18 T41 Marta Silva Zamora * Georgia 72 73 78 223 +7
T29 T41 Haley Stephens Texas 74 73 76 223 +7
T71 T41 Alejandra Llaneza Arizona 79 72 72 223 +7
T3 T41 Cyna Rodriguez Southern California 68 72 83 223 +7
T7 T41 Rhea Nair Alabama, U. of 71 71 81 223 +7
T82 T49 Cristina Corpus San Jose State Univ 74 78 72 224 +8
T58 T49 Ashley McKenney Tulane University 77 73 74 224 +8
T82 T49 Benedicte Toumpsin South Carolina 77 75 72 224 +8
T49 T49 Britney Choy New Mexico 74 75 75 224 +8
T49 T49 Alison Whitaker Duke 74 75 75 224 +8
T29 T49 Sydnee Michaels UCLA 73 74 77 224 +8
T44 T49 Sherlyn Popelka Arizona 73 75 76 224 +8
T29 T49 Nikki Koller Arizona 77 70 77 224 +8
T29 T49 Glory Yang UCLA 71 76 77 224 +8
T58 T49 Haley Wilson Auburn 73 77 74 224 +8
T71 T59 Melissa Loh TCU 72 79 74 225 +9
T49 T59 Shannon Fish Texas 76 73 76 225 +9
T71 T59 Macarena Silva Florida State Univ. 76 75 74 225 +9
T58 T59 Hannah Thomson Florida State Univ. 74 76 75 225 +9
T82 T59 Lauren Stratton Vanderbilt 78 74 73 225 +9
T49 T59 Megan Grehan Vanderbilt 74 75 76 225 +9
T71 T65 Ashley Freeman Texas A&M 77 74 75 226 +10
T58 T65 Samantha Troyanovich Tulane University 78 72 76 226 +10
T96 T65 Kristina Wong Stanford 74 80 72 226 +10
T58 T65 Brianna Do UCLA 68 82 76 226 +10
T49 T65 Giulia Molinaro Arizona State 73 76 77 226 +10
T71 T65 Hillary Wood Oklahoma State 74 77 75 226 +10
T49 T65 Jaclyn Sweeney Arizona State 75 74 77 226 +10
T44 T65 Lindy Duncan Duke 72 76 78 226 +10
T100 T65 Thea Hoffmeister Purdue 80 75 71 226 +10
T49 T74 Ellen Mueller * Oklahoma 73 76 78 227 +11
T100 T74 Desiree Dubreuil Texas 79 76 72 227 +11
T82 T74 Sarah Salvo New Mexico 78 74 75 227 +11
T71 T74 Corrine Carr South Carolina 76 75 76 227 +11
T29 T74 Nicole Vandermade Texas 72 75 80 227 +11
T49 T74 Kim Donovan Duke 68 81 78 227 +11
T82 T74 Patricia Sanz Auburn 75 77 75 227 +11
T82 T74 Anna Leigh Keith Vanderbilt 71 81 75 227 +11
T96 T74 Paula Reto Purdue 74 80 73 227 +11
T25 T74 Calle Nielson Virginia 73 73 81 227 +11
T108 T84 Rachel Raastad TCU 77 80 71 228 +12
T91 T84 Janine Fellows Tulane University 79 74 75 228 +12
T82 T84 Madison Pressel Texas 77 75 76 228 +12
T71 T84 Lisa McCloskey Pepperdine 74 77 77 228 +12
T58 T84 Rebecca Durham Stanford 71 79 78 228 +12
T82 T84 Joy Kim Virginia 77 75 76 228 +12
T96 T90 Shamira Marshall Kent State 75 79 75 229 +13
T44 T90 Shraddhanjali Singh San Jose State Univ 73 75 81 229 +13
T105 T90 Rebecca Hellbom New Mexico 80 76 73 229 +13
T91 T90 Taylor Barrett South Carolina 77 76 76 229 +13
T71 T90 Diana Cantu Tennessee 76 75 78 229 +13
T44 T90 Amanda Strang South Carolina 75 73 81 229 +13
T58 T96 Nina Muehl * East Tennessee St. 77 73 80 230 +14
T100 T96 Bethany Buchner New Mexico 78 77 75 230 +14
T108 T96 Sara Monberg Tennessee 76 81 73 230 +14
T91 T96 Nathalie Mansson Tennessee 73 80 77 230 +14
T100 T96 Inah Park Southern California 77 78 75 230 +14
T114 T101 Martina Gavier Kent State 80 79 72 231 +15
T58 T101 Sarah Bradley Kent State 76 74 81 231 +15
T100 T101 Rosalyn Kim * Texas Tech 76 79 76 231 +15
T71 T101 Courtney McKim Oklahoma State 76 75 80 231 +15
T82 T101 Lauren Greenlief Virginia 79 73 79 231 +15
T91 106 Ashley Edwards Oregon 73 80 79 232 +16
T96 T107 Louise Kristersson TCU 78 76 79 233 +17
T111 T107 Erica Omlid Oregon 80 78 75 233 +17
T111 109 Katrina Delen Briones San Jose State Univ 77 81 76 234 +18
T117 T110 Kaitlin Drolson Pepperdine 76 84 75 235 +19
T114 T110 Taylore Karle Pepperdine 73 86 76 235 +19
T117 T112 Linn Gustafsson Tulane University 79 81 76 236 +20
T114 T112 Lacey Agnew Florida State Univ. 78 81 77 236 +20
T108 T114 Kendra Little Oregon 79 78 80 237 +21
T111 T114 Stacey Kim Duke 79 79 79 237 +21
T105 T114 Carlie Yadloczky Auburn 77 79 81 237 +21
T105 T114 Helena Blomberg Alabama, U. of 77 79 81 237 +21
T121 T118 Chloe Garner Texas A&M 80 83 76 239 +23
T121 T118 Angela King Stanford 86 77 76 239 +23
T119 T120 Kate Hildahl Oregon 79 82 80 241 +25
T91 T120 Madeleine Ziegert San Jose State Univ 74 79 88 241 +25
T121 T120 Lauren Spurlock Tennessee 84 79 78 241 +25
124 123 Mandi Morrow Kent State 85 79 78 242 +26
T119 124 Jody Ho San Jose State Univ 83 78 84 245 +29
126 125 Sydney Burlison Stanford 82 85 80 247 +31
125 126 Eyglo Oskarsdottir Oklahoma State 83 83 92 258 +42