Blue Devils, Donovan Vault to the Top at East Regional

Friday, May 7

Greenville, N.C.

All Day

Duke University

Day Two

Blue Devils, Donovan Vault to the Top at East Regional

5/7/2010 10:00:00 PM | Women's Golf

By: Duke Sports Information

GREENVILLE, N.C. - Saying round two was a moving day is an understatement for the top-seeded and fifth-ranked Duke women's golf team on Friday at the 2010 NCAA East Regional, which was being played at the 6,325-yard, Par 72 Ironwood Golf Club in Greenville, N.C.

The Blue Devils carded a season-low 10-under-par, 278, in the second round -- went from being in tied for 10th place and down by 10 strokes to Auburn before closing the day with a two stroke lead on the field. The 10-under, 278, was the best score of the day by nine strokes.

"I think one thing that happened is they saw the scores yesterday and that I think told this group that birdies are very possible," said Duke Head Coach Dan Brooks. "I think that is a big part of the psychology in this whole deal. You see it happen a lot. You sort of have to be told it is possible and once you know it is possible, you do it. I think our whole team had some of that experience."

As a team, Duke owns a 36-hole total of 568 and enters Saturday's final round with a two-stroke lead on Tennessee (570). Rounding out the top 10 are Pepperdine (571), South Carolina (571), Auburn (575), Vanderbilt (579), Florida (581), TCU (583) and Texas Tech (583). The top eight teams following round three will advance to the NCAA Championship.

"I felt like we were just really focused, were playing a shot at a time and seemed poised," said Brooks. "Sometimes you just have putts fall in and that is what was happening. There was a lot of great stuff coming in -- there were a lot of birdies. You just enjoy it. I just tell myself to absolutely enjoy it because it is a long time coming sometimes. You get rounds like this -- this is why I do this. It was fun."

The Blue Devils started making up ground early on after teeing off at 1:26 p.m., off the 10th tee box. By 3:00 p.m., Duke had already moved up to tied for fourth, in third place by 5:16 p.m., tied for first by 6:00 p.m., and took its first lead at 6:37 p.m. All five Duke golfers were under-par at one point on Friday as well.

Continuing to play the best golf of her career, junior Kim Donovan posted a career-best four-under-par, 68, on Friday and now holds a 36-hole total of 139, which is tied for the individual lead with three other golfers -- Katie Burnett (South Carolina), Danielle Kang (Pepperdine) and Rosalyn Kim (Texas Tech).

"It feels wonderful," commented Donovan on leading the team the first two days. "Going low is a wonderful feeling, especially right before nationals. It leaves a good taste in your mouth. I am really excited. It is just thrilling."

Donovan, who is from Hopkinton, Mass., registered her second career round in the 60s and her seventh round this year of even or under par with a 68. She opened her second round with a birdie on No. 10 and made the turn at one-under-par, 35, with two birdies, one bogey and six pars. Donovan, who is looking for her first collegiate victory, notched five straight pars before closing with a bang. She notched birdies on No. 6, No. 7 and No. 9 to play her final four holes at three-under-par.

On the day, Donovan hit 17-of-18 greens, 12 fairways and had 31 putts. Her only green she missed was No. 6 and she chipped in for birdie from 30-feet. Donovan closed her day with a perfect drive on the ninth hole and hit a choked down gap wedge from 98 yards within inches for birdie.

"I zeroed in a lot on pins today -- I hit 17 greens today so I cannot complain about that," said Donovan.

Senior Alison Whitaker tied a season best in the second round with a three-under-par, 68, and now sits tied for 21st with an even-par, 144, for the tournament. Whitaker, a native of Melbourne, Australia, opened her day with birdies on No 13, No. 14 and No. 18 on her way to making the turn at three-under-par, 33. She closed with an even-par, 36, which included two birdies, two bogeys and five pars. Whitaker also chipped in from 30 feet away on the 473-yard, par five seventh hole for birdie.

"It is super-exciting, but I am not surprised by it at all," said Whitaker on Duke taking the team lead. "I kind of wish that some of the younger girls on the team could have known how confident we all were that it was going to happen. It is the nature of regionals. People just shoot lights out and then slowly as the week progresses you start shaking everything up and the better teams rise to the top. All the hard work we have been doing showed today and we have all been waiting for that to happen. It happens at the right time. That is a credit to the girls that they can do it when they need to."

Totaling one of the most solid rounds of the day was freshman Lindy Duncan as she fired a two-under-par, 70, and enters the final round tied for 10th with a 142, which is only three shots off the individual lead. A product of Fort Lauderdale, Fla., Duncan registered birdies on No. 1 and No. 12 to go along with 16 pars. She hit 17 greens, 12 fairways and had 33 putts. Her only green she missed was the 11th.

Registering her fourth even or under par round out of the last three tournaments, freshman Stacey Kim finished with a one-under-par, 71, on Friday. She collected five birdies on the day and is tied for 12th through two rounds, individually. Kim, who is from Columbus, Ga., totaled three birdies over her first seven holes and made the turn with a one-under-par, 35. During her final nine, she was even par with two birdies and two bogeys. Kim finished the day with 29 putts, nine fairways hit and 12 greens in regulation.

Coming off struggling on day one with a 78, freshman Courtney Ellenbogen fired a one-over-par, 73, to move up to tied for 67th overall with a 151. With birdies on the 15th and 16th holes, she was two-under-par through six holes to open her second round, but closed with three bogeys and the rest pars to finish the afternoon with a 73. Ellenbogen, a native of Blacksburg, Va., matched her best round of the spring with a 73. She scrambled all day as she hit only five fairways, nine greens, but posted a team-best 27 putts.

Duke will tee off on Saturday morning beginning at 9:06 a.m., along with Tennessee and Pepperdine. The Blue Devils will be looking to advance to their 13th straight NCAA Championship, which will take place from May 18-21 at the Country Club of Landfall in Wilmington, N.C.

"We just talked about being patient and staying patient [last night]," said Donovan. "We know we have talent and at some point hopefully it shows whether the putts drop or not. The atmosphere out here today -- you could tell that the team was pumped so it was a wonderful feeling."

Notes:

Kim Donovan now owns seven rounds of even or under par on the year. Five of those seven have come over the last three tournaments.
Senior Alison Whitaker hit 12 greens, 12 fairways and had 28 putts on the day. She was 5-of-6 on up-and-downs.
As a team, Duke registered a total of 19 birdies in round two after posting 13 birdies on Thursday.
Duke last shot in the 270s in regional action back in 2007 at the East Region in Baton Rouge, La., as the Blue Devils fired a 272 in the final round.
Duke has claimed seven East Region titles in school history -- 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004 and 2007.
Last year in the NCAA East Regional, Duke opened with a 298 in round one and was tied for 10th. The Blue Devils ended the regional tied for sixth to advance to the NCAA Championship.

- d - u - k - e -

Duke Results
T1 T20 82 Kim Donovan (10)   Duke -5 F -4 71 68 139
T10 T30 8 Lindy Duncan (10)   Duke -2 F -2 72 70 142
T12 T30    Stacey Kim (10)   Duke -1 F -1 72 71 143
T21 T67 61 Alison Whitaker (10)   Duke E F -3 75 69 144
T67 T106 83 Courtney Ellenbogen (10)   Duke +7 F +1 78 73 151

Team Results
1 3 Duke   -8 F    -10 290 278 568
2 18 Tennessee   -6 F    -1 283 287 570
3 11 Pepperdine   -5 F    +2 281 290 571
4 29 South Carolina   -2 F    +3 283 291 574
5 4 Auburn   -1 F    +7 280 295 575
6 15 Vanderbilt   +3 F    -1 292 287 579
7 33 Tulane University   +4 F    +7 285 295 580
8 22 Florida, U of   +5 F    +9 284 297 581
T9 19 TCU   +7 F    +8 287 296 583
T9 43 Texas Tech   +7 F    +10 285 298 583
11 27 North Carolina   +10 F    +4 294 292 586
12 48 East Tennessee St.   +13 F    +16 285 304 589
13 9 Wake Forest   +15 F    +7 296 295 591
14 37 Chattanooga   +18 F    +13 293 301 594
15     East Carolina Univ.   +22 F    +17 293 305 598
T16 44 Georgia State Univ.   +24 F    +22 290 310 600
T16 38 Washington   +24 F    +7 305 295 600
18     Furman University   +25 F    +8 305 296 601
19     Coastal Carolina   +27 F    +8 307 296 603
T20 47 Campbell University   +28 F    +19 297 307 604
T20     Stetson University   +28 F    +18 298 306 604
22     Charleston, Coll. of   +31 F    +22 297 310 607
23     Charleston Southern   +57 F    +30 315 318 633
24     Fairleigh Dickinson Univ.   +82 F    +43 327 331 658

Top 21 Individuals
T1 T2 67 Katie Burnett   South Carolina -5 F E 67 72 139
T1 T20 82 Kim Donovan (10)   Duke -5 F -4 71 68 139
T1 T2    Danielle Kang   Pepperdine -5 F E 67 72 139
T1 T10    Rosalyn Kim (10)   Texas Tech -5 F -3 70 69 139
T5 1    Nina Muehl   East Tennessee St. -4 F +4 64 76 140
T5 T30    Erica Popson   Tennessee -4 F -4 72 68 140
T7 T10    Iliska Verwey (10)   Georgia State Univ. -3 F -1 70 71 141
T7 T2    Jessica Wallace   Pepperdine -3 F +2 67 74 141
T7 5 72 Carlie Yadloczky (10)   Auburn -3 F +1 68 73 141
T10 T30 8 Lindy Duncan (10)   Duke -2 F -2 72 70 142
T10 T30    Christine Wolf   Chattanooga -2 F -2 72 70 142
T12 T30 74 Alexandria Buelow   Stetson University -1 F -1 72 71 143
T12 T6 76 Diana Cantu   Tennessee -1 F +2 69 74 143
T12 T30    Corrine Carr   South Carolina -1 F -1 72 71 143
T12 T43    Brooke Goodwin   Vanderbilt -1 F -2 73 70 143
T12 T30 23 Stefanie Kenoyer   Furman University -1 F -1 72 71 143
T12 T30    Stacey Kim (10)   Duke -1 F -1 72 71 143
T12 T10    Louise Kristersson (10)   TCU -1 F +1 70 73 143
T12 T30 14 Nathalie Mansson   Tennessee -1 F -1 72 71 143
T12 T20 27 Candace Schepperle (10)   Auburn -1 F E 71 72 143
T21 T43    Brooke Beeler (10)   TCU E F -1 73 71 144
T21 T6 87 Valentine Derrey (10)   TCU E F +3 69 75 144
T21 T54    Megan Grehan   Vanderbilt E F -2 74 70 144
T21 T20    Maribel Lopez   Tulane University E F +1 71 73 144
T21 T10    Charlotte Lorentzen (10)   Georgia State Univ. E F +2 70 74 144
T21 T10    Sara Monberg   Tennessee E F +2 70 74 144
T21 T54 43 Michelle Shin (10)   Wake Forest E F -2 74 70 144
T21 T67 61 Alison Whitaker (10)   Duke E F -3 75 69 144