Blue Devils Earn No. 3 Seed at East Lake Cup

Monday, October 31

Atlanta, Ga.

All Day

Duke University

Day One at East Lake Cup

Blue Devils Earn No. 3 Seed at East Lake Cup

10/31/2016 8:52:00 PM | Women's Golf

Stroke Play Live Scoring Match Play Live Scoring

By: Duke Sports Information

ATLANTA, Ga. – In front of a national audience on the Golf Channel, the Duke women's golf team turned in a two-over-par, 290, Monday in the stroke play portion of the East Lake Cup and will be the third overall seed as the action turns to match play Tuesday at the 6,249-yard, par 72 East Lake Golf Club in Atlanta, Ga.

Stanford shot a six-under-par, 282, to win team honors, while UCLA was one-under, 287, Duke (290) and Washington (316) rounded out the field.

“I thought a lot of good things happened today,” said Duke head coach Dan Brooks. “I spent most of the day with Lisa [Maguire]. I am excited about her match tomorrow. I thought the pairings came out real well for everyone.”

Blue Devil junior Leona Maguire made a run at the individual title, but ended up finishing two strokes off the lead as she carded a two-under-par, 70. A native of Cavan, Ireland, Maguire opened play with a birdie on the par five first hole, but played the next eight holes at one-over-par as she made the turn with an even-par, 36. She caught fire on the back nine rolling in a 10-foot birdie on No. 10, six-foot birdie on No. 12, seven-foot birdie on No. 14 and a 12-foot birdie on No. 15.

After carding her team-best sixth birdie of the day on No. 15, Maguire moved to two strokes off individual leader Casey Danielson with three holes remaining. After nearly missing birdies on the 16th and 17th holes, Maguire went to the 18th just one stroke back as Danielson made a bogey on the 355-yard, par four 17th. Maguire's approach to the 18th pin went a little long off the green and ended up finishing with a bogey.

Stanford's Andrea Lee birdied No. 18 to finish in a tie with Danielson at four-under-par and the duo went into a playoff for the individual title. Lee went on to win the title following six playoff holes.

Senior Sandy Choi carded a one-under-par, 71, Monday as she placed tied fifth overall. After rolling in a two-foot birdie on No. 1, Choi played the next 17 holes at even par. Choi, who hails from Seoul, South Korea, added 13 pars, two birdies on No. 7 and No. 14 and two bogeys on No. 6 and No. 15. She hit 14 greens, 12 fairways and had 31 putts on the day.

Seeing action in her first East Lake Cup as a rookie, Ana Belac tied for ninth overall with a one-over-par, 73. A product of Portoroz, Slovenia, Belac rolled in a birdie from four feet on the 366-yard, par four fourth hole to move to one-under-par early. She stayed in red numbers until a bogey on No. 8 and a second bogey on No. 16 dropped her to one-over for the day. Belac hit 15 greens, 10 fairways and had 35 putts.

Sophomore Virginia Elena Carta finished tied 13th with a 76 Monday as she couldn't get her putter going in stroke play. The Udine, Italy native was held without a birdie and had bogeys on No. 4, No. 10, No. 13 and a three-putt bogey on No. 14.

Lisa Maguire, a junior from Cavan, Ireland, carded a seven-over-par, 79, and was 17th overall. She hit eight fairways, seven greens and had 33 putts in stroke play.

In match play, Duke and UCLA will meet Tuesday morning beginning at 11:05 a.m. Live coverage of match play will be on the Golf Channel from 3-6 p.m. The matchups feature Choi vs. Bronte Law, Carta vs. Lilia Vu, Lisa Maguire vs. Clare Legaspi, Leona Maguire vs. Mariel Galdiano and Belac vs. Bethany Wu.

“I love the way they did it this year, particularly,” said Brooks on being a part of the East Lake Cup. “It is kind of a mini national championship with one day of stroke play and two days of match play. It is like nationals shrunk down. I think it is a great way to do it.”

Last season, Duke defeated Stanford, 4-1, in the semifinal portion of match play, before falling, 4-1, to Southern California.

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