EUGENE, Ore. – Duke University freshman
Virginia Elena Carta continued her solid play Friday in the opening round of the NCAA Championship as she carded a three-under-par, 69, and is only one shot off the individual lead at the 6,331-yard, par 72 Eugene Country Club in Eugene, Ore.
Carta, who hails from Udine, Italy, is only one shot behind co-leaders August Kim and Haley Moore of Arizona, which turned in a four-under-par, 68. A total of 28 golfers carded under-par rounds on the first day of play at the championship.
“Today the course was in really good condition even though we have had some rain the last few days,” said Carta. “For my point of view, I played pretty good. My putting was really good and that made the difference. I think the key was being calm, after my double-bogey. Also because I hit a perfect shot straight to the pit, but it flew over the green. I am really excited and happy about my putting and my game in general.”
With her five-birdie output and three-under ledger, Carta has turned in two straight rounds in the 60s and three consecutive rounds of even or under par. She opened her day by draining a six-foot birdie putt on the 375-yard, par four first hole to get to one-under. Carta then drained a 15-foot putt for birdie on No. 5, before sticking her approach shots on No. 7 and No. 9 to within two feet for birdie to get to four-under-par.
“Especially in the first nine, I had a few really close approach shots,” said Carta. “My long game is pretty on point right now and my putting is getting better.”
After making the turn at four-under, 33, Carta was tied for the individual lead. She stepped to the tee box on the 152-yard, par three 11th and struck a great shot going right for the pin, but it sailed over the flag and went down the hill in the rough. Carta concluded the hole with her only blemish of the day, a double-bogey. She responded strong narrowly missing birdie on the next couple of holes.
Carta sank a 20-foot birdie on the 510-yard, par five 15th to get back to three-under for the day. She then drained a key seven-foot par putt on No. 16 and had birdie opportunities on 17 and 18, before finishing with pars. She hit 16 greens, 12 fairways and had 33 putts on the day.
After making the turn at even par as a team and ranking in the top five overall, the Blue Devils played the back nine at 11-over-par, on its way to placing tied 21st out of 24 teams after 18 holes. Although Duke is tied 21st, the Blue Devils are only six shots out of eighth place and 15 strokes off the team lead.
Oklahoma State turned in a four-under, 284, on day one to take the team lead, while UCLA (286), Washington (289), Southern California (289), Arizona (291), Northwestern (292), Arkansas (292), Virginia (293), Ohio State (293) and South Carolina (293) rounded out the top 10. Closing out the field were Brigham Young (294), Stanford (295), Florida State (295), Michigan (296), Tennessee (197), Florida (297), Oregon (297), Furman (298), North Carolina (298), Georgia (298), Miami (299), Duke (299), Alabama (300) and Texas (301).
“I didn't look at the final tally, but we are back quite a ways,” said Duke head coach
Dan Brooks. “We've got three days to make up 15 shots. That is doable but we are going to have to get right at this to make that happen. These teams are too good. We shall pursue.”
Sophomore
Leona Maguire kicked off her round with a birdie on No. 1 and then registered nine consecutive pars to start her first round. Maguire, who is from Cavan, Ireland, played a solid round of golf, but couldn't get many putts to drop. On No. 11, she suffered a three-putt bogey from the fringe and then had bogeys on No. 13 and No. 14 to drop to two-over. Maguire finished with a bang hitting the green in two on the 471-yard, par five 17th and finishing with a birdie. She than drained a five-foot birdie on No. 18 to close at even-par, 72, which is tied 29th. Maguire hit 12 fairways, 14 greens and had 30 putts.
“Finishing with two birdies at the end was pretty big,” said Maguire. “I had been playing well all day, but I just hadn't been getting the putts to drop. I felt like I had played a lot better than I actually scored so to get those two birdies coming in was nice. It is definitely a big confidence booster going into tomorrow.”
Coming off a tied fourth placement at the NCAA Baton Rouge Regional, junior
Sandy Choi had a one-over-par round going until the 13th hole. A product of Seoul, South Korea, Choi suffered a double-bogey on No. 13 and then had bogeys on No. 14, No. 17 and No. 18 to finish with a 78, which is tied 111th. Her opening nine was solid with four consecutive pars, back-to-back bogeys on No. 5 and No. 6 and a birdie on the 474-yard, par five seventh. Choi featured a solid approach shot into the challenging eighth hole as the ball stopped within inches for par. She hit 11 greens, 12 fairways and had 33 putts on the day.
Both senior
Celine Boutier and sophomore
Gurbani Singh struggled to open NCAA action finishing with an eight-over, 80, and 11-over, 83, respectively. Boutier was able to sink a six-foot birdie on No. 17 and chipped in for par on No. 18 to finish one-under over her final three holes. The score matched her highest round in NCAA Championship play during her four years. Singh's round of 83 was the highest all season for the India native.
Duke will have a quick turnaround as the Blue Devils will tee off in the second round beginning at 10:30 a.m. (ET) with Florida and Georgia on hole 10. Temperatures are expected to be in the high 40s or low 50s when the Blue Devils tee off.
#GoDukeDuke Results- T3
Virginia Elena Carta Duke 69 -3
- T29
Leona Maguire Duke 72 E
- T111
Sandy Choi Duke 78 +6
- 127
Celine Boutier Duke 80 +8
- 132
Gurbani Singh Duke 83 +11
1 Team Scores1 Oklahoma State 284 -4
2 UCLA 286 -2
T3 Washington 289 +1
T3 Southern California 289 +1
5 Arizona 291 +3
T6 Northwestern 292 +4
T6 Arkansas 292 +4
T8 Virginia 293 +5
T8 Ohio State 293 +5
T8 South Carolina 293 +5
11 Brigham Young 294 +6
T12 Stanford 295 +7
T12 Florida State 295 +7
14 Michigan 296 +8
T15 Tennessee 297 +9
T15 Florida 297 +9
T15 Oregon 297 +9
T18 Furman 298 +10
T18 North Carolina 298 +10
T18 Georgia 298 +10
T21 Miami 299 +11
T21 Duke 299 +11
23 Alabama 300 +12
24 Texas 301 +13
Start Finish Player Team Scores- T1 August Kim * Purdue 68 -4
- T1 Haley Moore Arizona 68 -4
- T3 Katelyn Dambaugh South Carolina 69 -3
- T3 Anna Newell Tennessee 69 -3
- T3 Dewi Weber Miami 69 -3
- T3 Louise Ridderstrom UCLA 69 -3
- T3
Virginia Elena Carta Duke 69 -3
- T3 Cheyenne Knight Alabama 69 -3
- T3 Jennifer Kupcho * Wake Forest 69 -3
- T3 Chih-Min Chen Oklahoma State 69 -3
- T11 Morgane Metraux Florida State 70 -2
- T11 Olivia Cason * Louisville 70 -2
- T11 Alex White Brigham Young 70 -2
- T11 Rio Watanabe Ohio State 70 -2
- T11 Grace Choi Michigan 70 -2
- T11 Marianne Li * California 70 -2
- T11 Sarah Rhee Washington 70 -2
- T11 Alana Uriell Arkansas 70 -2
- T19 Haylee Harford Furman 71 -1
- T19 Tiffany Chan Southern California 71 -1
- T19 Taylor Tomlinson Florida 71 -1
- T19 Kyung Kim Southern California 71 -1
- T19 Bronte Law UCLA 71 -1
- T19 Laura Lonardi * Baylor 71 -1
- T19 Casey Danielson Stanford 71 -1
- T19 Julianne Alvarez Washington 71 -1
- T19 Kenzie Neisen Oklahoma State 71 -1
- T19 Stephanie Lau Northwestern 71 -1
- T29 Lauren Coughlin Virginia 72 E
- T29 Cathleen Santoso Oregon 72 E
- T29 Elise Bradley * LSU 72 E
- T29 Haley Mills Texas 72 E
- T29 Kendra Dalton Brigham Young 72 E
- T29 Megan Kim Michigan 72 E
- T29
Leona Maguire Duke 72 E
- T29 Linnea Strom * Arizona State 72 E
- T29 Emma Broze Oklahoma State 72 E
- T29 Maddie McCrary Oklahoma State 72 E
- T39 Anna Redding Virginia 73 +1
- T39 Ainhoa Olarra South Carolina 73 +1
- T39 Caroline Inglis Oregon 73 +1
- T39 Kelly Whaley North Carolina 73 +1
- T39 Katja Pogacar Ohio State 73 +1
- T39 Harang Lee Georgia 73 +1
- T39 Bethany Wu UCLA 73 +1
- T39 Lilia Vu UCLA 73 +1
- T39 Maria Torres Florida 73 +1
- T39 Karen Chung Southern California 73 +1
- T39 Janet Mao Northwestern 73 +1
- T39 Cara Gorlei Arkansas 73 +1
- T39 Wenyung Keh Washington 73 +1
- T39 Regina Plasencia Arkansas 73 +1
- T39 Linnea Johansson Oklahoma State 73 +1
- T39 Krystal Quihuis Arizona 73 +1
- T55 Lauren Diaz-Yi Virginia 74 +2
- T55 Petra Salko Oregon 74 +2
- T55 Morgan Gonzales Virginia 74 +2
- T55 Leslie Cloots North Carolina 74 +2
- T55 Kelly Grassel Florida 74 +2
- T55 Rinko Mitsunaga Georgia 74 +2
- T55 Gabriella Then Southern California 74 +2
- T55 Jillian Hollis Georgia 74 +2
- T55 Sarah Cho Northwestern 74 +2
- T55 Kacie Komoto Northwestern 74 +2
- T55 Shannon Aubert Stanford 74 +2
- T55 Lindsey Weaver Arizona 74 +2
- T55 Hannah Kim Northwestern 74 +2
- T55 Lauren Kim Stanford 74 +2
- T69 Kayla Jones Florida State 75 +3
- T69 Lydia Gumm Florida State 75 +3
- T69 Hannah Pietila Tennessee 75 +3
- T69 Sarah Schmelzel South Carolina 75 +3
- T69 Matilda Castren Florida State 75 +3
- T69 Elizabeth Szokol Virginia 75 +3
- T69 Alice Chen Furman 75 +3
- T69 Lauren Stephenson * Clemson 75 +3
- T69 Leonie Harm * Houston 75 +3
- T69 Nikilotte Schroeder Ohio State 75 +3
- T69 Brooklyn Hocker Brigham Young 75 +3
- T69 Jaclyn Lee Ohio State 75 +3
- T69 Elizabeth Mallett North Carolina 75 +3
- T69 Sarah Burnham * Michigan State 75 +3
- T69 Ying Luo Washington 75 +3
- T69 Charlotte Thomas Washington 75 +3
- T85 Valentina Romero Furman 76 +4
- T85 Isi Nilsson South Carolina 76 +4
- T85 Jacqueline Bendrick Furman 76 +4
- T85 Taylor Totland Furman 76 +4
- T85 Shannon Brooks Tennessee 76 +4
- T85 Lexi Harkins North Carolina 76 +4
- T85 Bryana Nguyen North Carolina 76 +4
- T85 Kailey Walsh Miami 76 +4
- T85 Daniela Darquea Miami 76 +4
- T85 Julia Beck Texas 76 +4
- T85 Sophia Schubert Texas 76 +4
- T85 Janie Jackson Alabama 76 +4
- T85 Bianca Pagdanganan * Gonzaga 76 +4
- T85 Sierra Kersten Stanford 76 +4
- T85 Summar Roachell Arkansas 76 +4
- T85 Jessica Vasilic Arizona 76 +4
- T101 Blakesly Warren Tennessee 77 +5
- T101 Andrea Wong * UC Davis 77 +5
- T101 Elodie Van Dievoet Michigan 77 +5
- T101 Natalie Karcher Texas 77 +5
- T101 Jessica Porvasnik Ohio State 77 +5
- T101 Lea Garner Brigham Young 77 +5
- T101 Catherine Peters Michigan 77 +5
- T101 Mary Ellen Shuman Georgia 77 +5
- T101 Emma Talley Alabama 77 +5
- T101 Bailey Tardy Georgia 77 +5
- T111 Kathleen Scavo Oregon 78 +6
- T111 Lucia Polo Tennessee 78 +6
- T111 Marion Veysseyre South Carolina 78 +6
- T111 Luiza Altmann Miami 78 +6
- T111 Delfina Acosta Miami 78 +6
- T111 Nicole Morales Alabama 78 +6
- T111 Hadas Libman UCLA 78 +6
- T111 Lakareber Abe Alabama 78 +6
- T111 Robynn Ree Southern California 78 +6
- T111
Sandy Choi Duke 78 +6
- T111 Maria Fassi Arkansas 78 +6
- T122 Kim Metraux Florida State 79 +7
- T122 Maddie Luitwieler Texas 79 +7
- T122 Samantha Wagner Florida 79 +7
- T122 Karolina Vlckova Florida 79 +7
- T122 Mariah Stackhouse Stanford 79 +7
- 127
Celine Boutier Duke 80 +8
- T128 Marcella Pranovia Oregon 81 +9
- T128 Rose Huang Brigham Young 81 +9
- T130 Emily White Michigan 82 +10
- T130 Gigi Stoll Arizona 82 +10
- 132
Gurbani Singh Duke 83 +11