Upcoming Event: Women's Golf versus Windy City Collegiate Classic on September 29, 2025
Women's Golf
vs Windy City Collegiate Classic
Monday, October 28
Atlanta, Ga.
All Day
Duke University
vs
Day One at East Lake Cup
Dan Brooks, Ana Belac, Erica Shepherd, Jaravee Boonchant, Miranda Wang, Megan Furtney, Gina Kim, Jon Whithaus
Photo by: Clyde Click
Belac Earns Co-Medalist; Duke No. 1 Seed at East Lake Cup
10/28/2019 8:56:00 PM | Women's Golf
ATLANTA, Ga. – Led by a five-under-par ledger over her final seven holes, Duke University senior Ana Belac earned co-medalist accolades and the Blue Devils received the No. 1 overall seed at the 2019 East Lake Cup, which is being played at historic East Lake Golf Club in Atlanta, Ga.
"This was one of my favorite tournaments my freshman year, probably my favorite," said Belac. "Coming back here brings back all the good memories, and to win it is really special."
Belac, a native of Portoroz, Slovenia, earned her second individual title as she collected a tournament-best eight birdies to finish with a three-under-par, 69, and tied with Wake Forest's Vanessa Knecht. After missing Duke's last tournament as she was competing at LPGA Stage II Qualifying, Belac collected three birdies over her first eight holes and made the turn at one-under, 35.
After a bogey on No. 10 and double-bogey on No. 11, Belac dropped to two-over-par. Her putter started to get hot as she rolled in a 20-footer on No. 12, four-footer on No. 13 and two 18-foot birdies on No. 15 and No. 16 to move to two-under-par with two holes to play. Belac missed a birdie putt on No. 17, but then on the par five 18th she hit her second shot to within 25 yards of the pin. She hit her 54-degree wedge to inches and sank the birdie to finish at three-under, 69, and a tie for first. Belac hit 14 greens, 10 fairways and had 30 putts on the day.
"I've had quite a rough season," commented Belac. "I played Q-School and didn't make it to Q series. I've been playing decent golf but could never shoot low because I was too tight all the time and could never really have fun. So, coming into this tournament I really wanted to have some fun on the course and let my game do the job. Then on the back nine it really happened, and I really started enjoying it and just took off from there"
The win for Belac was her second over her four years with the Blue Devils and the first came exactly two years ago at the Landfall Tradition in Wilmington, N.C.
As a team, Duke featured three golfers in the top six and shot a two-under-par, 286, to finish two shots ahead of Arizona (288). Wake Forest (292) and Auburn (295) rounded out the field.
The Blue Devils received the No. 1 seed in match play and will face fourth-seeded Auburn Tuesday, Oct. 29 beginning at 11:05 a.m. Second-seeded Arizona will face third-seeded Wake Forest in the other semifinal match.
Along with Belac in the top six for Duke was junior Jaravee Boonchant (T4) and freshman Erica Shepherd (T6). Sophomore Gina Kim was 11th and junior Miranda Wang was tied for 19th.
Boonchant, a native of Bangkok, Thailand, collected her seventh straight round of even or under par as she turned in a one-under, 71, Monday to tie for fourth. She opened her day with a birdie on No. 1 as she hit her 58-degree wedge from 43 yards to four feet and sank the putt. Boonchant missed only two greens all day, one of which was No. 4 as she made her lone bogey. Over her final 14 holes, she played the course at one-under-par with a birdie on the 471-yard, par five sixth hole. Boonchant hit her 58-degree wedge from 55 yards to three feet. She led the field with 15 pars on the day, while hitting 11 fairways and rolling 33 putts.
A freshman from Greenwood, Ind., Shepherd had a slow start to her round with bogeys on No. 3, No. 4 and No. 7, but went on to play her final 11 holes at three-under-par. She started getting things going on the back nine as she drained a 27-foot birdie putt on No. 10 and then a 48-foot birdie putt on the 164-yard, par three 11th. Shepherd turned in a short birdie on the par five 14th as well to return to even par for the day. She hit nine fairways, 13 greens and had 33 putts on the day.
After turning in back-to-back birdies on No. 8 and No. 9, Kim made the turn at even par. She suffered two straight bogeys to start the back nine along with a bogey on No. 16 to move to three-over-par. Kim, who hails from Chapel Hill, N.C., turned in a key birdie on No. 18 as she sank an eight-footer to close with a 74. She hit 11 greens, six fairways and rolled 29 putts.
Wang, a product of Beijing, China, finished the day with a seven-over, 79, to finish tied for 19th. She was limited to only one birdie, which came on the 373-yard, par four eighth as she hit her 50-degree wedge from 106 yards to five feet.
Duke last competed in the East Lake Cup in 2016 as the Blue Devils earned the No. 3 seed and went on to knock off UCLA (3-2) and Washington (3-1-1) to claim the title. In 2015, Duke defeated Stanford, 4-1, to advance to the championship, before falling to Southern California, 4-1.
Live tournament coverage of the East Lake Cup will air on Golf Channel from 3-6 p.m. (ET) Tuesday and will replay in primetime. In addition, Golf Central and Morning Drive will surround live tournament coverage with pre- and post-event news coverage.
Duke will tee off beginning at 11:05 a.m., Tuesday against Auburn. Wang will open first against Megan Schofill. At 11:25 a.m., Shepherd will face Kaleigh Telfer, while Kim will go up against Brooks Sansom at 11:45 a.m. Closing pairings out was Boonchant versus Julie McCarthy at 12:05 p.m., and Belac against Mychael O'Berry at 12:25 p.m.
"I feel pretty confident," added Belac. "I played a lot of match play growing up since I'm from Europe and we play all of our team championships this way. Playing in nationals just recently, I have a lot of match play under my belt. So, I definitely know what to expect and I will just go and try to keep the flow from today."
General admission and parking for the East Lake Cup is free and open to the public. Complimentary tickets are available here and free parking is located in the grass lots across the street from the East Lake Golf Club front gate: 2650 Alston Drive SE, Atlanta., Ga.
Duke Notes:
• With her round of 69, Ana Belac now owns 18 career rounds in the 60s, which ranks sixth all-time at Duke
• Jaravee Boonchant now owns 48 career rounds of even or under par, including seven straight rounds. Boonchant ranks seventh on Duke's all-time charts
• Ana Belac now owns 46 rounds of even or under par to rank in sole possession of eighth on Duke's charts
#GoDuke
Golf Channel East Lake Cup News / Tournament Coverage (live, all times ET)
Tuesday, Oct. 29 Morning Drive 7-9 a.m.
Tuesday, Oct. 29 Golf Central Pre Game 2-3 p.m.
Tuesday, Oct. 29 Semifinals, Match Play 3-6 p.m. (live) / 10 p.m.-1 a.m. (replay)
Tuesday, Oct. 29 Golf Central 6-7 p.m.
Wednesday, Oct. 30 Morning Drive 7-9 a.m.
Wednesday, Oct. 30 Golf Central Pre Game 2-3 p.m.
Wednesday, Oct. 30 Finals, Match Play 3-6 p.m. (live) / 6-9 p.m. (replay)
Wednesday, Oct. 30 Golf Central 9-10 p.m. (live)
Duke Results
- T1 Ana Belac Duke 69 -3
- T4 Jaravee Boonchant Duke 71 -1
- T6 Erica Shepherd Duke 72 E
- 11 Gina Kim Duke 74 +2
- T19 Miranda Wang Duke 79 +7
1 Team Scores
1 Duke 286 -2
2 Arizona 288 E
3 Wake Forest 292 +4
4 Auburn 295 +7
Start Finish Player Team Scores
- T1 Vanessa Knecht Wake Forest 69 -3
- T1 Ana Belac Duke 69 -3
- 3 Therese Warner Arizona 70 -2
- T4 Jaravee Boonchant Duke 71 -1
- T4 Vivian Hou Arizona 71 -1
- T6 Brooke Sansom Auburn 72 E
- T6 Erica Shepherd Duke 72 E
- T6 Ya Chun Chang Arizona 72 E
- T6 Siyun Liu Wake Forest 72 E
- 10 Mychael O'Berry Auburn 73 +1
- 11 Gina Kim Duke 74 +2
- T12 Gile Bite Starkute Arizona 75 +3
- T12 Kaleigh Telfer Auburn 75 +3
- T12 Emilia Migliaccio Wake Forest 75 +3
- T12 Megan Schofill Auburn 75 +3
- 16 Lauren Walsh Wake Forest 76 +4
- T17 Sandra Nordaas Arizona 77 +5
- T17 Rachel Kuehn Wake Forest 77 +5
- T19 Miranda Wang Duke 79 +7
- T19 Julie McCarthy Auburn 79 +7
"This was one of my favorite tournaments my freshman year, probably my favorite," said Belac. "Coming back here brings back all the good memories, and to win it is really special."
Belac, a native of Portoroz, Slovenia, earned her second individual title as she collected a tournament-best eight birdies to finish with a three-under-par, 69, and tied with Wake Forest's Vanessa Knecht. After missing Duke's last tournament as she was competing at LPGA Stage II Qualifying, Belac collected three birdies over her first eight holes and made the turn at one-under, 35.
After a bogey on No. 10 and double-bogey on No. 11, Belac dropped to two-over-par. Her putter started to get hot as she rolled in a 20-footer on No. 12, four-footer on No. 13 and two 18-foot birdies on No. 15 and No. 16 to move to two-under-par with two holes to play. Belac missed a birdie putt on No. 17, but then on the par five 18th she hit her second shot to within 25 yards of the pin. She hit her 54-degree wedge to inches and sank the birdie to finish at three-under, 69, and a tie for first. Belac hit 14 greens, 10 fairways and had 30 putts on the day.
"I've had quite a rough season," commented Belac. "I played Q-School and didn't make it to Q series. I've been playing decent golf but could never shoot low because I was too tight all the time and could never really have fun. So, coming into this tournament I really wanted to have some fun on the course and let my game do the job. Then on the back nine it really happened, and I really started enjoying it and just took off from there"
The win for Belac was her second over her four years with the Blue Devils and the first came exactly two years ago at the Landfall Tradition in Wilmington, N.C.
As a team, Duke featured three golfers in the top six and shot a two-under-par, 286, to finish two shots ahead of Arizona (288). Wake Forest (292) and Auburn (295) rounded out the field.
The Blue Devils received the No. 1 seed in match play and will face fourth-seeded Auburn Tuesday, Oct. 29 beginning at 11:05 a.m. Second-seeded Arizona will face third-seeded Wake Forest in the other semifinal match.
Along with Belac in the top six for Duke was junior Jaravee Boonchant (T4) and freshman Erica Shepherd (T6). Sophomore Gina Kim was 11th and junior Miranda Wang was tied for 19th.
Boonchant, a native of Bangkok, Thailand, collected her seventh straight round of even or under par as she turned in a one-under, 71, Monday to tie for fourth. She opened her day with a birdie on No. 1 as she hit her 58-degree wedge from 43 yards to four feet and sank the putt. Boonchant missed only two greens all day, one of which was No. 4 as she made her lone bogey. Over her final 14 holes, she played the course at one-under-par with a birdie on the 471-yard, par five sixth hole. Boonchant hit her 58-degree wedge from 55 yards to three feet. She led the field with 15 pars on the day, while hitting 11 fairways and rolling 33 putts.
A freshman from Greenwood, Ind., Shepherd had a slow start to her round with bogeys on No. 3, No. 4 and No. 7, but went on to play her final 11 holes at three-under-par. She started getting things going on the back nine as she drained a 27-foot birdie putt on No. 10 and then a 48-foot birdie putt on the 164-yard, par three 11th. Shepherd turned in a short birdie on the par five 14th as well to return to even par for the day. She hit nine fairways, 13 greens and had 33 putts on the day.
After turning in back-to-back birdies on No. 8 and No. 9, Kim made the turn at even par. She suffered two straight bogeys to start the back nine along with a bogey on No. 16 to move to three-over-par. Kim, who hails from Chapel Hill, N.C., turned in a key birdie on No. 18 as she sank an eight-footer to close with a 74. She hit 11 greens, six fairways and rolled 29 putts.
Wang, a product of Beijing, China, finished the day with a seven-over, 79, to finish tied for 19th. She was limited to only one birdie, which came on the 373-yard, par four eighth as she hit her 50-degree wedge from 106 yards to five feet.
Duke last competed in the East Lake Cup in 2016 as the Blue Devils earned the No. 3 seed and went on to knock off UCLA (3-2) and Washington (3-1-1) to claim the title. In 2015, Duke defeated Stanford, 4-1, to advance to the championship, before falling to Southern California, 4-1.
Live tournament coverage of the East Lake Cup will air on Golf Channel from 3-6 p.m. (ET) Tuesday and will replay in primetime. In addition, Golf Central and Morning Drive will surround live tournament coverage with pre- and post-event news coverage.
Duke will tee off beginning at 11:05 a.m., Tuesday against Auburn. Wang will open first against Megan Schofill. At 11:25 a.m., Shepherd will face Kaleigh Telfer, while Kim will go up against Brooks Sansom at 11:45 a.m. Closing pairings out was Boonchant versus Julie McCarthy at 12:05 p.m., and Belac against Mychael O'Berry at 12:25 p.m.
"I feel pretty confident," added Belac. "I played a lot of match play growing up since I'm from Europe and we play all of our team championships this way. Playing in nationals just recently, I have a lot of match play under my belt. So, I definitely know what to expect and I will just go and try to keep the flow from today."
General admission and parking for the East Lake Cup is free and open to the public. Complimentary tickets are available here and free parking is located in the grass lots across the street from the East Lake Golf Club front gate: 2650 Alston Drive SE, Atlanta., Ga.
Duke Notes:
• With her round of 69, Ana Belac now owns 18 career rounds in the 60s, which ranks sixth all-time at Duke
• Jaravee Boonchant now owns 48 career rounds of even or under par, including seven straight rounds. Boonchant ranks seventh on Duke's all-time charts
• Ana Belac now owns 46 rounds of even or under par to rank in sole possession of eighth on Duke's charts
#GoDuke
Golf Channel East Lake Cup News / Tournament Coverage (live, all times ET)
Tuesday, Oct. 29 Morning Drive 7-9 a.m.
Tuesday, Oct. 29 Golf Central Pre Game 2-3 p.m.
Tuesday, Oct. 29 Semifinals, Match Play 3-6 p.m. (live) / 10 p.m.-1 a.m. (replay)
Tuesday, Oct. 29 Golf Central 6-7 p.m.
Wednesday, Oct. 30 Morning Drive 7-9 a.m.
Wednesday, Oct. 30 Golf Central Pre Game 2-3 p.m.
Wednesday, Oct. 30 Finals, Match Play 3-6 p.m. (live) / 6-9 p.m. (replay)
Wednesday, Oct. 30 Golf Central 9-10 p.m. (live)
Duke Results
- T1 Ana Belac Duke 69 -3
- T4 Jaravee Boonchant Duke 71 -1
- T6 Erica Shepherd Duke 72 E
- 11 Gina Kim Duke 74 +2
- T19 Miranda Wang Duke 79 +7
1 Team Scores
1 Duke 286 -2
2 Arizona 288 E
3 Wake Forest 292 +4
4 Auburn 295 +7
Start Finish Player Team Scores
- T1 Vanessa Knecht Wake Forest 69 -3
- T1 Ana Belac Duke 69 -3
- 3 Therese Warner Arizona 70 -2
- T4 Jaravee Boonchant Duke 71 -1
- T4 Vivian Hou Arizona 71 -1
- T6 Brooke Sansom Auburn 72 E
- T6 Erica Shepherd Duke 72 E
- T6 Ya Chun Chang Arizona 72 E
- T6 Siyun Liu Wake Forest 72 E
- 10 Mychael O'Berry Auburn 73 +1
- 11 Gina Kim Duke 74 +2
- T12 Gile Bite Starkute Arizona 75 +3
- T12 Kaleigh Telfer Auburn 75 +3
- T12 Emilia Migliaccio Wake Forest 75 +3
- T12 Megan Schofill Auburn 75 +3
- 16 Lauren Walsh Wake Forest 76 +4
- T17 Sandra Nordaas Arizona 77 +5
- T17 Rachel Kuehn Wake Forest 77 +5
- T19 Miranda Wang Duke 79 +7
- T19 Julie McCarthy Auburn 79 +7
Players Mentioned
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/ Women's Golf
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/ Women's Golf
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/ Women's Golf
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/ Women's Golf
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