Golf Kicks off Birdies for Babies Campaign

DURHAM, N.C. – Coming off raising over $36,000 the last two years, the Duke men's and women's golf programs are excited to kick off year three of the Birdies for Babies program, which benefits the Duke Children's Neonatal and Pediatric Intensive Care Units.

The men's golf program is set to open action for the 2019-20 campaign, Saturday, Sept. 14-15 by hosting the Rod Myers Invitational at the Duke Golf Club. The Blue Devils are preseason ranked No. 12 nationally under the direction of head coach Jamie Green.

Coming off winning its seventh NCAA Championship a year ago, the women's golf program has been preseason ranked No. 2 nationally as head coach Dan Brooks enters his 36^th season with the Blue Devils. Duke will open the season Sept. 16-18 at the ANNIKA Intercollegiate.

"We are excited for our third year of partnership with Duke Golf and Birdies for Babies," said Amy Deshler, Senior Executive Director for Duke Children's Development. "After raising an amazing $26,322.75 for Duke Children's during the 2018-2019 season, we know that our men's and women's golf teams are going to make even more birdies for our intensive care nursery babies this year! We want to thank the players and coaches for continuing this initiative, recent graduate Virginia Elena Carta for envisioning and launching this wonderful partnership, and everyone who pledges to support our teams and Duke Children's. We look forward to watching Birdies for Babies continue to grow!"

Those looking to support Duke's partnership with the Duke Children's can make pledges per birdie. Pledges will start at $0.50 and high pledge increments are welcome. If the Blue Devils register an eagle (counts as two birdies), albatross (three birdies) and hole-in-one (four birdies) they will count as stated. Each pledge will receive an autographed photo of the Duke women's golf team.

The creation of the program was spearheaded by recent Duke graduate and former NCAA Champion women's golfer Virginia Elena Carta. A native of Udine, Italy, Carta was a four-time All-ACC selection and the 2016 NCAA Individual Champion. The 2016 WGCA All-America and Honda Award winner turned in a NCAA-record 16-under-par ledger of 272 as a rookie to register her first collegiate victory. She became one of only four Blue Devils to win both a NCAA Individual and team NCAA title.

"I'm so excited for year three of Birdies for Babies," added Carta. "This program has truly impacted many families and their babies. Although I've graduated, I'll still be an active part of the program and I'm looking forward to seeing the success of the team through this new season starting next week!"

Duke Children's is a 180-bed inpatient hospital within Duke University Hospital. The central outpatient clinic, the McGovern-Davison Children's Health Center, is a 66,000 square-foot facility that is adjacent to the hospital, and that combines medical and surgical specialty services in one colorful, child-focused location. Additionally, there are numerous Duke Children's primary care and specialty care clinics through North Carolina to care for the needs of children throughout the state. Duke Children's is one of the largest health care providers for children in the Southeast, and the only children's hospital in North Carolina to be ranked in all ten specialties by the U.S. News & World Report. Learn more about Duke Children's online at www.dukechildrens.org or at www.facebook.com/dukechildrens.

The women's team, led by head coach Dan Brooks, will feature seven regular season tournaments, before heading to the postseason, while the men's program has 10 regular season events prior to heading into the postseason.

For more information, head to https://www.bluedevilsbirdiesforbabies.org/

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Golf Kicks off Birdies for Babies Campaign

Players Mentioned

Virginia Elena Carta

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Golf Kicks off Birdies for Babies Campaign

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