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George Shutt Memories - No. 14
11/28/2020 6:44:00 AM | Women's Golf
DURHAM, N.C.— Over the last 16 years, George Shutt has traveled thousands of miles to follow the Duke women's golf program. He has become a staple in women's college golf not only with the Blue Devils, but as a supporter of NCAA golf.
Since he became hooked on the Blue Devils in 2004, he has traveled to as many tournaments as possible, given numerous hugs, walked many miles and supported collegiate golfers and head coaches throughout the years. Â
We checked in with Shutt and asked him to look back at some of his great memories, while following the Blue Devils and GoDuke.com will debut them each week during the 2020 summer and fall.
#GoDuke
2018-19
My plans got off to a rocky start. I was going to drive to Durham, take a plane to Minneapolis for the Annika Invitational, return to Durham for the 2018 Duke Sports Hall of Fame Ceremony and then return home. As I was getting ready to leave Orlando, Hurricane Florence was forecasted to hit the Carolina coastlines that weekend. Airlines began cancelling flights from Raleigh-Durham. I cancelled my flights so missed the first tournament.
Next tournament was The Ruth Chris Tar Heel Invitational. Another hurricane was getting ready to enter the Gulf, so I left a day early to "outrun" Hurricane Michael. It turned into arguably the strongest hurricane to hit the U.S. mainland ever, a category five. It still had hurricane force winds through Georgia and most of South Carolina and were still strong enough to cause a power outage on Thursday night in Durham. We were wondering what the condition of Finley might be after the copious amount of rain plus the wind.
The course was in amazingly good shape. Duke led from start to finish winning by six strokes over Virginia with three of the players in the top 10 and two in the top five. I got to meet Gina Kim's Mom, Sarah, for the first time.
My next tournament a couple of weeks later was the Tradition at Landfall. What I remember most about this tournament was the weather. It was rainy and windy all three days. The teams started with a shotgun start on the first day and play was suspended for probably about an hour. The teams were unable to finish the round and began the next morning to finish the last several holes. Rather than repairing the teams kept playing. After the second round, Duke was nine shots back in fourth place and with another shotgun start began on holes 4,5 and 6. Duke played the better round by far having the only team score under par and won the tournament by two strokes. Virginia Elena Carta shot all three rounds at even par. She and Gina tied for low score. It was a good way to finish the fall with back to back wins.
The 2019 Spring schedule started with a trip to New Orleans. The English Turn Golf Club is southeast of downtown New Orleans and is a typical Louisiana golf course, very wide open with few trees and several water holes. It turned out to be another case of rain and wind resulting in low temperatures. The scores were very close throughout and hinged upon a good shot here or a bad shot there. Under these conditions and for the most part, Duke played consistently losing to Texas by a couple of shots.
Next stop was the Darius Rucker Intercollegiate. Duke finished fourth to Florida State that probably set scoring records for the tournament. What I remember most was this was the first tournament that all four of the Stooges had been together.
Next tournament was the Evans Derby Experience at Auburn, Ala. Due to the amount of rain that had fallen in the area over the previous weeks, the university course was closed and the tournament was held at Saugahatchee Country Club. Duke had its chances but uncharacteristically played its worst round in the final round. However, it was great practice in case Duke was assigned to this location for the NCAA Regional.
While the next stop of the Spring had nothing to do with college golf per se, it was one of the most memorable experiences in my life and I got to cross off two items on my all-time "bucket list." The first was to visit Augusta National Club, home of the Masters.
Second was to see the first competitive round of golf played by women on this course. I had never dreamed that both would happen within the same week. The ANWA's edition was held on April 1-4 and the field consisted of 70 of the top ranked amateur women golfers in the world. What made it even more special was that there were five girls in the field representing among other things, Duke University. Also, all four Stooges were there. The final round was played on Saturday, April 4th on the historic Master's course and consisted of the top 30 girls after two rounds of qualifying. Two of the five girls affiliated with Duke made the final cut. They were Jaravee Boonchant and Erica Shepherd.
Every aspect of this experience exceeded expectations. The course is even better than portrayed on television. The crowds were enormous and were arguably the biggest that any of the girls had ever experienced and yet their poise shone through in addition to their athletic ability. Anyone that has ever watched or attended the Masters knows about the "Sunday afternoon roars." They have nothing on the ladies with their own "Saturday afternoon roars." The play of the final round matched the play of the professionals in all ways. I also enjoyed meeting Virginia's Mom and Ana Belac's Dad for the first time as well as Erica's parents. I enjoyed seeing Jaravee's parents as well, although I had met them when she was attempting to qualify for one of the USGA tournaments during the previous summer.
In summary, the whole experience was very exciting and exhilarating.
Next up was the ACC Championship at Sedgefield Country Club, another course with lots of history. Duke finished third to Wake Forest who won from start to finish by 18 shots ahead of Duke. Even so, Ana Belac and Jaravee Boonchant finished in the top five.
The Duke team was assigned to the Auburn Regional and returned to play at the same club as earlier in the Spring, Saugahatchee Country Club. After the first day, Duke was in second place behind Vanderbilt by a couple of shots. After day two, Duke had climbed to first place. In the third round, Vanderbilt came back to win by a couple of shots, but the objective of this tournament was realized and Duke advanced to the NCAA finals to be held at the Blessings Golf Club outside Fayetteville, Ark., home for the University of Arkansas teams.
And what a course it is. It is a beautiful layout, but is long and has some of the most severe elevation changes that I have seen. It is built in a valley with a good size stream running through it. The first seven holes are in the valley along the creek. There is a severe climb to reach the eighth through the 14th holes and then back down to the valley floor.
The first round was very windy and about half of the players (24 teams of five players each plus eight individuals for a total of 88 players) did not break 80. From the start of the second round on Saturday, Duke was on fire and four of the players shot under par with the fifth one shooting even par. Because of the weather and tornado warnings, play was suspended until Sunday. Recognizing that it would take time to get the course back to playing shape, the second round would not restart until 11 AM and the tournament would be shortened by one day with the top eight out of the 24 teams after Monday's round advancing to the match play portion of the championship.
With the delays and changes in course conditions, Duke did not score as well in the third round of play, but still achieved the objection of advancing to the match play portion of the tournament finishing in second place. As a result, they were seeded No. 2 and were matched against Stanford, the No. 7 seed. Usually the quarterfinals and semifinals of match play are played on the first day of match play, but due to the third round did not start until noon. And what a round it turned out to be. Virginia Elena Carta started off for Duke. The match see-sawed back and forth all afternoon and into the evening. The other four matches, while close throughout, were split and the score was tied 2-2. Virginia had to win her match for Duke to continue to the semifinals. As the match proceeded, it got darker and darker. Finally on the 24th hole, Virginia sank a putt of about six feet that hardly anyone was able to see go into the hole. If she had not made the putt, there is no doubt the match would have to have been completed the next day.
This meant that on the final day of the tournament the four semifinal teams would have to play two matches. Duke was paired against Arizona, the sixth seed. The team played steady golf and won the match 3-2 advancing to the finals. None of the matches went extra holes.
The finals turned out to be an all ACC finals between Duke and Wake Forest. The finals were a fight to the finish. Three of the five matches went extra holes. It finally came down to the last match on the course between Miranda Wang and Letizia Bagnoli.
The 20th hole was played on the 16th hole that is a par five with the creek running down the left side of the hole and a big tree in the middle of the fairway near the yardage that a drive would land. Both girls did not reach the tree with their drives. Miranda was slightly to the right of the tree while Letizia was to the left. Miranda had a clearer shot and put her second shot just to the right of the green with a long pitch to the hole. Letizia needed to hit a draw to reach the green or lay back from the hole for her third shot. To me, having seen Miranda put her second shot as close to the green as she did caused Letizia to attempt the draw. It did not draw and she wound up in the hazard (creek). To keep the line between the hole and where her ball went into the creek meant she had to hit her fourth shot from the other side of the creek. Miranda hit her third shot onto the green but left herself a long putt. Miranda hit her fourth shot, a putt and left a five or six foot putt. Letizia's fourth was not yet on the green and her fifth shot to the green left a short putt. At this point Miranda was ahead by three shots. She had two putts to make a par for the win and Duke's seventh National Championship. Another shot earlier in the day will also be remembered. Gina Kim hit her tee shot on the 18th hole into a fairway bunker leaving a long second shot to reach the green in two. She blasted the shot out of the bunker onto the green leaving herself a putt of less than six feet which she sank for a birdie.
Last but not least, I vividly remember walking over 17 miles on the last day to watch this exciting championship.
#GoDuke
Â
Since he became hooked on the Blue Devils in 2004, he has traveled to as many tournaments as possible, given numerous hugs, walked many miles and supported collegiate golfers and head coaches throughout the years. Â
We checked in with Shutt and asked him to look back at some of his great memories, while following the Blue Devils and GoDuke.com will debut them each week during the 2020 summer and fall.
#GoDuke
2018-19
My plans got off to a rocky start. I was going to drive to Durham, take a plane to Minneapolis for the Annika Invitational, return to Durham for the 2018 Duke Sports Hall of Fame Ceremony and then return home. As I was getting ready to leave Orlando, Hurricane Florence was forecasted to hit the Carolina coastlines that weekend. Airlines began cancelling flights from Raleigh-Durham. I cancelled my flights so missed the first tournament.
Next tournament was The Ruth Chris Tar Heel Invitational. Another hurricane was getting ready to enter the Gulf, so I left a day early to "outrun" Hurricane Michael. It turned into arguably the strongest hurricane to hit the U.S. mainland ever, a category five. It still had hurricane force winds through Georgia and most of South Carolina and were still strong enough to cause a power outage on Thursday night in Durham. We were wondering what the condition of Finley might be after the copious amount of rain plus the wind.
The course was in amazingly good shape. Duke led from start to finish winning by six strokes over Virginia with three of the players in the top 10 and two in the top five. I got to meet Gina Kim's Mom, Sarah, for the first time.
My next tournament a couple of weeks later was the Tradition at Landfall. What I remember most about this tournament was the weather. It was rainy and windy all three days. The teams started with a shotgun start on the first day and play was suspended for probably about an hour. The teams were unable to finish the round and began the next morning to finish the last several holes. Rather than repairing the teams kept playing. After the second round, Duke was nine shots back in fourth place and with another shotgun start began on holes 4,5 and 6. Duke played the better round by far having the only team score under par and won the tournament by two strokes. Virginia Elena Carta shot all three rounds at even par. She and Gina tied for low score. It was a good way to finish the fall with back to back wins.
The 2019 Spring schedule started with a trip to New Orleans. The English Turn Golf Club is southeast of downtown New Orleans and is a typical Louisiana golf course, very wide open with few trees and several water holes. It turned out to be another case of rain and wind resulting in low temperatures. The scores were very close throughout and hinged upon a good shot here or a bad shot there. Under these conditions and for the most part, Duke played consistently losing to Texas by a couple of shots.
Next stop was the Darius Rucker Intercollegiate. Duke finished fourth to Florida State that probably set scoring records for the tournament. What I remember most was this was the first tournament that all four of the Stooges had been together.
Next tournament was the Evans Derby Experience at Auburn, Ala. Due to the amount of rain that had fallen in the area over the previous weeks, the university course was closed and the tournament was held at Saugahatchee Country Club. Duke had its chances but uncharacteristically played its worst round in the final round. However, it was great practice in case Duke was assigned to this location for the NCAA Regional.
While the next stop of the Spring had nothing to do with college golf per se, it was one of the most memorable experiences in my life and I got to cross off two items on my all-time "bucket list." The first was to visit Augusta National Club, home of the Masters.
Second was to see the first competitive round of golf played by women on this course. I had never dreamed that both would happen within the same week. The ANWA's edition was held on April 1-4 and the field consisted of 70 of the top ranked amateur women golfers in the world. What made it even more special was that there were five girls in the field representing among other things, Duke University. Also, all four Stooges were there. The final round was played on Saturday, April 4th on the historic Master's course and consisted of the top 30 girls after two rounds of qualifying. Two of the five girls affiliated with Duke made the final cut. They were Jaravee Boonchant and Erica Shepherd.
Every aspect of this experience exceeded expectations. The course is even better than portrayed on television. The crowds were enormous and were arguably the biggest that any of the girls had ever experienced and yet their poise shone through in addition to their athletic ability. Anyone that has ever watched or attended the Masters knows about the "Sunday afternoon roars." They have nothing on the ladies with their own "Saturday afternoon roars." The play of the final round matched the play of the professionals in all ways. I also enjoyed meeting Virginia's Mom and Ana Belac's Dad for the first time as well as Erica's parents. I enjoyed seeing Jaravee's parents as well, although I had met them when she was attempting to qualify for one of the USGA tournaments during the previous summer.
In summary, the whole experience was very exciting and exhilarating.
Next up was the ACC Championship at Sedgefield Country Club, another course with lots of history. Duke finished third to Wake Forest who won from start to finish by 18 shots ahead of Duke. Even so, Ana Belac and Jaravee Boonchant finished in the top five.
The Duke team was assigned to the Auburn Regional and returned to play at the same club as earlier in the Spring, Saugahatchee Country Club. After the first day, Duke was in second place behind Vanderbilt by a couple of shots. After day two, Duke had climbed to first place. In the third round, Vanderbilt came back to win by a couple of shots, but the objective of this tournament was realized and Duke advanced to the NCAA finals to be held at the Blessings Golf Club outside Fayetteville, Ark., home for the University of Arkansas teams.
And what a course it is. It is a beautiful layout, but is long and has some of the most severe elevation changes that I have seen. It is built in a valley with a good size stream running through it. The first seven holes are in the valley along the creek. There is a severe climb to reach the eighth through the 14th holes and then back down to the valley floor.
The first round was very windy and about half of the players (24 teams of five players each plus eight individuals for a total of 88 players) did not break 80. From the start of the second round on Saturday, Duke was on fire and four of the players shot under par with the fifth one shooting even par. Because of the weather and tornado warnings, play was suspended until Sunday. Recognizing that it would take time to get the course back to playing shape, the second round would not restart until 11 AM and the tournament would be shortened by one day with the top eight out of the 24 teams after Monday's round advancing to the match play portion of the championship.
With the delays and changes in course conditions, Duke did not score as well in the third round of play, but still achieved the objection of advancing to the match play portion of the tournament finishing in second place. As a result, they were seeded No. 2 and were matched against Stanford, the No. 7 seed. Usually the quarterfinals and semifinals of match play are played on the first day of match play, but due to the third round did not start until noon. And what a round it turned out to be. Virginia Elena Carta started off for Duke. The match see-sawed back and forth all afternoon and into the evening. The other four matches, while close throughout, were split and the score was tied 2-2. Virginia had to win her match for Duke to continue to the semifinals. As the match proceeded, it got darker and darker. Finally on the 24th hole, Virginia sank a putt of about six feet that hardly anyone was able to see go into the hole. If she had not made the putt, there is no doubt the match would have to have been completed the next day.
This meant that on the final day of the tournament the four semifinal teams would have to play two matches. Duke was paired against Arizona, the sixth seed. The team played steady golf and won the match 3-2 advancing to the finals. None of the matches went extra holes.
The finals turned out to be an all ACC finals between Duke and Wake Forest. The finals were a fight to the finish. Three of the five matches went extra holes. It finally came down to the last match on the course between Miranda Wang and Letizia Bagnoli.
The 20th hole was played on the 16th hole that is a par five with the creek running down the left side of the hole and a big tree in the middle of the fairway near the yardage that a drive would land. Both girls did not reach the tree with their drives. Miranda was slightly to the right of the tree while Letizia was to the left. Miranda had a clearer shot and put her second shot just to the right of the green with a long pitch to the hole. Letizia needed to hit a draw to reach the green or lay back from the hole for her third shot. To me, having seen Miranda put her second shot as close to the green as she did caused Letizia to attempt the draw. It did not draw and she wound up in the hazard (creek). To keep the line between the hole and where her ball went into the creek meant she had to hit her fourth shot from the other side of the creek. Miranda hit her third shot onto the green but left herself a long putt. Miranda hit her fourth shot, a putt and left a five or six foot putt. Letizia's fourth was not yet on the green and her fifth shot to the green left a short putt. At this point Miranda was ahead by three shots. She had two putts to make a par for the win and Duke's seventh National Championship. Another shot earlier in the day will also be remembered. Gina Kim hit her tee shot on the 18th hole into a fairway bunker leaving a long second shot to reach the green in two. She blasted the shot out of the bunker onto the green leaving herself a putt of less than six feet which she sank for a birdie.
Last but not least, I vividly remember walking over 17 miles on the last day to watch this exciting championship.
#GoDuke
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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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/ Women's Golf
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