CHAPEL HILL, N.C. – Duke University women's golf junior
Erica Shepherd carded a 10-under-par, 206, over the last three days at the Ruth's Chris Tar Heel Invitational to finish second individually and only one stroke off the lead at the 6,393-yard, par-72 Finley Golf Course in Chapel Hill, N.C.
Shepherd, who hails from Greenwood, Ind., posted rounds of 66, 70 and 70 on her way to finishing with a career-low 54-hole ledger of 206. The 206 was tied for the sixth lowest for a Blue Devil golfer on a par-72 course.
"Erica has worked hard on her putting and ball striking," said Duke head coach
Dan Brooks. "She's better in the wind because she's not curving her shots as much, and I'm seeing more putts fall. It's fun to see her reap the benefits of plenty of smart practice."
Trailing by three heading into the final round, Shepherd got off to a hot start by draining 27-foot birdie on her opening hole, the 392-yard, par-4 fourth, and then went to 2-under with a 20-foot birdie on No. 7. Shepherd drained a 12-foot birdie on No. 10 to move to 3-under, but missed the fairway on No. 11 and suffered her lone bogey of the day. She notched seven pars to finish her day with a 2-under-par 70.
Wake Forest's Rachel Kuehn collected a birdie on No. 17 to win the individual crown by one stroke with an 11-under, 205.
As a team, Duke turned in a tied for fifth finish with rounds of 286, 287 and 290 for a 1-under, 863. Wake Forest (847) won the team title with Clemson (857), Virginia Tech (859), Alabama (862) and Kentucky (863) rounding out the top five.
Sophomore
Anne Chen carded her fourth career top-20 finish as she signed for rounds of 70, 73 and 71 over the last three days on her way to finishing with a 2-under, 214, which was tied for 16th. She opened Sunday morning with a bogey on No. 5, but then sank a 14-foot birdie on No. 7 to get back to even par. After an eight on No. 10, Chen regrouped and played her final 12 holes at 5-under. She sank an 11-footer for birdie on No. 11, 7-footer on No. 14 and then had three straight birdies on No. 17, No. 18 and No. 1.
A product of Sugar Land, Texas, Chen hit a 14-foot birdie on No. 17, seven-footer on No. 18 and then hit her 3-hybrid from 191 yards to nine feet on No. 1 and drained the putt. Her six birdies were a season high, while hitting 15 greens, 10 fairways and rolling 28 putts.
Coming off a career-best round of 70 on Saturday, freshman
Rylie Heflin had a 77 on the final day to finish in a tie for 47th with a 221. She opened Sunday on No. 6 by hitting a wedge from 105 yards to two feet for birdie. Heflin, who is from Avondale, Pa., would go on to bogey eight of her next 13 holes, but closed strong with back-to-back birdies on No. 3 and No. 4. On the 522-yard, par-5 third hole, she rolled in an 8-foot birdie and then used her 8-iron from 145 yards on No. 4 to hit it to 10 feet for birdie.
Sophomore
Phoebe Brinker was in the red for most of her final round, after starting on hole No. 6. Following two pars, Brinker sank a 15-footer for birdie on No. 8. She moved to 2-under by rolling in a 5-footer for birdie on No. 10. Brinker, a native of Wilmington, Del., got to 3-under with a birdie on No. 13. She held a 3-under ledger through 15 holes, but suffered three straight bogeys to conclude her round with an even-par, 72. She finished the weekend in a tie for 52nd with a 222.
Junior
Megan Furtney closed her tournament with an 80 on Sunday, while being held without a birdie for the first time all weekend.
Duke will conclude its fall campaign at the East Lake Cup Oct. 25-27 at the East Lake Golf Club in Atlanta, Ga. The Golf Channel will air live coverage during the event.
#GoDuke
Duke Results
T2 2
Erica Shepherd Duke 66 70 70 206 -10
T23 T16
Anne Chen Duke 70 73 71 214 -2
T27 T47
Rylie Heflin Duke 74 70 77 221 +5
T72 T52
Phoebe Brinker Duke 76 74 72 222 +6
T91 95
Megan Furtney Duke 83 76 80 239 +23
1 2 3 Team Scores
2 1 1 Wake Forest 283 277 287 847 -17
T4 3 2 Clemson 285 280 292 857 -7
1 2 3 Virginia Tech 282 282 295 859 -5
T6 T5 4 Alabama 286 287 289 862 -2
3 8 T5 Kentucky 284 290 289 863 -1
T6 T5 T5 Duke 286 287 290 863 -1
T4 4 7 Michigan 285 285 296 866 +2
11 T9 8 Mississippi State 293 284 291 868 +4
9 T9 T9 North Carolina 289 288 293 870 +6
T6 T5 T9 Vanderbilt 286 287 297 870 +6
10 12 11 Furman 290 295 286 871 +7
14 11 12 Michigan State 296 285 292 873 +9
17 16 13 Maryland 299 291 285 875 +11
T12 T13 14 North Carolina State 295 293 288 876 +12
16 15 15 Ohio State 298 291 289 878 +14
15 17 16 SMU 297 294 298 889 +25
T12 T13 17 UNCW 295 293 302 890 +26
19 18 18 Rollins College 301 295 303 899 +35
18 19 19 North Carolina 300 309 318 927 +63
Start Finish Player Team Scores
1 1 Rachel Kuehn Wake Forest 70 63 72 205 -11
T2 2
Erica Shepherd Duke 66 70 70 206 -10
T5 T3 Becca DiNunzio Virginia Tech 73 66 71 210 -6
T8 T3 Benedetta Moresco Alabama 68 72 70 210 -6
T5 T3 Hailey Borja Michigan 71 68 71 210 -6
T11 T3 Ivy Shepherd Clemson 72 69 69 210 -6
T2 T3 Melena Barrientos Clemson 70 66 74 210 -6
T11 T8 Julia Lopez Ramirez Mississippi State 71 70 70 211 -5
T5 T8 Emily Mahar Virginia Tech 69 70 72 211 -5
T8 T8 Kayla Smith North Carolina 69 71 71 211 -5
T11 T8 Polly Mack Alabama 72 69 70 211 -5
T17 T8 Anna Morgan Furman 71 71 69 211 -5
T17 13 Jensen Castle Kentucky 73 69 70 212 -4
T11 T14 Mimi Rhodes Wake Forest 71 70 72 213 -3
T17 T14 Maria Vittoria Corbi Maryland 71 71 71 213 -3
T33 T16 Vanessa Knecht * Wake Forest 72 73 69 214 -2
T23 T16
Anne Chen Duke 70 73 71 214 -2
T8 T16 Celina Sattelkau Vanderbilt 70 70 74 214 -2
T17 T16 Carolina Lopez-Chacarra Wake Forest 70 72 72 214 -2
T33 T16 Patricie Mackova Maryland 72 73 69 214 -2
T27 T21 Virunpat Olankitkunchai Wake Forest 72 72 71 215 -1
T23 T21 Tess Davenport Vanderbilt 70 73 72 215 -1
T17 T21 Hannah Levi Mississippi State 74 68 73 215 -1
T11 T21 Haylin Harris * Michigan State 69 72 74 215 -1
T53 T21 Aneka Seumanutafa Ohio State 75 72 68 215 -1
T45 T26 Marissa Wenzler Kentucky 69 77 70 216 E
4 T26 Krista Junkkari North Carolina 70 68 78 216 E
T45 T26 Faith Choi Ohio State 74 72 70 216 E
T58 T29 Panassaya Somchit Maryland 76 72 69 217 +1
T33 T29 Lauren Olivares North Carolina State 73 72 72 217 +1
T33 T29 Ashley Chow SMU 73 72 72 217 +1
T53 T29 Leila Raines Michigan State 76 71 70 217 +1
T33 T29 Maria Villanueva Kentucky 74 71 72 217 +1
T33 T29 Ashley Lau Michigan 70 75 72 217 +1
T33 T35 Lauren Walsh Wake Forest 73 72 73 218 +2
T11 T35 Laney Frye Kentucky 68 73 77 218 +2
T27 T35 Monet Chun Michigan 72 72 74 218 +2
T27 T35 Savannah Grewal Clemson 71 73 74 218 +2
T23 T35 Jillian Bourdage Ohio State 71 72 75 218 +2
T58 T40 Brooke Biermann Michigan State 75 73 71 219 +3
T45 T40 Mallory Fobes UNCW 74 72 73 219 +3
T33 T40 Valery Plata Michigan State 74 71 74 219 +3
T23 T43 Keera Foocharoen Virginia Tech 73 70 77 220 +4
T17 T43 Emilie Overas Alabama 72 70 78 220 +4
T33 T43 Virginie Ding Vanderbilt 73 72 75 220 +4
T33 T43 Symone Henriques Virginia Tech 69 76 75 220 +4
T58 T47 Malu Brinker UNCW 75 73 73 221 +5
T27 T47
Rylie Heflin Duke 74 70 77 221 +5
T53 T47 Sophia Burnett Furman 72 75 74 221 +5
T75 T47 Natalie Ambruester North Carolina State 77 74 70 221 +5
T27 T47 Callista Rice Clemson 72 72 77 221 +5
T45 T52 Serena Shah SMU 73 73 76 222 +6
T58 T52 Lea Klimentova North Carolina State 74 74 74 222 +6
T66 T52 Abbey Daniel Mississippi State 77 72 73 222 +6
T72 T52
Phoebe Brinker Duke 76 74 72 222 +6
T33 T52 Valentina Rossi Michigan State 75 70 77 222 +6
T72 T52 Isabel Amezcua North Carolina State 73 77 72 222 +6
T72 T52 Crista Izuzquiza North Carolina 77 73 72 222 +6
T75 T52 Savannah Hylton Furman 77 74 71 222 +6
T66 60 Stephany Kim North Carolina 73 76 74 223 +7
T33 T61 Sarah-Eve Rheaume Furman 70 75 79 224 +8
T58 T61 Louise Yu Vanderbilt 73 75 76 224 +8
T45 T61 Blair Stockett Mississippi State 72 74 78 224 +8
T81 T64 Kyra Cox Furman 78 75 72 225 +9
T27 T64 Anika Dy Michigan 72 72 81 225 +9
T45 T64 Mikaela Schulz Michigan 73 73 79 225 +9
T58 T64 Inja Fric North Carolina State 75 73 77 225 +9
T66 T64 Berni Villalba Rollins College 75 74 76 225 +9
T75 T64 Sarah Edwards Alabama 74 77 74 225 +9
T53 T64 Ginnie Lee Virginia Tech 71 76 78 225 +9
T58 T71 Nicole Lu North Carolina 71 77 78 226 +10
T45 T71 Phu Khine UNCW 73 73 80 226 +10
T78 T73 Jennifer Jung Rollins College 74 78 75 227 +11
T53 T73 Aleks Golde North Carolina 74 73 80 227 +11
T87 T75 Kennedy Pedigo SMU 77 78 73 228 +12
T81 T75 Lauren Miller Mississippi State 76 77 75 228 +12
T66 T75 Nina Rissi Michigan State 72 77 79 228 +12
T58 T75 Madi Olson SMU 76 72 80 228 +12
T78 T75 Anna Wills UNCW 77 75 76 228 +12
T45 T75 Elizabeth Kondal Rollins College 74 72 82 228 +12
T81 T81 Carla Alvarez Perez Rollins College 82 71 76 229 +13
T78 T81 Katie James SMU 75 77 77 229 +13
T81 T81 Skylar Thompson Ohio State 78 75 76 229 +13
T85 T84 Natalia Aseguinolaza North Carolina 77 77 76 230 +14
T66 T84 Ariel Yu Vanderbilt 77 72 81 230 +14
T66 T84 Deborah Spair UNCW 73 76 81 230 +14
T85 87 Kristin Jamieson Ohio State 78 76 77 231 +15
T87 88 Angela Garvin Maryland 80 75 77 232 +16
T91 89 Lindsay May Clemson 84 75 75 234 +18
T89 T90 Nicole Adam North Carolina 79 78 79 236 +20
94 T90 Karla Vazquez Setz Maryland 83 77 76 236 +20
95 92 Katharina Hesse Rollins College 78 83 76 237 +21
T89 T93 Riley Quartermain North Carolina 76 81 81 238 +22
T91 T93 Marta Lopez Echevarria Kentucky 82 77 79 238 +22
T91 95
Megan Furtney Duke 83 76 80 239 +23
96 - Angelica Moresco Alabama D 76 75 - -