AUGUSTA, Ga. – The seventh-ranked Duke women's golf team closed the Valspar Augusta Invitational with the second-lowest 54-hole score in school history on a par-72 course as the Blue Devils went on to finish second at the 6,249-yard, par-72 Forest Hills Golf Club. Â
The Blue Devils carded rounds of 274, 277 and 286 over the 54 holes on their way to finishing with a 27-under-par, 837. South Carolina won the event with a 30-under, 834. Florida State (847), Wake Forest (849) and Virginia Tech (862) rounded out the top five. Â
"We have been playing in a very wet winter and we haven't been able to get the kind of low scores that you would get in really sunny, warm conditions," said Duke head coach
Dan Brooks. "So when we finally had those sunny, warm conditions, it was great to see our training has paid off and we were able to get the low numbers."
It marked only the second time in Duke history the Blue Devils have shot better than 25-under-par in a tournament as Duke turned in a 33-under-par ledger in 2017 at the Jim West Challenge on a par-71 course. Â
"It shows that they are going to be able to play regardless of conditions and difficulty of course," said Brooks. "They are going to be able to adapt their games and scoring to the situation. That is a great thing to be able to say. This was no easy golf course. It is a very good golf course. They adapted well. It wasn't playing extremely long, but it meant that you had to go for pins, you had to hit to tight areas and they were doing that and getting birdies."
Duke freshman
Phoebe Brinker continued her solid weekend as she placed tied for second with a 10-under-par, 206, with rounds of 64, 71 and 71. Her score of 206 is tied for the sixth-lowest 54-hole score in Duke history on a par-72, while being tied for fifth-lowest in the Blue Devil freshman charts. Â
In the final round, Brinker opened with birdies on No. 3 and No. 5 as she sank an up-hill 20-foot putt and then a six-foot, left-to-right slider. She made the turn at one-over, 37, but after seven consecutive pars to open the back nine, Brinker hit her approach just short of the par-5 17th and got up-and-down for birdie to get back to even. Then on the 290-yard, par-4 18th, she hit her approach to a foot and tapped in for birdie to close the weekend. Brinker, who a native of Wilmington, Del., hit 16 greens, 10 fairways and rolled 33 putts Sunday. Â
"Phoebe was fantastic," said Brooks. "She is fun to watch because she hits it a mile. Just sort of enjoys herself out there. It is great to see. It is a great reminder to all of us that you will probably play your best golf if you just enjoy yourself."
As a team, the Blue Devils featured three golfers in the top six that combined to shoot 26-under-par for the weekend. Senior
Jaravee Boonchant and junior
Gina Kim each finished tied for sixth with an eight-under-par, 208. Â
Boonchant, who was making her 2021 Duke debut this weekend, signed for rounds of 71, 67 and 70, while collecting her 17th career top-10 finish. She also collected three straight rounds of even or under par to move her into a tie for sixth on Duke's record books along with Celine Boutier with 52 for her career. Â
Boonchant opened Sunday's final round with birdies on No. 2 and No. 4 to get to two-under-par through three holes. After a bogey on the sixth, Boonchant got back to two-under-par with a birdie on the par-4, 350-yard eighth hole. She closed the day with 11 straight pars to finish with a two-under, 70. Boonchant hit 16 greens, 12 fairways and had 32 putts. Â
Kim, who is from Chapel Hill, N.C., finished the weekend with rounds of 68, 70 and 70 for a career-best, 208. She opened the morning with a par and bogey, but got back to even with her first birdie on the 155-yard, par-3 fourth. Kim added birdies on No. 9 and No. 11, while finishing her final 16 holes bogey-free. Â
After carding five straight rounds of even or under par, sophomore
Erica Shepherd closed the weekend with a three-over, 75. She opened the day on hole No. 4 and was even-par through 13 holes, but suffered a bogey and double-bogey on No. 17 and No. 18 to fall to three-over-par. Shepherd, who is from Greenwood, Ind., parred the final three holes. She placed tied for 28th with a 218.
Prior to Sunday, sophomore
Megan Furtney had carded rounds of 71 and 69. She had a two-over-par day going with three birdies, including two over a span of four holes on the back nine, but closed her final two holes at five-over-par to finish with a 79. Furtney tied for 34th with a 219.
Duke led the field with a 10-under-par scoring average of 3.93 on par-4 holes for the week, was second overall with 57 birdies and second with pars with 182. Â
"I have never really actually gotten hung up on wins and losses nearly as much as the individual performances and the team pulling for each other, fighting hard and staying in the process of playing," said Brooks. "That all matters way more to me rather than we win or lose."
Duke will next compete in the Big Four Challenge Saturday, March 20 in Raleigh, N.C., at the Lonnie Poole Golf Couse along with Wake Forest, NC State and North Carolina.
#GoDuke
Duke Results
Phoebe Brinker 64-71-71=206 (-10, T2)
Jaravee Boonchant 71-67-70=208 (-8, T6)
Gina Kim 68-70-70=208 (-8, T6)
Erica Shepherd 72-71-75=218 (+2, T28)
Megan Furtney 71-69-79=219 (+3, T34)
1 2 3 Team Scores
2 2 1 South Carolina, U of 273 279 282      834 -30
3Â 1Â 2 Duke 274Â 277Â 286Â Â Â Â Â Â 837Â -27
1 3 3 Florida State 270 285 292      847 -17
7Â 4Â 4 Wake Forest 287Â 279Â 283Â Â Â Â Â Â 849Â -15
4 6 5 Virginia Tech 279 292 291      862 -2
6Â 5Â 6 Virginia 286Â 282Â 296Â Â Â Â Â Â 864Â E
10Â 8Â 7 Purdue 292Â 287Â 286Â Â Â Â Â Â 865Â +1
9 9 8 Furman 291 291 285      867 +3
8 11 9 Augusta 288 297 288      873 +9
12Â 12Â 10 Coastal Carolina 295Â 291Â 294Â Â Â Â Â Â 880Â +16
5Â 7Â T11 Louisville 285Â 292Â 305Â Â Â Â Â Â 882Â +18
11Â 10Â T11 Kent State 294Â 290Â 298Â Â Â Â Â Â 882Â +18
13Â 13Â 13 South Florida 300Â 289Â 304Â Â Â Â Â Â 893Â +29
15Â 14Â 14 Kennesaw State 304Â 295Â 303Â Â Â Â Â Â 902Â +38
16Â T15Â 15 Notre Dame 312Â 295Â 309Â Â Â Â Â Â 916Â +52
14Â T15Â 16 Memphis 303Â 304Â 311Â Â Â Â Â Â 918Â +54
Start Finish Player Team Scores
1 1 Pauline Roussin-Bouchard South Carolina, U of 65  69 67      201 -15
2 T2
Phoebe Brinker Duke 64  71 71      206 -10
T3 T2 Ana Pelaez South Carolina, U of 68  69 69      206 -10
T9 T4 Siyun Liu Wake Forest 70  69 68      207 -9
T6 T4 Beatrice Wallin Florida State 67  71 69      207 -9
T6 T6
Gina Kim Duke 68  70 70      208 -8
T6 T6
Jaravee Boonchant Duke 71  67 70      208 -8
T14 T6 Anna Morgan Furman 72  69 67      208 -8
T3 9 Riley Smyth Virginia 70  67 73      210 -6
T11 10 Lauren Hartlage Louisville 68  72 71      211 -5
T18 T11 Caley McGinty Kent State 71  71 70      212 -4
T14 T11 Becca DiNunzio Virginia Tech 69  72 71      212 -4
T3 T11 Charlotte Heath Florida State 65  72 75      212 -4
T14 T14 Lauren Walsh Wake Forest 72  69 73      214 -2
T23 T14 Virginia Bossi Virginia 70  73 71      214 -2
T9 T14 Amelia Williamson Florida State 69  70 75      214 -2
T18 T17 Madison Moosa Furman 71  71 73      215 -1
T18 T17 Emily Mahar Virginia Tech 72  70 73      215 -1
T23 T17 Rachel Kuehn Wake Forest 72  71 72      215 -1
T11 T17 Paula Kirner South Carolina, U of 72  68 75      215 -1
T35 T17 Thitapa Pakdeesettakul Purdue 70  76 69      215 -1
T23 22 Mimi Rhodes Wake Forest 73  70 73      216 E
T30 T23 Alice Hodge Florida State 72  72 73      217 +1
T18 T23 Mary Hunt Murray Augusta 68  74 75      217 +1
T23 T23 Mathilde Claisse * South Carolina, U of 73  70 74      217 +1
T45 T23 Emilia Migliaccio Wake Forest 74  73 70      217 +1
T35 T23 Lois Kaye Go South Carolina, U of 70  76 71      217 +1
T35 T28 Inez Wanamarta Purdue 75  71 72      218 +2
T30 T28 Danielle DuToit * Purdue 73  71 74      218 +2
T45 T28 Keera Foocharoen Virginia Tech 72  75 71      218 +2
T30 T28 Sifat Sagoo Purdue 73  71 74      218 +2
T23 T28
Erica Shepherd Duke 72  71 75      218 +2
T18 T28 Taylor Roberts Florida State 69  73 76      218 +2
T11 T34
Megan Furtney Duke 71  69 79      219 +3
T23 T34 Alyssa Montgomery Virginia Tech 66  77 76      219 +3
T45 T34 Teresa Diez-Moliner Augusta 73  74 72      219 +3
T14 T37 Hana Ryskova Louisville 71  70 79      220 +4
T59 T37 Kan Bunnabodee Purdue 76  73 71      220 +4
T23 T37 Pimnipa Panthong South Carolina, U of 70  73 77      220 +4
T52 T40 Napabhach Boon-In Augusta 74  74 73      221 +5
T35 T40 Elle Johnson * Florida State 69  77 75      221 +5
T52 T40 Nicole Page Augusta 73  75 73      221 +5
T35 T40 Kory Nielsen Kent State 75  71 75      221 +5
T35 T40 Chloe Salort * Kent State 75  71 75      221 +5
T45 T45 Tiffany Arafi Coastal Carolina 77  70 75      222 +6
T73 T45 Caitlin Evans-Brand Coastal Carolina 80  72 70      222 +6
T33 T45 Beth Lillie Virginia 75  70 77      222 +6
T35 T45 Shelby Brauckmuller South Florida 73  73 76      222 +6
T33 T45 Nicole Abelar Coastal Carolina 71  74 77      222 +6
T35 T50 Alizee Vidal Kennesaw State 76  70 77      223 +7
T73 T50 Sarah-Eve Rheaume Furman 74  78 71      223 +7
T59 T50 Frantiska Lunackova Coastal Carolina 74  75 74      223 +7
T52 T50 Sarah Spicer * Virginia Tech 74  74 75      223 +7
T59 T50 Carly Burkhardt Furman 76  73 74      223 +7
T59 T50 Marissa Kirkwood Kent State 71  78 74      223 +7
T52 T56 Julia Matzat Memphis 78  70 76      224 +8
T45 T56 Melanie Green South Florida 75  72 77      224 +8
T64 T58 Celeste Valinho Virginia 72  78 75      225 +9
T52 T58 Jessica Whitting South Florida 75  73 77      225 +9
T64 T58 Bella Kil Kennesaw State 76  74 75      225 +9
T69 T58 Meva Schmit Kennesaw State 77  74 74      225 +9
T64 T58 Sophia Carlsen Coastal Carolina 73  77 75      225 +9
T52 T58 Letizia Bagnoli * Wake Forest 73  75 77      225 +9
T64 T64 Mairead Martin Louisville 73  77 76      226 +10
T64 T64 Jessica Spicer Virginia Tech 75  75 76      226 +10
T69 T64 Kaiyuree Moodley * South Carolina, U of 73  78 75      226 +10
T45 T64 M. Agustina Gomez Cisterna Louisville 73  74 79      226 +10
T45 T64 Valentina Albertazzi Kent State 77  70 79      226 +10
T35 T64 Ashley Kozlowski Purdue 74  72 80      226 +10
T35 T64 Jennifer Cleary Virginia 74  72 80      226 +10
T52 71 Ashley Zagers South Florida 77  71 79      227 +11
T80 T72 Erika Smith South Florida 79  75 74      228 +12
T78 T72 Lauren Beaudreau Notre Dame 78  75 75      228 +12
T69 T72 Madelyn Jones Notre Dame 77  74 77      228 +12
T69 T75 Abby Herrmann Memphis 75  76 78      229 +13
T59 T75 Abby Heck Notre Dame 76  73 80      229 +13
86 T77 Charlotte Alran Augusta 82  78 70      230 +14
T73 T77 Sophia Burnett Furman 74  78 78      230 +14
T80 79 Claire Albrecht Notre Dame 81  73 77      231 +15
T73 T80 Margot Bechadergue Louisville 76  76 80      232 +16
T83 T80 Victoria England Memphis 76  80 76      232 +16
82 T80 Tori Owens Kennesaw State 78  77 77      232 +16
T78 T80 Lara Jecnik Kennesaw State 75  78 79      232 +16
T73 84 Rebecca Brink Memphis 74  78 81      233 +17
T83 85 Caitlin Cotterill * Furman 78  78 79      235 +19
88 T86 Jessica Meyers Notre Dame 85  79 81      245 +29
87 T86 Ana Dawson Memphis 78  84 83      245 +29
85 88 Olivia Patrow * Augusta 78  81 87      246 +30
89 - Emily Price Kent State D D D      -    -Â