No. 2 Blue Devils Split Two Matches in Big Four Challenge

Saturday, March 20

Raleigh, N.C. (Lonnie Poole Golf Course)

Duke University

The Big Four Challenge

Photo by: Duke Athletics

No. 2 Blue Devils Split Two Matches in Big Four Challenge

3/20/2021 9:41:00 PM | Women's Golf

RALEIGH, N.C. – The second-ranked Duke women's golf team took a break from stroke play action on Saturday as the Blue Devils competed in the Big Four Challenge at the 6,351-yard, par-72 Lonnie Poole Golf Course in Raleigh, N.C., along with third-ranked Wake Forest, NC State and North Carolina.

Duke kicked off the action in the morning versus NC State and collected a 4-1 match play victory, before facing the Demon Deacons in the afternoon and falling, 3-2. Both matches had the teams teeing off on hole No. 10 to open the action.

The Blue Devils got off to a hot start against the Wolfpack, leading in three out of the first four groups.

Freshman Phoebe Brinker came out of the gate and birdied the first hole by draining a 21-foot putt to go ahead, 1UP. She would go on to build a 4UP lead through nine holes as she shot even-par. Brinker, a native of Wilmington, Del., led 4UP with six to play and concluded her match with a par on her 17th hole (No. 8) to win 2&1 over Lea Klimentova.

Also collecting a birdie in her opening hole to go ahead, 1UP, was senior Jaravee Boonchant. Facing Natalie Armbruester of the Wolfpack, Boonchant kept the momentum going and increased her lead to 5UP through nine. Boonchant, who is from Bangkok, Thailand, went par-birdie-par to open the final nine and closed the match winning 7&6.

Sophomore Erica Shepherd faced Isabel Amezcua and she stormed out to a 5UP lead through nine holes. Shepherd opened the back nine even par through four holes and closed the match, 6&5, with a birdie on her 13th hole (No. 4), which was her second birdie of the morning.

In the second grouping of the morning wave, junior Gina Kim was going up against Monika Vicario. Through nine holes, Vicario led 2UP and was able to extend her lead to 5UP through 12, before closing the match with a 5&4 win over Kim.

With Duke already clinching the victory, sophomore Megan Furtney and Inja Fric were in a tight match as neither golfer featured a lead larger than 2UP. Furtney, who is from St. Charles, Ill., dropped the first two holes, but parred the next two to get the match back to even. She would never trail the rest of the way, before finishing off the contest on No. 18 with a par for a 1UP victory.

The Demon Deacons won all five matches against North Carolina in the morning to advance to face the Blue Devils in the afternoon. It was a rematch of the 2019 NCAA Championship in which Duke won its seventh NCAA title in school history with a 3-2 win. After a short lunch break, the teams returned to action.

First off for the Blue Devils was Boonchant against Lauren Walsh. A birdie on the first hole gave Walsh a 1UP lead, but a par on No. 2 for the three-time Duke All-American returned the match to even and Boonchant would never trail the rest of the way. Walsh kept the match within one for most of the match, but Boonchant connected on her first birdie of the contest on her sixth hole as she hit her 50-degree wedge from 97 yards to a foot to take her first lead, 1UP. Even through 13 holes, Boonchant drained a key 10-foot par putt on her 14th to take a 1UP lead. She then drained her third birdie of the day from 21-feet on her 16th hole to go ahead, 2UP, before closing the match with a par on the next hole for a 3&1 win.

Wake Forest evened the match, 1-1, as Rachel Kuehn edged Shepherd, 1UP, in a contest that came down to the 18th hole to decide the winner. Kuehn won the first two holes, but Shepherd went on to par the final seven holes of the front nine and held a 1UP lead. It all started with a key win on her fourth hole as she hit a great shot out of the fairway bunker and finished with a par. Shepherd, who hails from Greenwood, Ind., then had a sand save for par on her fifth hole to win again. A bogey by Shepherd on her 11th hole sent the match back to even and Kuehn birdied their 15th hole to take a 1UP lead. Kuehn drained a long par put on their 17th and parred the final hole to win, 1UP.

Duke and Wake Forest split the next two matches as Kim knocked off Siyun Liu, 2&1, and Mimi Rhodes defeated Furtney, 3&2.

Kim sank a 27-foot birdie on the opening hole and had a gimmie for birdie on No. 2 to take a 2UP lead. She maintained the 2UP lead through nine holes, before extending it to 4UP through 12. Kim rolled in a key 35-foot putt on hole her fifth hole during the stretch. Liu won two out of the next three holes with birdies, but Kim was able to close with a 2&1 win with a par on their 17th hole.

Furtney and Rhodes were in a tight match over the first eight holes as Rhodes featured a 1UP lead on five of those holes. Rhodes' putter got hot on No. 9 as she rolled in her first of three straight birdies to take a 4UP lead through 11 holes. The match would come to a close, 3&2, on No. 6 as both golfers parred.

The match came down to senior Emilia Migliaccio of Wake Forest and the rookie Brinker. Migliaccio constructed a 3UP lead through nine holes, but Brinker would not back down. She birdied her 10th hole by sinking a six-footer to cut the lead to 2UP and then drained an uphill six-footer on the 12th to trail by one. With five holes left, Brinker evened the match as Migliaccio bogied. Migliaccio responded with a birdie on the next hole to regain the lead. Trailing by one with two holes remaining, Brinker turned in a key par, but Migliaccio turned in an easy birdie to win 2&1, after her ball nearly landed in the bunker off the tee.

Duke will next compete in the Cavalier Match Play April 6-7 in Charlottesville, Va. Prior to this event, Shepherd, Boonchant and Kim will travel to Augusta, Ga., to compete in the Augusta National Women's Amateur March 31 through April 3.

For more information on Duke women's golf, follow the Blue Devils on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram by searching for "DukeWGOLF".

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DUKE vs. NC STATE
Phoebe Brinker (DU) def Lea Klimentova (NCSU), 2&1
Monika Vicario (NCSU) def. Gina Kim (DU), 5&4
Jaravee Boonchant (DU) def. Natalie Armbruester (NCSU), 7&6
Erica Shepherd (DU) def. Isabel Amezcua (NCSU), 6&5
Megan Furtney (DU) def. Inja Fric (NCSU), 1 up

DUKE vs. WAKE FOREST
Jaravee Boonchant (DU) def. Lauren Walsh (WF), 3&1
Rachel Kuehn (WF) def. Erica Shepard, 1 up
Gina Kim (DU) def. Siyun Liu (WF), 2&1
Mimi Rhodes (WF) def. Megan Furtney, 3&2
Emilie Migliaccio (WF) def. Phoebe Brinker (DU), 2&1