Blue Devils Claim Cavalier Match Play Championship

Wednesday, April 7

Charlottesville, Va. (Birdwood Golf Course)

Duke University

Cavalier Match Play

Photo by: Jim Daves, UVA Sports Information

Blue Devils Claim Cavalier Match Play Championship

4/7/2021 5:56:00 PM | Women's Golf

Scoring

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – In a tight match from the start, the second-ranked Duke women's golf team claimed the title at the Cavalier Match Play with a 3-2 victory over third-seeded Virginia Tech Wednesday afternoon at the 6,118-yard, par-71 Birdwood Golf Course in Charlottesville, Va.

"As you expect with match play, we played teams that were not ranked as high as us obviously, but the golf was pretty good coming from those teams," said Duke head coach Dan Brooks. "I think all of our players were playing right around par or a little bit under. Jaravee got to 6-under today. We played a lot of golf and it got to where birdies were required to win holes. So, the golf was good."

After seeing a lot of Hokie colors on the scoreboard over the first nine holes, the Blue Devils came back on the back nine to collect the victory.

"Match play tends to bring out the best golf, especially if you are the underdog," said Brooks. "You have to believe in yourself enough so that if you get down in a match you don't panic. You just keep playing your game, keep believing in yourself and most of the time if you are the best player and you stay patient and believe in yourself; when 18 holes comes to an end you are going to be on top. I was proud of the team for continuing to believe and not having any panic. Just wait and likely the match is going to come out in your favor."

Out first for the Blue Devils was Erica Shepherd going up against senior Emily Mahar of Virginia Tech. Mahar shot 2-under over the first nine holes and led 2UP through 10 holes, before Shepherd rolled in a 30-foot slider for birdie on No. 13 to even the match. The Greenwood, Ind., product took her first lead with a birdie on the par-5 15th as she nearly hit the green in two and got up-and-down. Shepherd parred No. 16 and No. 17 before clinching the win with her sixth birdie of the day on No. 18.

The Blue Devils were able to expand the lead to 2-0, as sophomore Megan Furtney came-from-behind to notch a 1UP victory over Jessica Spicer. Furtney, who is from St. Charles, Ill., got hot on the back nine, collecting four birdies, after trailing Spicer by two holes through nine. The run started on the par-5 10th hole, as she rolled in a 20-footer for birdie to win the hole and then halved No. 12 with a 20-foot birdie as well. Furtney evened the match on the par-3 13th as her four-foot birdie was conceded.

After a bogey on No. 14 for Furtney, Spicer regained the lead, but a par on the 15th for Furtney evened the match. She took her first lead of the match with a birdie on No. 16 as she hit her wedge from 90 yards to 12 feet and drained the putt. Furtney parred the final two holes to collect the win.

In a match where Jaravee Boonchant never trailed, the Duke senior defeated Keerattriya Foocharoen, 3&2, to clinch the victory for the Blue Devils. Boonchant, who hails from Bangkok, Thailand, shot bogey-free to go along with a tied for team-best six birdies on the afternoon.

The Hokies were able to get their first point on the board as Becca Dinunzio took down Duke's Gina Kim, 3&2. Kim, a product of Chapel Hill, N.C., rolled in three birdies on the afternoon in the loss.

Freshman Anne Chen led on six out of her first 11 holes against Alyssa Montgomery, but back-to-back birdies by Montgomery on No. 11 and No. 12 evened the match. She added another birdie on No. 13 to take the lead. A par by Chen on the 16th tied the match for the seventh time. Both golfers parred the final two holes, before Montgomery birdied the 19th hole to give her the victory in 19 holes.

Both Shepherd and Boonchant went 3-0 in the three match play contests over the last two days.

After defeating seventh-seeded Sky Sload of Virginia, 3&2, in the individual quarterfinals bracket, second-seeded Phoebe Brinker went extra holes in her final two matches. Brinker lost to third-seeded Lois Kaye Go in 23 holes in the semifinals, before falling to Lauren Walsh of Wake Forest in 22 holes in the third-place match.

A native of Wilmington, Del., Brinker collected seven birdies over her final two matches and eventually lost her contests to birdies on the final hole. In the final match against Walsh, Brinker came back from Walsh's 2UP lead to eventually send it to extra holes.

Duke will next head to the ACC Championship April 15-18 at Sedgefield Country Club in Greensboro, N.C.

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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