Blue Devils Remain in Top-3 of ANNIKA Intercollegiate

Tuesday, September 14

Lake Elmo, Minn. (Royal Golf Club)

Duke University

Annika Intercollegiate

Photo by: Lindy Brown, Duke Communications

Blue Devils Remain in Top-3 of ANNIKA Intercollegiate

9/14/2021 5:35:00 PM | Women's Golf

SCORING KIM INTERVIEW GALLERY

LAKE ELMO, Minn. – The second-ranked Duke women's golf team had a roller coaster of a day on Tuesday at the ANNIKA Intercollegiate as the Blue Devils carded an even-par, 288, and will enter the final round in third place overall at the 6,410-yard, par-72 Royal Golf Club in Lake Elmo, Minn.

Duke opened the morning with a 3-under front nine and took the team lead at 7-under, but the Blue Devils shot 2-over-par on the back to drop into third place following 36 holes of action on the very challenging course. With high winds continuing to cause trouble for most of the teams in the morning, Duke was able to card 10 birdies on the front nine for an impressive start.

South Carolina remains in the lead with a 10-under, 566, while Wake Forest (572), Duke (573) and Alabama (575) are in striking distance with 18 holes remaining.

Senior Gina Kim paced the Blue Devils on Tuesday as she signed for a bogey-free 2-under, 70, to move into a tie for fourth individually with a 4-under, 140. Julia Johnson of Ole Miss leads the individual action with a 10-under, 134.

"Today was a really good test for all of us," said Kim. "The wind was picking up a lot and swirling too. The pins were also in pretty difficult positions as well, so it was really hard to be aggressive with it. So, I am really proud of myself for being able to have a bogey-free 2-under round."

A native of Durham, N.C., Kim opened with seven straight pars in the second round, before chipping in from 15 yards with her 60-degree wedge on No. 8. She added eight more pars, before turning in an outstanding shot from the greenside bunker and draining a birdie on No. 18. She hit 15 greens, 14 fairways and rolled 31 putts on Tuesday.

"I just think my course management was pretty solid and I just played smart golf," said Kim. "Just tried to take advantage of any opportunities that came my way. Hopefully more putts will fall in tomorrow, but I am pretty happy with where I am right now."

Continuing her solid play was junior Erica Shepherd as she shot an even-par, 72, and is also tied for fourth, individually, alongside Kim. Shepherd, who is from Greenwood, Ind., had five pars to start her morning and then got red hot. She sank birdie putts on four straight holes from 11-feet, 5-feet, 9-feet and 3-feet to move to 4-under-par for the day and 8-under for the tournament, which was tied for the individual lead along with Johnson.

On No. 10, Shepherd found the fairway bunker and then eventually finished with a triple-bogey to fall back to 1-under for the day. She added seven pars and a bogey on No. 14 to finish the afternoon with her 15th career round of even or under par. Shepherd hit nine fairways, 15 greens and had 31 putts on the day.

Sophomore Anne Chen had a slow start to Tuesday's round as she was 4-over-par through seven holes, but turned it around by birding No. 8, No. 9 and No. 10. Chen, a product of Sugar Land, Texas, played her final 11 holes at 3-under. For the day, she hit 14 greens, 12 fairways and rolled 33 putts.

Going out first for the Blue Devils in round two was sophomore Phoebe Brinker who turned in Duke's first birdie of the day on the 516-yard, par-5 third hole. She came up just short of the green with her second shot and then got it up-and-down for birdie to get back to even par for the day. Brinker, who hails from Wilmington, Del., added another birdie on No. 9 as she was once again just off the green in two on the par five. On the back, she had seven straight pars, before suffering a double-bogey on No. 17 and then turned around and chipped in for eagle with her 60-degree wedge on No. 18 from below the green to finish with a 1-over, 73. Brinker hit 13 greens, 10 fairways and had 32 putts.

Freshman Rylie Heflin had a solid start to her second collegiate round as she was even par through 12 holes and drained a 5-foot birdie putt on the 321-yard, par-4 third hole. She struggled on the way in with four bogeys over her final six holes to finish with a 76. Heflin, a native of Avondale, Pa., hit 13 greens, 10 fairways and had 33 putts.

As a team, the Blue Devils rolled in 13 birdies in the second round and have 32 over the first 36 holes, which is tied for third.

Duke will open the final round Wednesday beginning at 9:50 a.m. (ET) along with South Carolina and Wake Forest.

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