CHAPEL HILL, N.C. – Duke women's golf junior
Phoebe Brinker finished runner-up at the Ruth's Chris Tar Heel Invitational on Tuesday at the 6,203-yard, par-72 Governors Club in Chapel Hill, N.C.
Brinker turned in a 7-under-par, 209, and finished in a tie for first-place over 54 holes along with Jensen Castle of Kentucky, before falling in a playoff. Senior
Erica Shepherd carded her second straight top-10 finish for the Blue Devils with a 54-hole ledger of 216.
How It Happened
•
Phoebe Brinker closed her second round on Tuesday morning with a short birdie on the par-5 seventh hole and held a 2-stroke lead heading into the final 18 holes.
• Brinker opened her third round with a par, but then suffered a bogey on No. 9. She went on to play holes 12-17 at 3-under-par with birdies on No. 12, No. 16 and No. 17. She hit her 6-iron from 163 yards to three feet on No. 12, drained a 6-foot birdie on No. 16 and then hit her 50-degree wedge from 100 yards to six feet for birdie on No. 17. Over her final seven holes, Brinker struggled some as she missed four fairways and three greens, before dropping a few shots. She stuck her 7-iron on No. 4 from 156 yards to three feet for birdie to keep her in the lead. Brinker closed on the par-5 seventh and had a five-foot birdie putt to move to 8-under-par, but just missed.
• Both Brinker and Castle went to a playoff on the par-3 ninth hole. Brinker hit her approach into the greenside bunker and two-putted for bogey, while Castle hit her approach on the green and two-putted for par to win medalist honors. Brinker finished with rounds of 67, 70 and 72.
•
Erica Shepherd collected her third top-12 finish in four events this fall as she finished tied for eighth with rounds of 71, 74 and 71 for a 216. She opened on hole No. 5 and parred the first four holes, before suffering a double-bogey on No. 9. Shepherd responded by sinking a 7-foot birdie on No. 10. She then missed the fairway and green on No. 11 and suffered her first bogey. The rest of the way Shepherd was lights out playing her final 11 holes at 3-under-par. She stuck her approach on No. 17 to three feet for birdie and then posted back-to-back birdies on No. 2 and No. 3, which included a 27-foot birdie putt on the second hole to finish with a 71.
• After struggling most of the day,
Anne Chen closed her final eight holes at 2-under-par. She sank an 18-foot putt for birdie on No. 1 and then hit her pitching wedge from 110 yards to eight feet for birdie on No. 3. Chen finished tied for 43rd with a 227. She finished with a team-best 27 putts on the day, while hitting 13 greens.
• Both
Andie Smith and
Rylie Heflin signed for rounds of 80 and 84, respectively, to close the event.
• As a team, Duke closed in a tie for fifth with rounds of 287, 296 and 300 for a 54-hole score of 883. Kentucky (860) won the team title, while Wake Forest (865), North Carolina (877), Tennessee (883), Michigan (883), Louisville (883) and Duke (883) closed the top-5 teams.
Notes
•
Erica Shepherd finished with a season-best 29 putts.
•
Phoebe Brinker now owns a team-best nine rounds of even or under par on the season and has finished in the top-5 twice out of four events this fall.
• Shepherd has totaled six rounds of even or under par this fall and 31 over her four years at Duke. She registered her 10th career top-10 finish and second straight in the Tar Heel Invitational.
• Duke was leading the event after 18 holes with a 1-under, 287, but played the final 36 holes at 20-over-par.
• The Blue Devils finished with 37 birdies over the three rounds.
• Brinker played the par-5 holes at 6-under-par, which was tied for first.
• Shepherd ranked fourth with 39 pars, while Brinker led the field with 15 birdies.
Quotes
"Well, clearly this was not the kind of finish we were looking for, but we have a resilient team. This is a long fall with a lot of golf, but they are going to get some rest and we'll be back ready to go. We look forward to competing next week at Landfall." -- Duke head coach
Dan Brooks
"I played a lot of solid golf. I had a lot of great stretches, so I think that is why I was able to score a lot under. There were a couple of bumps in the road, so I have some things to work on for sure. I am really happy with how I did. Just putting myself in these situations definitely makes me better. Even though I didn't win today, it is a great experience for me in the future." -- Duke junior
Phoebe Brinker
Up Next
Duke will next compete in the Landfall Tradition Oct. 28-30 at the Country Club of Landfall in Wilmington, N.C. This will mark the final event of the fall for the Blue Devils.
To stay up to date with Blue Devils women's golf, follow the team on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook by searching "DukeWGOLF".
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Duke Results
1 2
Phoebe Brinker Duke 67 70 72 209 -7
T20 T8
Erica Shepherd Duke 71 74 71 216 E
T42 T43
Anne Chen Duke 74 76 77 227 +11
T49 T60
Andie Smith Duke 75 76 80 231 +15
T70 73
Rylie Heflin Duke 76 83 84 243 +27
1 2 3 Team Scores
3 1 1 Kentucky 290 283 287 860 -4
4 2 2 Wake Forest 292 282 291 865 +1
T5 3 3 North Carolina 293 284 300 877 +13
13 11 4 Tennessee 301 288 293 882 +18
T7 5 T5 Michigan 295 287 301 883 +19
11 4 T5 Louisville 297 284 302 883 +19
1 T6 T5 Duke 287 296 300 883 +19
T7 T6 8 Virginia Tech 295 288 307 890 +26
T5 10 9 UNCW 293 294 306 893 +29
2 9 10 Michigan State 289 296 309 894 +30
T7 T6 11 North Carolina State 295 288 312 895 +31
12 13 T12 Princeton 298 300 300 898 +34
T7 12 T12 Furman 295 296 307 898 +34
14 14 14 Rollins College 319 319 315 953 +89
Start Finish Player Team Scores
T7 1 Jensen Castle Kentucky 74 67 68 209 -7
1 2
Phoebe Brinker Duke 67 70 72 209 -7
T2 3 Laney Frye Kentucky 68 71 71 210 -6
T7 T4 Emilia Migliaccio Wake Forest 68 73 72 213 -3
T4 T4 Lauren Walsh Wake Forest 71 69 73 213 -3
T13 T6 Victoria Levy UNCW 72 72 71 215 -1
T2 T6 Carmen Griffiths Louisville 72 67 76 215 -1
T10 T8 Symone Henriques Virginia Tech 70 72 74 216 E
T13 T8 Anika Dy Michigan 74 70 72 216 E
T4 T8 Kayla Smith North Carolina 72 68 76 216 E
T20 T8
Erica Shepherd Duke 71 74 71 216 E
T25 T12 Rachel Kuehn Wake Forest 75 71 71 217 +1
T20 T12 Vanessa Gilly Tennessee 74 71 72 217 +1
T7 T12 Megan Streicher North Carolina 71 70 76 217 +1
T34 15 Catherine Rao Princeton 74 74 71 219 +3
T13 T16 Maria Villanueva Aperribay Kentucky 73 71 76 220 +4
T10 T16 Valery Plata Michigan State 67 75 78 220 +4
T13 T16 Ashley Lau Michigan 73 71 76 220 +4
T4 T16 Vania Simont North Carolina State 69 71 80 220 +4
T25 T20 Mairead Martin Louisville 75 71 75 221 +5
T20 T20 Mallory Fobes UNCW 70 75 76 221 +5
T20 T20 Inez Ng North Carolina 75 70 76 221 +5
T25 T20 Riley Quartermain * North Carolina 74 72 75 221 +5
T34 T24 Manassanan Chotikabhukkana Tennessee 78 70 74 222 +6
T13 T24 Anna Morgan Furman 70 74 78 222 +6
T49 T26 Krista Junkkari North Carolina 75 76 72 223 +7
T28 T26 Hailey Borja Michigan 74 73 76 223 +7
T13 T26 Natalie Ambruester North Carolina State 74 70 79 223 +7
T20 T26 Ginnie Lee Virginia Tech 75 70 78 223 +7
T28 T30 Nicole Adam UNCW 74 73 77 224 +8
T28 T30 Lauren Sung Michigan 74 73 77 224 +8
T13 T30 Crista Izuzquiza * North Carolina 70 74 80 224 +8
T49 T33 Brooke Biermann Michigan State 75 76 74 225 +9
T54 T33 Yanjun Liu Princeton 77 75 73 225 +9
T42 T33 Anne-Sterre den Dunnen Wake Forest 78 72 75 225 +9
T42 T33 Alyssa Montgomery Virginia Tech 76 74 75 225 +9
T28 T33 Tiffany Kong Princeton 70 77 78 225 +9
12 T33 Valentina Rossi Michigan State 72 71 82 225 +9
T42 T33 Mimi Rhodes Wake Forest 80 70 75 225 +9
T62 T40 M. Agustina Gomez Cisterna Louisville 82 72 72 226 +10
T62 T40 Ivy Shepherd Kentucky 80 74 72 226 +10
T54 T40 Caroline Patterson Tennessee 75 77 74 226 +10
T42 T43 Lauren Olivares North Carolina State 76 74 77 227 +11
T62 T43 Kayla Holden Tennessee 81 73 73 227 +11
T42 T43
Anne Chen Duke 74 76 77 227 +11
T49 T43 Marissa Wenzler Kentucky 75 76 76 227 +11
T54 T43 Sarah-Eve Rheaume Furman 78 74 75 227 +11
T34 T48 Becca DiNunzio Virginia Tech 75 73 80 228 +12
T39 T48 Isabel Amezcua North Carolina State 76 73 79 228 +12
T42 T48 Shannon Kennedy Michigan State 76 74 78 228 +12
T39 T48 Gabbi Bentancourt Louisville 75 74 79 228 +12
T34 T48 Bailey Davis Tennessee 74 74 80 228 +12
T54 T48 Liza Lapeyre Furman 74 78 76 228 +12
T34 T54 Morgan Ketchum Virginia Tech 75 73 81 229 +13
T28 T54 Monet Chun Michigan 74 73 82 229 +13
T28 T56 Caroline Crumrine Furman 74 73 83 230 +14
T54 T56 Yu Kyung Kim Princeton 78 74 78 230 +14
T54 T56 Chloe Johnson Furman 77 75 78 230 +14
T42 T56 Jaclyn Kenzel * North Carolina State 75 75 80 230 +14
T54 T60 Paula Balanzategui Michigan State 75 77 79 231 +15
T49 T60
Andie Smith Duke 75 76 80 231 +15
65 62 Inja Fric North Carolina State 81 74 77 232 +16
T49 T63 Phu Khine UNCW 77 74 82 233 +17
T54 T63 Rylee Suttor Louisville 75 77 81 233 +17
T66 65 Katharina Hesse Rollins College 80 76 78 234 +18
T66 T66 Grace Ni Princeton 77 79 80 236 +20
69 T66 Aleks Golde * North Carolina 79 79 78 236 +20
T70 68 Olivia Tamburlini Rollins College 79 80 78 237 +21
T73 69 Vilde Marie Nystrøm North Carolina 86 76 79 241 +25
75 T70 Berni Villalba Rollins College 81 82 79 242 +26
72 T70 Carla Alvarez Perez Rollins College 80 81 81 242 +26
T73 T70 Tove Rosengren Rollins College 80 82 80 242 +26
T70 73
Rylie Heflin Duke 76 83 84 243 +27
T66 74 Hannah Altman UNCW 80 76 89 245 +29
T39 - Natalia Aseguinolaza * North Carolina 77 72 D - -