Three Blue Devils in Top 10 at ANNIKA Intercollegiate

Monday, September 12

Lake Elmo, Minn. (Royal Golf Club)

Duke University

Annika Intercollegiate

Photo by: Taylor Britton

Three Blue Devils in Top 10 at ANNIKA Intercollegiate

9/12/2022 8:28:00 PM | Women's Golf

SCORING BROOKS INTERVIEW HEFLIN INTERVIEW

LAKE ELMO, Minn. – Paced by three Blue Devils at even or under par, the Duke women's golf team opened the 2022-23 campaign on Monday with a 4-over-par, 292, at the ANNIKA Intercollegiate Presented by 3M, which is being held at the 6,408-yard, par 72 Royal Golf Club in Lake Elmo, Minn.

Sophomore Rylie Heflin carded a team-best 1-under-par, 71, while senior Erica Shepherd and junior Phoebe Brinker signed for even-par, 72. Heflin is tied for fifth overall, while Shepherd and Brinker are tied for eighth on the individual leaderboard.

As a team, Duke is in fourth after day one with a 292. Virginia (284), Michigan (288), Texas (288), Duke (292), Wake Forest (294), Florida (294), South Carolina (295), Arizona State (300) and Alabama (303) round out the top 10 teams.


How It Happened
•   Duke opened action on hole No. 10 and got off to a solid start with nine birdies over its first nine holes.
•   Rylie Heflin rolled in a 25-foot birdie on the 372-yard, par-4 14th to ignite a string of three birdies over a span of four holes to get to 3-under-par. She hit her 56-degree wedge on No. 3 to eight feet and drained her fourth birdie. She then chipped in with her 58-degree wedge on No. 5 to get back to 3-under-par. Heflin finished the day hitting 13 greens and nine fairways, while rolling in 31 putts.
•   Seeing action in her third ANNIKA Intercollegiate, Erica Shepherd rolled in four birdies en route to shooting an even-par, 72. Over her first 11 holes, she had three birdies, four bogeys and four pars. Shepherd closed the day with six straight pars, before hitting her 60-degree wedge from 69 yards on No. 9 to one foot for birdie.
•   Phoebe Brinker opened the day at even-par, 36, with seven pars, a birdie on No. 11 and a bogey on No. 16. When she headed to the back nine, Brinker suffered bogeys on No. 1 and No. 4, but hit the green in two and two-putted for birdie on the 516-yard, par-5 second hole. She closed the afternoon with four pars and a birdie on No. 9. On the final hole, she hit her 60-degree wedge from 85 yards to five feet.
•   Freshman Andie Smith made her Duke debut and finished with a 5-over, 77. She was limited to one birdie, which came on the 451-yard, par-5 18th as she rolled in a 20-footer. Over her first nine holes, she registered a sand save for par on No. 12 and a beautiful up-and-down for par on No. 13. Smith finished with four up-and-downs for the day.
•   Junior Anne Chen held a 1-under-par score through eight holes as she rolled in a 9-foot birdie on No. 16 and a 28-footer for birdie on No. 17. She struggled over her final 10 holes with a 6-over-par score, while finishing the day with a 5-over, 77. Chen tied for a team best with 14 greens in regulation.

Notes
•   Duke's 16 birdies on the day ranked tied for second behind Virginia (20).
•   Heflin collected her fifth career round of even or under par with a 1-under, 71. She was one of only seven golfers on Monday that shot under par.
•   With her even-par, 72, Shepherd posted her 26th career round of even or under par.
•   It marks the fourth straight year Shepherd has opened the season with an even-par ledger or better.
•   Heflin's five birdies on the day was a career best and ranked tied for second among all golfers on Monday.
•   Brinker collected her 17th round of even or under par over her Blue Devil career.
•   Heflin was 3-under-par on par-4 holes, which ranked second overall. Brinker was 2-under on par-5 holes to rank tied for second.

Quotes
"My ball-striking for one went really well [today]. I struggled a little with that yesterday, but was able to practice some after yesterday's practice round. That definitely helped give me some confidence going into today. Throughout the round, I got to know the greens/speeds better and was able to get a few birdies, which was great." – Duke sophomore Rylie Heflin

Up Next
Duke will tee off on Tuesday morning at 9 a.m. (ET) in the second round along with Oregon and Wake Forest.

To stay up to date with Blue Devils women's golf, follow the team on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook by searching "DukeWGOLF".

#GoDuke

Duke Results
Rylie Heflin 71 (T5)
Erica Shepherd 72 (T8)
Phoebe Brinker 72 (T8)
Anne Chen 77 (T45)
Andie Smith 77 (T45)
Duke 292 (4th)