Upcoming Event: Women's Golf versus Windy City Collegiate Classic on September 29, 2025
Women's Golf
vs Windy City Collegiate Classic
Wednesday, May 10
Palm Beach Gardens, Fla.
Duke University
vs
NCAA Regional Championship
Photo by: Kelsey Groff / Duke Athletics
Blue Devil Women’s Golf Advances to NCAA Championship
5/10/2023 8:46:00 PM | Women's Golf
PALM BEACH GARDENS, Fla. – The Duke women's golf team is heading back to the NCAA Championship for the 33rd time under head coach Dan Brooks as the Blue Devils carded a 54-hole score of 875 to finish second at the Palm Beach Gardens Regional, which was being played at the 6,318-yard, par-72 PGA National Champion course.
Duke advanced to the NCAA Championship for the 23rd time out of the last 26 years under Brooks and will compete May 19-24 at Grayhawk Golf Club in Scottsdale, Ariz. It marked the 17th time the Blue Devils have placed in the top-2 at a NCAA Regional.
Local product Andie Smith placed fourth overall with a 1-under, 215, over the last three days and closed the regional with nine birdies and a 3-under, 69. Smith became just the seventh Duke freshman to place in the top-4 at a NCAA Regional. Phoebe Brinker shot 4-under-par over the final day's round and placed tied for ninth with a 218, while Erica Shepherd was tied for 14th with a 219.
How It Happened
• Duke opened the final round at 9:06 a.m., off hole No. 1 and were seven strokes off the lead heading into Wednesday's action.
• Boosted by a 3-under, 33, on the front nine by Andie Smith, Duke was 1-over-par making the turn. Early on the back nine, Duke took the team lead with a 6-over-par overall score. During a span of a couple of holes where Smith, Megan Furtney and Phoebe Brinker birdied, the Blue Devils moved up the leaderboard. Duke dropped five shots down the stretch to fall back into second place.
• With a 6-under-par ledger through hole No. 12, Smith took the individual lead at 4-under-par for the tournament, but was 4-over on holes 13-16 to drop back.
• Key birdies down the stretch by Anne Chen, Brinker and Smith solidified Duke's second-place finish.
• Smith was hot from the start on Wednesday as she birdied her first two holes to get in the red early. On hole No. 1, she missed the fairway and was 130 yards away from the green. Smith had to navigate her ball in-between trees and stuck it 20-feet from the cup. She went on to roll in the birdie and then sank a 10-footer for birdie on No. 2. After suffering a double-bogey on No. 4, Smith strung three straight birdies together on holes No. 6-8 as she rolled in putts from one feet, six feet and 12 feet, respectively. Smith parred No. 9 and then had another 3-birdie streak on holes No. 10-12. She hit her 54-degree wedge to three feet on No. 10, moved into a share of the lead with a 12-footer for birdie on No. 11 and then took sole possession of first with a 6-footer on No. 12. Smith had a bogey on No. 13, double on No. 14 and bogey on No. 16, before closing with a clutch par on No. 17 and a 10-foot birdie on No. 18 to finish with a 3-under, 69.
• Brinker continued her solid play to close the regional with rounds of 71 and 69 the final two days. After a bogey to open the day on Wednesday, Brinker collected birdies on No. 3, No. 4 and No. 6 to get to 2-under. She registered a tremendous flop shot on the par-5 third hole and then rolled in a 2-foot birdie. Brinker then carded a 9-foot birdie on No. 4 and 2-putted for birdie on No. 6. Following bogeys on No. 7 and No. 9, Brinker made the turn at even-par, 36. She had a bogey-free back nine to go along with three birdies to close strong. On No. 11, she hit her 7-iron to 10 feet for birdie and then dialed in her 9-iron from 140 yards to eight feet on No. 14. Brinker had a key up-and-down for par on No. 16 and then rolled in a 35-foot putt from the edge of the green on No. 17 to get to 3-under. She parred No. 18 to finish the afternoon.
• Erica Shepherd collected 15 pars, one birdie and two bogeys in her final round Wednesday as she shot 73. She placed tied for 14th with a 219. Shepherd drained a 16-foot birdie on No. 2 and her only two bogeys were due to 3-putting on No. 4 and No. 17. She registered a team-best 16 greens, while hitting nine fairways and rolling 35 putts.
• Chen had a tough first four holes as she was 4-over during that span, but regrouped and played her final 14 holes at even-par. She used her pitching wedge from 50 yards on No. 10 and hit it to seven feet for birdie and then hit a 6-iron from 170 yards on the challenging par-3 17th to three feet for birdie. Chen didn't miss a fairway on the back nine and hit 8-of-9 greens. The one green she missed, No. 12, she got up-and-down. She hit 15 greens, 11 fairways and had 36 putts.
• Furtney played the front nine at 2-over on Wednesday and was only 2-over-par through 13 holes as she hit a full gap wedge on No. 13 from 112 yards to three feet and sank her lone birdie of the day. She closed the day with three bogeys and two pars to finish with a 77. For the week, Furtney finished tied for 28th.
Notes
• For her day, Andie Smith hit 13 greens, 10 fairways and rolled 28 putts. Her nine birdies were a career best. Smith posted her fourth career round in the 60s. Of her five career even or under par rounds, four of them have been in the 60s.
• Smith is a native of Hobe Sound, Fla., which is close to PGA National and she had many friends and family come out to watch her play this week.
• Smith finished the week with 14 birdies, which ranked tied for first among the field.
• Phoebe Brinker hit 14 greens, 12 fairways and had 31 putts. She posted her team-best 18th round of even or under par and seventh round in the 60s this season. Over her career, Brinker has 34 even or under par rounds and 11 in the 60s.
• Brinker registered 13 birdies to rank tied third for the week.
• Erica Shepherd turned in her third straight top-15 finish in a NCAA Regional – T14 in 2023, T11 in 2022 and T13 in 2021. She is just the 11th Blue Devil to collect three or more top-15 finishes in the NCAA Regional.
• Shepherd's 39 pars for the tournament ranked tied for second.
• Megan Furtney's tied for 28th finish was the second-best of her senior campaign.
• For the week, Duke led the field in par-4 scoring (4.16) and par-5 scoring (4.83, -10).
• The 46 Blue Devil birdies also led the field.
Quotes
"I am really happy for this team. They have been playing really well in the last three/four weeks. I thought we had a really good conference tournament, we won over at Lonnie Poole. Those successes have come a little late in the season. So, it's nice to see that has continued." -- Duke head coach Dan Brooks
"Everybody contributed this week. That's a wonderful thing. So, you know we got five days to get ready for nationals and we will work hard." -- Duke head coach Dan Brooks
"I'm feeling really great. We played really solid golf for the past three days and just proving to ourselves and to everybody else that we are up there with the best of the best and that we can go all the way at Nationals." -- Duke freshman Andie Smith
"Yeah, you know, obviously just hitting some good approach shots, keeping it in the fairway and then just having putts drop and just letting the birdies come eventually. So, it was it was really nice and you kind of just have to appreciate those rounds when they happen and just like soak up the moment." -- Duke freshman Andie Smith
What is Next
Duke will next compete in the NCAA Championship, which will be contested May 19-24 at the Grayhawk Golf Club in Scottsdale, Ariz.
To stay up to date with Blue Devils women's golf, follow the team on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook by searching "DukeWGOLF".
#GoDuke
Duke advanced to the NCAA Championship for the 23rd time out of the last 26 years under Brooks and will compete May 19-24 at Grayhawk Golf Club in Scottsdale, Ariz. It marked the 17th time the Blue Devils have placed in the top-2 at a NCAA Regional.
Local product Andie Smith placed fourth overall with a 1-under, 215, over the last three days and closed the regional with nine birdies and a 3-under, 69. Smith became just the seventh Duke freshman to place in the top-4 at a NCAA Regional. Phoebe Brinker shot 4-under-par over the final day's round and placed tied for ninth with a 218, while Erica Shepherd was tied for 14th with a 219.
How It Happened
• Duke opened the final round at 9:06 a.m., off hole No. 1 and were seven strokes off the lead heading into Wednesday's action.
• Boosted by a 3-under, 33, on the front nine by Andie Smith, Duke was 1-over-par making the turn. Early on the back nine, Duke took the team lead with a 6-over-par overall score. During a span of a couple of holes where Smith, Megan Furtney and Phoebe Brinker birdied, the Blue Devils moved up the leaderboard. Duke dropped five shots down the stretch to fall back into second place.
• With a 6-under-par ledger through hole No. 12, Smith took the individual lead at 4-under-par for the tournament, but was 4-over on holes 13-16 to drop back.
• Key birdies down the stretch by Anne Chen, Brinker and Smith solidified Duke's second-place finish.
• Smith was hot from the start on Wednesday as she birdied her first two holes to get in the red early. On hole No. 1, she missed the fairway and was 130 yards away from the green. Smith had to navigate her ball in-between trees and stuck it 20-feet from the cup. She went on to roll in the birdie and then sank a 10-footer for birdie on No. 2. After suffering a double-bogey on No. 4, Smith strung three straight birdies together on holes No. 6-8 as she rolled in putts from one feet, six feet and 12 feet, respectively. Smith parred No. 9 and then had another 3-birdie streak on holes No. 10-12. She hit her 54-degree wedge to three feet on No. 10, moved into a share of the lead with a 12-footer for birdie on No. 11 and then took sole possession of first with a 6-footer on No. 12. Smith had a bogey on No. 13, double on No. 14 and bogey on No. 16, before closing with a clutch par on No. 17 and a 10-foot birdie on No. 18 to finish with a 3-under, 69.
• Brinker continued her solid play to close the regional with rounds of 71 and 69 the final two days. After a bogey to open the day on Wednesday, Brinker collected birdies on No. 3, No. 4 and No. 6 to get to 2-under. She registered a tremendous flop shot on the par-5 third hole and then rolled in a 2-foot birdie. Brinker then carded a 9-foot birdie on No. 4 and 2-putted for birdie on No. 6. Following bogeys on No. 7 and No. 9, Brinker made the turn at even-par, 36. She had a bogey-free back nine to go along with three birdies to close strong. On No. 11, she hit her 7-iron to 10 feet for birdie and then dialed in her 9-iron from 140 yards to eight feet on No. 14. Brinker had a key up-and-down for par on No. 16 and then rolled in a 35-foot putt from the edge of the green on No. 17 to get to 3-under. She parred No. 18 to finish the afternoon.
• Erica Shepherd collected 15 pars, one birdie and two bogeys in her final round Wednesday as she shot 73. She placed tied for 14th with a 219. Shepherd drained a 16-foot birdie on No. 2 and her only two bogeys were due to 3-putting on No. 4 and No. 17. She registered a team-best 16 greens, while hitting nine fairways and rolling 35 putts.
• Chen had a tough first four holes as she was 4-over during that span, but regrouped and played her final 14 holes at even-par. She used her pitching wedge from 50 yards on No. 10 and hit it to seven feet for birdie and then hit a 6-iron from 170 yards on the challenging par-3 17th to three feet for birdie. Chen didn't miss a fairway on the back nine and hit 8-of-9 greens. The one green she missed, No. 12, she got up-and-down. She hit 15 greens, 11 fairways and had 36 putts.
• Furtney played the front nine at 2-over on Wednesday and was only 2-over-par through 13 holes as she hit a full gap wedge on No. 13 from 112 yards to three feet and sank her lone birdie of the day. She closed the day with three bogeys and two pars to finish with a 77. For the week, Furtney finished tied for 28th.
Notes
• For her day, Andie Smith hit 13 greens, 10 fairways and rolled 28 putts. Her nine birdies were a career best. Smith posted her fourth career round in the 60s. Of her five career even or under par rounds, four of them have been in the 60s.
• Smith is a native of Hobe Sound, Fla., which is close to PGA National and she had many friends and family come out to watch her play this week.
• Smith finished the week with 14 birdies, which ranked tied for first among the field.
• Phoebe Brinker hit 14 greens, 12 fairways and had 31 putts. She posted her team-best 18th round of even or under par and seventh round in the 60s this season. Over her career, Brinker has 34 even or under par rounds and 11 in the 60s.
• Brinker registered 13 birdies to rank tied third for the week.
• Erica Shepherd turned in her third straight top-15 finish in a NCAA Regional – T14 in 2023, T11 in 2022 and T13 in 2021. She is just the 11th Blue Devil to collect three or more top-15 finishes in the NCAA Regional.
• Shepherd's 39 pars for the tournament ranked tied for second.
• Megan Furtney's tied for 28th finish was the second-best of her senior campaign.
• For the week, Duke led the field in par-4 scoring (4.16) and par-5 scoring (4.83, -10).
• The 46 Blue Devil birdies also led the field.
Quotes
"I am really happy for this team. They have been playing really well in the last three/four weeks. I thought we had a really good conference tournament, we won over at Lonnie Poole. Those successes have come a little late in the season. So, it's nice to see that has continued." -- Duke head coach Dan Brooks
"Everybody contributed this week. That's a wonderful thing. So, you know we got five days to get ready for nationals and we will work hard." -- Duke head coach Dan Brooks
"I'm feeling really great. We played really solid golf for the past three days and just proving to ourselves and to everybody else that we are up there with the best of the best and that we can go all the way at Nationals." -- Duke freshman Andie Smith
"Yeah, you know, obviously just hitting some good approach shots, keeping it in the fairway and then just having putts drop and just letting the birdies come eventually. So, it was it was really nice and you kind of just have to appreciate those rounds when they happen and just like soak up the moment." -- Duke freshman Andie Smith
What is Next
Duke will next compete in the NCAA Championship, which will be contested May 19-24 at the Grayhawk Golf Club in Scottsdale, Ariz.
To stay up to date with Blue Devils women's golf, follow the team on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook by searching "DukeWGOLF".
#GoDuke
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