2023 National Championship
May 19-24, 2023 • Scottsdale, Ariz.
Grayhawk Golf Club
72-Holes of Stroke Play Followed by Match Play
BLUE DEVILS TRAVEL TO ARIZONA FOR NCAA CHAMPIONSHIP
In search of its eighth NCAA Championship, the Duke women's golf team hits the road for Scottsdale, Ariz., for the 2023 NCAA Championship, which runs May 19-24 at the 6,399-yard, par 72 Grayhawk Golf Club.
Duke is appearing in the NCAA Championship for the 33rd time under head coach
Dan Brooks and will be competing in the NCAAs for the 23rd time out of the last 26 years.
Participating in the championship will be -- Arizona, Augusta, Baylor, Clemson, Duke, Florida State, Georgia, LSU, Michigan State, Mississippi State, NC State, New Mexico, Northwestern, Oklahoma State, Ole Miss, Oregon State, Pepperdine, San Jose State, South Carolina, Southern California, SMU, Stanford, Texas, Texas A&M, TCU, Texas Tech, Tulsa, Vanderbilt, Virginia and Wake Forest.
Duke will tee off Friday, May 19 at 9:10 a.m. (ET) in the first round off No. 10, followed by an 2:30 p.m., tee time Saturday, May 20 off the No. 1 tee box. The Blue Devils are paired with Clemson and SMU in the first two rounds.
For the eighth straight year, the championship will feature a different look as there will be 54 holes of stroke play qualifying and then the top 15 teams and nine individuals (not on advancing teams) will play a final 18 holes to determine the individual champion and the top eight teams will advance to match play. On May 23 there will be 36 holes of match play and then the match play championship will take place May 24.
THE DUKE LINEUP
Duke will feature a lineup of seniors
Erica Shepherd and
Megan Furtney, juniors
Phoebe Brinker and
Anne Chen and freshman
Andie Smith. Sophomore
Rylie Heflin will be a substitute.
BIRDIES FOR BABIES
Spearheaded by 2019 Blue Devil graduate Virginia Elena Carta, the Duke men's and women's golf programs have continued their fundraising program benefitting the Duke Children's Neonatal and Pediatric Intensive Care Units called Birdies for Babies. Duke has raised $19,139.50 so far this season and over the six years of the program, it has raised over $100,000.
In November, the Duke Children's Hospital dedicated a room for the program since the Blue Devils reached the $100,000 mark in earnings.
Those looking to support the partnership with Duke Children's can make pledges per birdie. Pledges will start at $0.50 and high pledge increments are welcome. If the Blue Devils register an eagle (counts as two birdies), albatross (three birdies) and hole-in-one (four birdies) they will count as stated.
For more information, head to https://giving.dukechildrens.org/ways-to-give/duke-athletics-partnerships
IN THE NATIONAL RANKINGS
Duke is currently ranked No. 22 in the latest GolfStat.com and No. 25 in the Golfweek ledgers.
Individually, in the Golfweek rankings
Phoebe Brinker (29) and
Erica Shepherd (80) are listed. In the GolfStat.com individual rankings, Brinker (40) and Shepherd (77) are listed in the top-100.
TRENDS/NOTES
• The Blue Devils head to the NCAA Championship with momentum, after winning the Wolfpack Match Play Invitational, placing second at the ACC Championship in stroke play and second at the NCAA Palm Beach Gardens Regional.
• In the last 19 appearances at the NCAA Championship, Duke has placed in the top 10 in 17 of those. The only exceptions were a 15th place ledger in 2012 and 18th in 2017.
•
Megan Furtney and
Erica Shepherd graduated from Duke on Sunday, May 14. Furtney received a psychology degree along with an environmental science and policy minor, while Shepherd earned a psychology degree with a global health minor.
• Since match play started in 2015, Duke has been one of the top eight teams to advance in five of the seven championships (2015, 2016, 2018, 2019, 2021). That ranks tied for second in the NCAA -- Stanford (7), Southern California (5), Duke (5) and Arizona (4).
• Freshman
Andie Smith registered a career-best nine birdies en route to a final round of 69 at the NCAA Palm Beach Regional. It was the most birdies by a Blue Devil this season in a single round. 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. With her fourth-place finish, she became just the seventh Duke freshman to place in the top-4 at a NCAA Regional. Smith's 14 birdies tied for first among the field.
•
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.
• In the latest World Amateur Golf Rankings,
Phoebe Brinker (51),
Erica Shepherd (92) and
Anne Chen (138) are in the top 150.
•
Andie Smith had a solid week at the ACC Championship. Her score of 68 was tied for the second-lowest opening round of the ACC Championship by a Blue Devil freshman in school history. She ranked up there with Leona Maguire (67) & Brittany Lang (68). Smith also moved to 4-1 this season in match play.
•
Phoebe Brinker has shot 22-under-par in her last two ACC Championships, which includes an 8-under, 64, and 7-under, 65. Duke has featured a golfer shoot 10-under or lower in each of the last three ACC Championships (-12 by Brinker in 2023, -10 by Brinker in 2022 and -10 by Gina Kim in 2021).
• In the ACC Championship, only six golfers have shot -10 or better and Duke features four of those –
Phoebe Brinker (2), Gina Kim, Leona Maguire and Brittany Lang.
•
Phoebe Brinker is now one of only three Blue Devils to post three rounds of 65 or better over their career joining Liz Janangelo (3) and Leona Maguire (4).
•
Anne Chen collected her second career top-10 finish at the ACC Championship, which included a season-best final round of 4-under, 68. She now owns seven career rounds in the 60s.
•
Megan Furtney turned in her third career top-20 finish at the ACC Championship with rounds of 72, 70 and 77 for a 219, which was tied for 15th. She totaled her sixth and seventh career rounds of even or under par. Furtney's round of 2-under, 70, was the lowest 18-hole score since her 69 as a sophomore at the Valspar Augusta Invitational. Her 13 birdies in the ACCs were ranked tied for fourth-most in the field.
• Duke has turned in nine eagles as a team in 2022-23, which is the third-most in a season under head coach
Dan Brooks -- 11 (2017-18), 10 (2020-21) 9 (2022-23) and 8 (2022-23, 2016-17, 2011-12, 2003-04, 2000-01, 1999-00).
• The Blue Devils feature four NCAA Individual Championships, which ranks tied for third most in NCAA history -- Arizona State (6), Southern California (5), Duke (4) and Arizona (4). Duke's champions include Candy Hannemann (2001), Virada Nirapathpongporn (2002), Anna Grzebien (2005) and Virginia Elena Carta (2016).
• Duke and Arizona State are the only schools to win three straight NCAA Championships - Duke (2005-07) and Arizona State (1993-95). The Blue Devils rank second with seven NCAA titles behind Arizona State (8).
POSTSEASON TRANSFORMATION
Duke closed the regular season with three match play victories in the Wolfpack Match Play Invitational and then in the postseason the Blue Devils have been a totally different team.
Over the first three events of the spring, Duke averaged 300.00 per round as a team in the Nexus Collegiate Invitational, Darius Rucker Intercollegiate and the Valspar Augusta Invitational. The Blue Devils finished no better than eighth in those events.
In the first three tournaments, the Duke golfers featured stroke averages of 74.00 (
Erica Shepherd), 75.00 (
Phoebe Brinker), 76.38 (
Andie Smith), 76.80 (
Anne Chen) and 81.33 (
Megan Furtney).
In the postseason, it has been a different team with Brinker (70.33), Furtney (73.83) and Smith (72.33) turning in big improvements in the ACC Championship and NCAA Regionals. As a team, Duke has averaged rounds of 288.00 for a difference of 12 shots and finished second in both tournaments. The Blue Devils have featured six rounds in the 60s and a total of 13 rounds of even or under par in the six postseason rounds.
Duke features a 20-2-0 head-to-head record over the last two tournaments.
Furtney especially has turned it around and has been averaging 3.3 birdies, 12.6 greens, 9.0 fairways and 32.7 putts over her last six rounds. Over her first nine rounds this season she averaged 1.0 birdie, 8.2 greens, 7.1 fairways and 34.2 putts per round.
HOT TEAMS HEADING TO SCOTTSDALE
Duke has averaged 288.00 per round over the last two tournaments, which ranks as the 13th-best in the NCAA Championship field.
278.50 - Stanford
281.17 - Southern California
281.33 - Clemson
284.33 - Wake Forest
285.33 - SMU
285.67 - Tulsa
285.67 - Virginia
286.00 - Baylor
287.33 - Arizona
287.50 - Texas Tech
287.50 - Pepperdine
287.67 - Oregon State
288.00 - Duke
289.17 - Mississippi State
289.33 - Vanderbilt
SMITH NETS HOLE-IN-ONE AT NCAA REGIONAL
In the first round of the NCAA Palm Beach Regional, freshman
Andie Smith turned in her first collegiate eagle as she hit her 5-iron from 180 yards on hole No. 7. It marked the eighth hole-in-one by a Blue Devil and the second in NCAA action.
Smith's hole-in-one was her second of her golfing career and first since 2014 when she was 11 years old. It was the first hole-in-one for Duke in NCAA Regional action and second in NCAA play. Jennie Lee notched a hole-in-one at the 2008 NCAA Championship in Albuquerque, N.M. Smith was the only golfer at the 2023 NCAA Regionals to collect a hole-in-one.
CHAMPIONSHIP EXPERIENCE
Duke will travel to Arizona with three golfers who have competed in the NCAA Championship. Current senior
Megan Furtney was a substitute in 2021 so she was able to play the practice round and walk the course.
The trio of
Erica Shepherd,
Phoebe Brinker and
Anne Chen all competed in the 2021 NCAA Championship where the Blue Devils placed second in stroke play and lost to Oklahoma State in the semifinals of match play.
Brinker placed tied for fifth with rounds of 73, 70, 72 and 71 for a 2-under, 286, while Shepherd was tied for 36th with scores of 73, 73, 74 and 74 for a 294. Chen was tied for 62nd with rounds of 76, 77, 75 and 72 for a 300.
TOP 10 FINISHES AT NCAA CHAMPIONSHIPS
Duke owns the second-most top 10 finishes in the NCAA Championship since 2004 as the Blue Devils have totaled 14.
Top 10 Finishes Since 2004
1. Southern California 15
2. Duke 14
3. UCLA 13
4. Arizona State 12
MOST NCAA TITLES BY A COACH
Duke head coach
Dan Brooks owns seven NCAA Championships over his career with the Blue Devils. The seven titles ranks as the most by a women's golf coach in NCAA history.
Most NCAA Titles in NCAA History
1. 7 Dan Brooks, Duke
2. 5 Linda Vollstedt, Arizona State
3. 3 Mark Gale, San Jose State
3 Andrea Gaston, Southern California (now at Texas A&M)
DUKE'S 33RD NCAA APPEARANCE
The Blue Devils will be making their 33rd appearance in the NCAA Championship, which ranks tied for fourth.
NCAA All-Time Appearances
1. 38 Arizona State
2. 37 Stanford
3. 35 Southern California
4. 33 Duke
33 Arizona
33 UCLA
IMPRESSIVE COACHES
Duke head coach
Dan Brooks was the first head coach in NCAA Division I to win both a stroke play and match play NCAA Championship. Brooks won stroke play titles in 1999, 2002, 2005, 2006, 2007 and 2014. He led the Blue Devils to the match play title in 2019.
Blue Devil associate head coach
Jon Whithaus is the only coach in NCAA Division I to lead both a women's (2016 & 2019) and men's (2011) program into the match play semifinals of the NCAA Championship. He has also coached both a women's and men's individual to an NCAA Individual Championship.
COVERAGE
The Golf Channel will feature extensive coverage of the championship beginning Monday, May 22. Here is a full listing of the coverage --
Monday, May 22 - 5:00-9:00 PM: Live coverage
Tuesday, May 23 - 12:00-2:30 PM: Live coverage match play quarterfinals
5:00-9:00 PM: Live coverage match play semifinals
Wednesday, May 24 - 5:00-9:00 PM: Live coverage match play championship
Fans can also follow along on Twitter (@DukeWGOLF), Instagram (DukeWGolf) and Facebook (DukeWGolf) for coverage of the championship. Live scoring will be available via www.GolfStat.com.