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Women's Golf
vs Ruth's Chris Tar Heel Invitational
Monday, May 22
Scottsdale, Ariz. (Grayhawk Golf Club)
Duke University
vs
NCAA Championship
Photo by: Kelsey Groff / Duke Athletics
Shepherd Closes Collegiate Career with Top-15 Finish at NCAA Championship
5/23/2023 12:58:00 AM | Women's Golf
SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. – Duke women's golf senior Erica Shepherd closed her collegiate career on Monday by carding a 3-under-par, 69, on her way to placing tied for 14th, individually, at the NCAA Championship, which was being played at the 6,368-yard, par 72 Grayhawk Golf Club in Scottsdale, Ariz.
It marked her highest finish at the NCAA Championship as she carded five birdies on the day, while hitting 15 greens, 11 fairways and rolling 30 putts. Over the four days, Shepherd turned in rounds of 70, 74, 72 and 69 for a 3-under, 285.
How It Happened
• Erica Shepherd opened her round at 12:12 p.m., locally off hole No. 10.
• She had things dialed in early as she hit all seven fairways and all nine greens on the front nine.
• Shepherd rolled in her first birdie of the day on the par-3 No. 13 as she dropped a 12-footer. After a par on No. 14 as she 2-putted from 21 feet, Shepherd sank a 7-foot putt on the 415-yard, par-4 15th to move to 2-under.
• She parred No. 16 and then collected back-to-back birdies on No. 17 and No. 18. On the 17th hole, Shepherd rolled in a 15-footer for birdie. She hit a tremendous flop shot on the par-5 No. 18 from 30 yards with her 60-degree wedge that sat seven feet from the cup.
• Shepherd made the turn at 4-under, 32, and had the lowest round of the day going as she headed to hole No. 1.
• She missed her first two greens of the day on No. 1 and No. 2, while suffering her lone bogeys of the afternoon. Shepherd got back going on No. 3 with a 2-putt par. She then had her putter working on the par-5 fifth hole as she drained a 38-foot putt for birdie to get back to 3-under-par.
• Shepherd made par on the challenging par-3 fifth hole and then had a great shot on No. 6 from the right rough and 2-putted for par. She just missed a birdie on the par-5 seventh and then parred No. 8.
• Shepherd headed to No. 9 for her final collegiate hole. She missed the fairway and hit her approach from the rough to short of the green. Shepherd chipped up to the green and then sank a 5-foot par putt to close with a 69.
Notes
• Erica Shepherd registered her 14th round of even or under par on the season and 39th of her career.
• Shepherd finished her career with 16 top-20 finishes and 10 rounds in the 60s.
• The course featured the lowest scoring average of the four rounds of stroke play with a 73.13 average.
• Shepherd finished the 72 holes with 48 pars and 14 birdies.
• She played the par-5 holes at 3-under-par.
• Shepherd finished her career with a 73.12 stroke average along with one victory, six top-5 and 10 top-10 finishes.
• She was one of only eight golfers to shoot 3-under or better in the final round.
• Rose Zhang of Stanford won the individual title with a 10-under, 278.
Quotes
"It was awesome. I was 4-under on the first nine, so everything was just really going my way. To have the team out there after a tough day yesterday just meant the world to me. So, it was honestly just a dream to finish my Duke career well, and just kind of reflect a lot today while I was playing. It was kind of a long day. So, just to realize how good of four years I've had and how lucky I am. It was a great day." -- Duke senior Erica Shepherd on her final round
"Yeah, today was good. Actually, the end of the last round yesterday I realized my driver was cracked. So, got a new driver and just was super excited to be hitting driver; just felt really good. So that was a big plus and then [my] swing this week has been pretty good. I have been working on it all season. Just to have it come together and hit my first nine greens out there is pretty good. So, it felt really good." -- Duke senior Erica Shepherd on her ball-striking from the beginning today
"You know, I had really high expectations for Duke. I spent my whole life dreaming about getting here. And my experience was just everything that I could have dreamed of and more. So, I am just so happy that I chose Duke, but more importantly that Duke chose me and it will be forever my home." -- Duke senior Erica Shepherd on her Duke career
"Erica played real solid today. Very simple round, no big mistakes, good recovery and she made some nice putts. She also drove it well, which pleased her greatly, after having played unknowingly with a cracked driver face the last couple days." -- Duke head coach Dan Brooks
What is Next
Duke concluded the 2022-23 season and the 39th under the direction of head coach Dan Brooks. The Blue Devils will lose a pair of seniors – Erica Shepherd and Megan Furtney – but will return a solid group and welcome in new golfers to the mix in 2023-24, which will be Brooks' 40th season.
To stay up to date with Blue Devils women's golf, follow the team on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook by searching "DukeWGOLF".
#GoDuke
It marked her highest finish at the NCAA Championship as she carded five birdies on the day, while hitting 15 greens, 11 fairways and rolling 30 putts. Over the four days, Shepherd turned in rounds of 70, 74, 72 and 69 for a 3-under, 285.
How It Happened
• Erica Shepherd opened her round at 12:12 p.m., locally off hole No. 10.
• She had things dialed in early as she hit all seven fairways and all nine greens on the front nine.
• Shepherd rolled in her first birdie of the day on the par-3 No. 13 as she dropped a 12-footer. After a par on No. 14 as she 2-putted from 21 feet, Shepherd sank a 7-foot putt on the 415-yard, par-4 15th to move to 2-under.
• She parred No. 16 and then collected back-to-back birdies on No. 17 and No. 18. On the 17th hole, Shepherd rolled in a 15-footer for birdie. She hit a tremendous flop shot on the par-5 No. 18 from 30 yards with her 60-degree wedge that sat seven feet from the cup.
• Shepherd made the turn at 4-under, 32, and had the lowest round of the day going as she headed to hole No. 1.
• She missed her first two greens of the day on No. 1 and No. 2, while suffering her lone bogeys of the afternoon. Shepherd got back going on No. 3 with a 2-putt par. She then had her putter working on the par-5 fifth hole as she drained a 38-foot putt for birdie to get back to 3-under-par.
• Shepherd made par on the challenging par-3 fifth hole and then had a great shot on No. 6 from the right rough and 2-putted for par. She just missed a birdie on the par-5 seventh and then parred No. 8.
• Shepherd headed to No. 9 for her final collegiate hole. She missed the fairway and hit her approach from the rough to short of the green. Shepherd chipped up to the green and then sank a 5-foot par putt to close with a 69.
Notes
• Erica Shepherd registered her 14th round of even or under par on the season and 39th of her career.
• Shepherd finished her career with 16 top-20 finishes and 10 rounds in the 60s.
• The course featured the lowest scoring average of the four rounds of stroke play with a 73.13 average.
• Shepherd finished the 72 holes with 48 pars and 14 birdies.
• She played the par-5 holes at 3-under-par.
• Shepherd finished her career with a 73.12 stroke average along with one victory, six top-5 and 10 top-10 finishes.
• She was one of only eight golfers to shoot 3-under or better in the final round.
• Rose Zhang of Stanford won the individual title with a 10-under, 278.
Quotes
"It was awesome. I was 4-under on the first nine, so everything was just really going my way. To have the team out there after a tough day yesterday just meant the world to me. So, it was honestly just a dream to finish my Duke career well, and just kind of reflect a lot today while I was playing. It was kind of a long day. So, just to realize how good of four years I've had and how lucky I am. It was a great day." -- Duke senior Erica Shepherd on her final round
"Yeah, today was good. Actually, the end of the last round yesterday I realized my driver was cracked. So, got a new driver and just was super excited to be hitting driver; just felt really good. So that was a big plus and then [my] swing this week has been pretty good. I have been working on it all season. Just to have it come together and hit my first nine greens out there is pretty good. So, it felt really good." -- Duke senior Erica Shepherd on her ball-striking from the beginning today
"You know, I had really high expectations for Duke. I spent my whole life dreaming about getting here. And my experience was just everything that I could have dreamed of and more. So, I am just so happy that I chose Duke, but more importantly that Duke chose me and it will be forever my home." -- Duke senior Erica Shepherd on her Duke career
"Erica played real solid today. Very simple round, no big mistakes, good recovery and she made some nice putts. She also drove it well, which pleased her greatly, after having played unknowingly with a cracked driver face the last couple days." -- Duke head coach Dan Brooks
What is Next
Duke concluded the 2022-23 season and the 39th under the direction of head coach Dan Brooks. The Blue Devils will lose a pair of seniors – Erica Shepherd and Megan Furtney – but will return a solid group and welcome in new golfers to the mix in 2023-24, which will be Brooks' 40th season.
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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