Three Blue Devils Go Low on Final Day of Moon Golf Invitational

Tuesday, February 20

Melbourne, Fla.

Duke University

Moon Golf Invitational

Photo by: Mario Terrana

Three Blue Devils Go Low on Final Day of Moon Golf Invitational

2/20/2024 5:49:00 PM | Women's Golf

Scoring

MELBOURNE, Fla. – The Duke women's golf team turned in the third-best round of the day, a 7-under, 281, on Tuesday to close action at the Moon Golf Invitational, which was being contested at the 6,503-yard, Par-72 Suntree Country Club Classic Course in Melbourne, Fla.

Graduate student Emma McMyler and freshman Katie Li carded 3-under-par rounds of 69, while senior Anne Chen posted a 2-under, 70, to close action. All five golfers on the Duke squad shot 74 or better as senior Phoebe Brinker registered a 73 and junior Rylie Heflin added a 74.

How It Happened

Duke took advantage of the beautiful weather on Tuesday to collect 16 birdies.
Emma McMyler, a product of San Antonio, Texas, collected a bogey-free 3-under, 69, to notch her fourth career round in the 60s as a Blue Devil and 12th overall in college. She opened her day on hole No. 16 and quickly moved in the red numbers as she hit the 18th green in two and 2-putted for birdie. McMyler added another birdie on the 165-yard, par-3 third hole as she hit her 6-iron to five feet. She moved to 3-under as she drained an 18-footer for birdie on No. 12 and then had a key up-and-down par on No. 13 to remain.
Freshman Katie Li turned in a career-low 3-under, 69, to close action in Florida.She started her day on hole No. 18.After hitting her second shot just off the green, Li chipped up to six feet and sank the birdie.The Basking Ridge, N.J., native dropped a shot on No. 2, but went back to the red as she rolled in a 7-footer for birdie on No. 4.Li added another bogey on No. 5, but responded strong by collecting back-to-back birdies on No. 6 and No. 7.On the sixth hole, she hit her 54-degree wedge from 84 yards to five feet and then on No. 7 she drained a 25-footer for birdie to move to 2-under.Li parred the next eight holes, before sticking her 7-iron from 152 yards to a foot for birdie on the 170-yard, par-3 16th.She also added a sand save on No. 15 and got up-and-down for par on No. 17 to close the day.
For her 31st career round of even or under par, Anne Chen registered a 2-under, 70.She opened her day on the 16th hole with a birdie as she rolled in a 22-foot putt from the fringe.Chen added a key up-and-down par on No. 17.Then on the par-5 18th, she hit the green in two and 2-putted for birdie to move to 2-under.Chen, who is from Sugar Land, Texas, suffered her lone bogey of the day on No. 2, but then parred 11 straight holes.She had key up-and-down pars on No. 6 and No. 8 during the stretch.Chen turned in her last birdie of the day on the 152-yard, par-3 No. 14 as she hit her 7-iron to three feet.
Senior Phoebe Brinker closed strong with a 1-over, 73, which could have been much lower as she just missed some chances.After a slow start with a 3-over score during her first five holes, Brinker went on to play the final 13 holes at 1-under-par.Brinker, who hails from Wilmington, Del., registered three birdies on the day – on No. 1 she sank a 20-foot putt, she stuck her 50-degree wedge from 105 yards on No. 6 and she rolled in a 10-foot putt on No. 13.Brinker hit 11 fairways, 12 greens and had 30 putts on the day.
Junior Rylie Heflin also had a slow start, but finished strong on Tuesday.She was 3-over-par during her first five holes, but closed at 1-under over her final 13 holes to finish with a 74.Heflin, who is from Avondale, Pa., notched a sand save on No. 9 and then collected back-to-back birdies on No. 10 and No. 11.She hit her gap wedge from 105 yards on No. 10 to 15 feet for birdie and then hit her 8-iron from 135 yards with the wind in her face to 15 feet on No. 11.Helfin finished the day hitting 12 greens, 10 fairways and had 32 putts.

Notes

Emma McMyler hit 15 greens, 11 fairways and rolled 31 putts on the day. With her finish on Tuesday, she placed tied for 26th with a 219.
Katie Li now owns seven rounds of even or under par on the season and her five birdies on the day equaled a season best. She hit 14 greens, 11 fairways and had 29 putts.
Anne Chen posted 15 greens, 12 fairways and 30 putts in her final round. Her 2-under-par score on par-3 holes ranked tied for second among the field.
Maisie Filler of Florida went wire-to-wire to win the individual title with a 9-under, 207.
LSU shot 11-under in the final round to claim the team title with a 14-under, 850.As a team, the Blue Devils shot rounds of 295, 312 and 281 to finish with an 888, which tied for 13th.
Duke's final round of 281 was tied for the third-best of the season for the Blue Devils.
The Blue Devils entered the week with a 54-under-par score on par-5 holes on the season, but shot 12-over for the week on those holes.

Quote

"The first day wasn't good for us, but with two days left there was a chance for recovery.Yesterday we were way off. We did not handle the wind and rain well.Today was solid, but one round could only accomplish so much.We'll prepare for the Darius Rucker Intercollegiate, where the wind will likely blow again." – Duke head coach Dan Brooks

What is Next

Duke will next travel to Hilton Head, S.C., for the Darius Rucker Intercollegiate March 4-6.The tournament will be held at the Long Cove Club.

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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