Chen, Blue Devils Start Strong, Lead NCAA Regional

Monday, May 6

Cle Elum, Wash.

Duke University

NCAA Regional Championship

Photo by: Kelsey Groff / Duke Athletics

Chen, Blue Devils Start Strong, Lead NCAA Regional

5/6/2024 8:15:00 PM | Women's Golf

Scoring Photo Gallery Brooks Interview Chen Interview

CLE ELUM, Wash. – The second-seeded Duke women's golf program featured a strong start Monday at the NCAA Cle Elum Regional as the Blue Devils carded a 6-under-par, 282, and hold the team lead with 36 holes remaining at the Tumble Creek Club in Cle Elum, Wash.

Duke senior Anne Chen led the way for the Blue Devils as she fired a 5-under, 67, and leads the field by one stroke. As the Blue Devils made the turn and early on the back nine, Duke fell down the leaderboard and were 4-over as a team. Duke caught fire and rolled in 14 birdies over the final seven holes to roar into the lead.

All five Blue Devils are in the top-22 of the individual leaderboard, including three in the top 10 – Chen (1, 67), Phoebe Brinker (T5, 70) and Andie Smith (T10, 72).

In the team standings, Duke leads with a 6-under, 282, followed by Stanford (284), Arizona State (288), Virginia (289), Long Beach State (292), Kansas (294) and San Jose State (298).

How It Happened

After an early bogey on No. 2, Anne Chen was solid the rest of her round with six birdies, including one on each of the five par-5 holes.She got things started on No. 4 as she hit her sand wedge from 100 yards to four feet for birdie.Chen, a product of Sugar Land, Texas, rolled in a 6-footer for birdie on No. 8 to make the turn at 1-under, 35.On the back nine, she reeled off four birdies over a span of seven holes.Chen hit her 60-degree wedge from 79 yards on No. 12 to six feet for birdie and then drained a 4-footer for birdie on No. 14.She connected on a 16-foot birdie on No. 15 and then hit her second shot just short of the green on No. 18 and got up-and-down for birdie to close her round.Chen hit 11 fairways, 12 greens and had a career-best 24 putts.
Senior Phoebe Brinker turned in a 2-under, 70, in the first round, which is her second-lowest score in NCAA Regional action over her career.After opening at 1-over-par through 10 holes, Brinker closed strong with birdies on No. 14, No. 15 and No. 17 to finish at 2-under.A native of Wilmington, Del., Brinker parred the first seven holes before collecting her first birdie on the par-5 eighth hole as she chipped to four feet and made the putt to get to 1-under.After back-to-back bogeys on No. 9 and No. 10, she parred three straight and then hit the green in two on both the 14th and 15th holes and 2-putted for birdie.Brinker rolled in a 30-footer for birdie on the 169-yard, par-3 17th for her fourth birdie of the day.She hit 13 greens, 12 fairways and had 32 putts.
After dealing with a slow start in which she bogeyed three out of her first four holes, sophomore Andie Smith settled down and parred nine straight.She headed into the final five holes at 3-over, but got things turned around quickly.Smith, who is from Hobe Sound, Fla., drained a 5-footer for birdie on No. 14 and then hit her 8-iron from 138 yards on the 362-yard, par-4 No. 16 to 15 feet for birdie.She closed play by collecting an impressive up-and-down birdie on 18 from short of the green to finish with an even-par, 72.Smith hit 14 greens, 13 fairways and had 32 putts on the day along with three up-and-downs.
Freshman Katie Li opened play with four pars, before hitting her gap wedge from 97 yards to nine feet for birdie on the 380-yard, par-4 fifth hole.She then went through a rough patch where she had bogeys on No. 9, No. 11 and No. 12 to fall back to 2-over-par.Li, who hails from Basking Ridge, N.J., went on to play her final six holes at 1-under-par.She had 115 yards in on No. 16 and hit a low nine against the wind to 13 feet for birdie to get a stroke back.Li was on in two on No. 18, but had a long putt and ended up with a par to close with a 73.She hit 14 greens, 12 fairways and had 34 putts.
Seeing action in her fourth regional and first with the Blue Devils, graduate student Emma Jackson posted a 2-over, 74.She had one of Duke's first birdies of the day as she rolled in a 15-footer on No. 4, but had to scramble for most of the front nine as she shot 4-over, 40.On the back, McMyler had a key sand save from 12 feet for par on No. 11 and then registered back-to-back birdies on No. 14 and No. 15.She 2-putted for birdie on the 14th and then connected on a 7-footer for birdie on the 15th.McMyler added a bogey on No. 17.A product of San Antonio, Texas, McMyler 2-putted for birdie on No. 18 to close the day shooting 2-under over her final nine holes.

Notes

Duke's 6-under-par, 282, is the seventh-lowest 18-hole score on a par-72 course in Duke history at a NCAA Regional.It is also the lowest in the first round by the Blue Devils.
The Blue Devils' round of 282 is the lowest 18-hole score in NCAA Regional play by Duke since the Blue Devils shot 9-under, 279, in 2018.
Duke collected 14 birdies over the final seven holes and went from 4-over to 6-under to finish the round and hold the team lead.
Anne Chen's 5-under, 67, is tied for the fourth-lowest 18-hole score on a par-72 course in Duke history at a NCAA Regional. It is tied for second-lowest in a first round.
The 5-under, 67, by Chen is a career low in NCAA Regional action and the first time she has shot in the 60s in NCAA play.
Chen registered her 11th career round in the 60s and 34th even or under par ledger.She now owns 10 even or under par scores as a senior and four rounds in the 60s.
Chen's 24 putts are the fewest by a Blue Devil since Jaravee Boonchant collected 24 putts at the Landfall Tradition in 2017.
Chen was tied for the individual lead in par-4 scoring (1-under) and par-5 scoring (5-under). Her six birdies led the field.
Phoebe Brinker posted four birdies on Monday and now owns 323 over her Duke career to move into ninth place on Duke's all-time charts passing Laetitia Beck (322).
Andie Smith birdied three out of her last five holes to finish at even-par, 72. It marked her 15th round of even or under par this season. It is her second straight round of even or under par in NCAA Regional play as she shot 69 in the final round last year in her home state of Florida.
Duke has shot 7-under (ACC Championship final round) and 6-under (NCAA Regional first round) in its last two outings.
The Blue Devils shot a team-best 13-under-par on the par-5 holes in the first round as well as a team-best 4-over-par on the par-4 holes.
Duke's 19 birdies were a team best.
Chen leads the individual action by one stroke over Stanford's Paula Martin Sampedro (68) and Kansas' Lily Hirst (68).

Notes

"I'm proud of them. I saw some excellent play. They seemed really calm in the wind and that's something we've been working towards. They've gotten better and better. Here we are in very windy conditions and they're handling it well." -- Duke head coach Dan Brooks on the back nine charge

"That's what you're going to get when you put a regional championship in the Cascade Mountains this time of year.We're handling it well. You just have to be patient and resilient."-- Duke head coach Dan Brooks on the course conditions seeing wind, rain, etc.

"Today I was able to make a lot of ups and downs when I missed the greens and putting seemed to be really good today as well." -- Duke senior Anne Chen

"Definitely a battle that's for sure. You have to be able to adapt and be flexible on the golf course, especially when a gust of wind comes up and you have to switch to two clubs more or two clubs less. So, just being able to adapt really well helped a lot."-- Duke senior Anne Chen on the conditions in round one

What is Next

Duke will open the second round on Tuesday beginning at 12 p.m. (ET) and 9 a.m., local along with Stanford and Arizona State.The top five teams following Wednesday's round advance to the NCAA Championship.

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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Duke Results
- 1 Anne Chen Duke 67 -5
- T5 Phoebe Brinker Duke 70 -2
- T10 Andie Smith Duke 72 E
- T16 Katie Li Duke 73 +1
- T22 Emma McMyler Duke 74 +2

1 Team Scores
1 Duke 282 -6
2 Stanford 284 -4
3 Arizona State 288 E
4 Virginia 289 +1
5 Long Beach State 292 +4
6 Kansas 294 +6
7 San Jose State 298 +10
8 Sacramento State 300 +12
9 Washington 302 +14
10 Alabama 303 +15
11 Virginia Tech 308 +20
12 Seattle 310 +22

Start Finish Player Team Scores
- 1 Anne Chen Duke 67 -5
- T2 Paula Martin Sampedro Stanford 68 -4
- T2 Lily Hirst Kansas 68 -4
- 4 Celeste Valinho Virginia 69 -3
- T5 Phoebe Brinker Duke 70 -2
- T5 Kelly Xu Stanford 70 -2
- T5 Beth Coulter Arizona State 70 -2
- T5 Andee Avery Long Beach State 70 -2
- T5 Kelli Ann Strand * Nebraska 70 -2
- T10 Rachel Heck Stanford 72 E
- T10 Ashley Menne Arizona State 72 E
- T10 Amanda Sambach Virginia 72 E
- T10 Andie Smith Duke 72 E
- T10 Emily Mathews Virginia Tech 72 E
- T10 Jasmine Leovao Long Beach State 72 E
- T16 Katie Li Duke 73 +1
- T16 Paula Schulz-Hanssen Arizona State 73 +1
- T16 Grace Summerhays Arizona State 73 +1
- T16 Amy DeKock Kansas 73 +1
- T16 Angelina Kim Long Beach State 73 +1
- T16 Jennifer Koga Sacramento State 73 +1
- T22 Megan Propeck Virginia 74 +2
- T22 Louisa Carlbom San Jose State 74 +2
- T22 Lucia Lopez-Ortega San Jose State 74 +2
- T22 Emma McMyler Duke 74 +2
- T22 Megha Ganne Stanford 74 +2
- T22 Jaclyn LaHa Virginia 74 +2
- T22 Kajsa Arwefjall San Jose State 74 +2
- T22 Annika Cruz Seattle 74 +2
- T30 Carmen Lim Washington 75 +3
- T30 Patience Rhodes Arizona State 75 +3
- T30 Stefanie Deng Washington 75 +3
- T30 Ashley Koga Sacramento State 75 +3
- T30 Mattison Frick Alabama 75 +3
- T30 Morgan Ketchum Virginia Tech 75 +3
- T30 Sarah Edwards Alabama 75 +3
- T30 Sneha Sharan Sacramento State 75 +3
- T38 Sadie Englemann Stanford 76 +4
- T38 Rebecca Gyllner San Jose State 76 +4
- T38 Vivian Lu Washington 76 +4
- T38 Camille Boyd Washington 76 +4
- T38 Lauren Clark Kansas 76 +4
- T38 Elina Sinz Alabama 76 +4
- T44 Jamie Hsieh Washington 77 +5
- T44 Caitlin Maurice Sacramento State 77 +5
- T44 Madison Le Long Beach State 77 +5
- T44 Kynadie Adams Alabama 77 +5
- T44 Harriet Lockley Alabama 77 +5
- T44 Jordan Rothman Kansas 77 +5
- T44 Sabrina Iqbal * Colorado 77 +5
- T51 Rebecca Skoler Virginia 78 +6
- T51 Shayna Lu Seattle 78 +6
- T51 Janae Leovao Long Beach State 78 +6
- T51 Rivekka Jumagulova Seattle 78 +6
- T51 Riana Mission * San Francisco 78 +6
- T51 Morgan Miller * Colorado 78 +6
- T57 Moa Andersson San Jose State 79 +7
- T57 Valentine Delon Virginia Tech 79 +7
- T57 Emma Bunch * New Mexico State 79 +7
- T60 Aaryanna Morris Seattle 80 +8
- T60 Madelyn Gamble * Washington State 80 +8
- 62 Ella Kraft Sacramento State 81 +9
- T63 Tsara Ralamboarison Seattle 82 +10
- T63 Becca DiNunzio Virginia Tech 82 +10
- 65 Hanna Hawks Kansas 83 +11
- 66 Symone Henriques Virginia Tech 85 +13