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Espinal Opens Chattanooga Classic with Career-Best 68 to Lead Field
3/28/2025 5:55:00 PM | Women's Golf
OOLTEWAH, Tenn. – Duke women's golf freshman Anna Cañado Espinal carded a career-best four-under-par, 68, on Friday to open the Chattanooga Classic and holds the individual lead at the 6,180-yard, par-72 The Honors Course in Ooltewah, Tenn.
Espinal, who hails from Barcelona, Spain, turned in a career-high five birdies and leads the field by one stroke with 36 holes remaining. Only five golfers posted under-par rounds Friday.
HOW IT HAPPENED
NOTES
WHAT IS NEXT
To stay up to date with Blue Devils women's golf, follow the team on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook by searching "DukeWGOLF".
#GoDuke
Duke Results
Anna Cañado Espinal 68 (1, -4)
Katie Li 76 (T24, +4)
Andie Smith 77 (T34, +5)
Rylie Heflin 79 (T57, +7)
Carla De Troia 80 (T66, +8)
*Martina Yu 80 (T66, +8)
Espinal, who hails from Barcelona, Spain, turned in a career-high five birdies and leads the field by one stroke with 36 holes remaining. Only five golfers posted under-par rounds Friday.
HOW IT HAPPENED
- Blue Devil rookie Anna Cañado Espinal got off to a fast start in round one with back-to-back birdies on No. 2 and No. 3 to get to 2-under for the day.She parred the next nine holes and then notched birdies on No. 13, No. 14 and No. 16 to get to 5-under.Espinal suffered her lone birdie on the par-5 No. 17 and then parred the 18th to finish the day with a 4-under, 68.
- Duke sophomore Katie Li led the Blue Devils with six birdies on the day, but got into trouble on three holes with doubles-bogeys or worse.She finished the day with a 4-over, 76.Li, a native of Basking Ridge, N.J., rolled in an 18-footer for birdie on No. 1, but then bogeyed No. 3 and No. 4.After she hit her 50-degree wedge from 112 yards to eight feet, Li registered her second birdie of the day to return to even.Li dropped three shots as she closed the front nine, but opened the back nine on fire with three birdies to get back to even.She sank 12-foot birdies on No. 11 and No. 13, while hitting her pitching wedge from 120 yards to four feet for birdie on No. 14.After a double-bogey on No. 15, she got up-and-down for birdie on No. 17 and tripled No. 18 to finish with a 76.She had 29 putts on the day, while hitting 10 greens. Li enters the second round tied for 24th.
- Senior Andie Smith had a slow start to her day as she was 4-over through eight holes, before hitting her 50-degree wedge from 109 yards to a foot for birdie on No. 9.She then chipped in for birdie on No. 11 to get another shot back.Smith, who is from Hobe Sound, Fla., dropped three shots on the way in to finish with a 77.She hit 12 greens, 10 fairways and is tied for 34th overall.
- Both senior Rylie Heflin and freshman Carla De Troia signed for rounds of 79 and 80 in the first round.Seeing action as an individual, Martina Yu had an 80 as well.
NOTES
- As a team, Duke sits in a tie for fourth with a 12-over-par, 300, while North Carolina (294), Wisconsin (295) and Georgia (299) are the top three teams through 18 holes.Florida is tied with the Blue Devils.
- Round one featured a scoring average of 77.78.
- Duke's 15 birdies were tied for the team lead along with Xavier and Georgia.
- Anna Cañado Espinal carded a 3-under-par ledger on par-3 holes to lead the field in round one.
- The 68 for Espinal was her first collegiate round in the 60s and her eighth round of even or under par on the year.
- Katie Li is tied for first among the field with a 2-under score on par-5 holes. Li's six birdies ranked tied for second as well.
- Espinal holds a one stroke lead over Chantal El Chaib of Georgia, who shot a 3-under, 69.
WHAT IS NEXT
- With inclement weather expected to come in Sunday, the tournament is going to play 36 holes Saturday with a shotgun start beginning at 8:45 a.m.The Blue Devils will open on holes 5-8.
To stay up to date with Blue Devils women's golf, follow the team on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook by searching "DukeWGOLF".
#GoDuke
Duke Results
Anna Cañado Espinal 68 (1, -4)
Katie Li 76 (T24, +4)
Andie Smith 77 (T34, +5)
Rylie Heflin 79 (T57, +7)
Carla De Troia 80 (T66, +8)
*Martina Yu 80 (T66, +8)
Players Mentioned
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