Three Blue Devils Shoot Under-Par to Open ANWA

AUGUSTA, Ga. – The trio of Andie Smith, Avery McCrery and Emma McMyler shot under-par rounds Wednesday as the Blue Devils opened action at the Augusta National Women's Amateur (ANWA).

The first 36 holes are being contested at the Champions Retreat Golf Club with the top 30 golfers following Thursday's round advancing to Saturday's final day at the Augusta National Golf Club.

Smith fired a bogey-free 3-under-par, 69, Wednesday and is 10th overall, while McMyler carded a 2-under, 70, to rank tied for 13th and McCrery added a 1-under, 71, which is tied for 23rd. Duke's Phoebe Brinker signed for a 75 and Katie Li a 77 on day one.

HOW IT HAPPENED

All five Blue Devils opened play on the back nine Wednesday in round one.
Andie Smith, a junior native of Hobe Sound, Fla., opened her day with five straight pars, before registering her first birdie on the par-4 No. 15 to get to 1-under. After making the turn with a 1-under, 35, Smith registered her second birdie on No. 2 and then moved to 3-under with a birdie on No. 6. She went on to par her final three holes to finish with a 69 in her debut at the ANWA.
Seeing action in her second ANWA, Emma McMyler suffered a bogey on the first hole, but came back on No. 13 to collect her first birdie of the morning to return to even.After a bogey on No. 14, she McMyler returned to even with a birdie on No. 17.McMyler, a Duke graduate from San Antonio, Texas, made the turn with an even-par, 36.On the final nine, McMyler collected a pair of birdies on No. 4 and No. 9 as she went bogey-free to finish with a 2-under, 70.She played her final 13 holes at 3-under-par for the day.
In her debut, Duke incoming freshman Avery McCrery carded a 1-under, 71.After three pars to open her morning, McCrery suffered her lone bogey on No. 13.She went on to play her final 14 holes at 2-under-par.McCrery, a product of Wilmington, Del., collected back-to-back birdies on No. 6 and No. 7, while just missing a birdie on the final hole to finish with a 71.
Seeing action in her fourth ANWA, Phoebe Brinker held a 2-over, 38, in her opening nine holes.She dropped to 4-over after a double-bogey on No. 3, but was able to get a shot back on the par-4 fifth hole and just missed other birdies coming in to finish with a 75.Brinker, a 2024 Duke graduate, hit her 8-iron to nine feet for birdie on No. 5.
Sophomore Katie Li opened her day with a bogey, but then had a nice up-and-down for par on No. 11.After a bogey on No. 13, Li collected her lone birdie of the day on the 15th hole, before making the turn with a 2-over, 38.A native of Basking Ridge, N.J., Li shot a 3-over, 39, on the final nine to finish with a 77 in her debut at the ANWA.

NOTES

A total of 29 golfers shot under par in round one.
Stanford's Megha Ganne leads the field, after firing a tournament-record 9-under, 63, in the opening round.
Duke's five golfers competing this week is the second-most by a golf program in the event.
Both Emma McMyler and Avery McCrery will celebrate birthdays Thursday as they play in the second round.

QUOTES

"It was a lot of patience out there. Just appreciating the moment and the stage that we're on and not stressing myself out too much. But like I said, just enjoying the round, enjoying the time out here on this course. I have a local caddie, so we had fun out there." – Duke junior Andie Smith
"I would say the first couple holes was definitely adjusting to the nerves of playing in this event for the first time. But I just remembered to stay patient and know that it's going to come in due time.So, when I got to roll that birdie in, I settled in with my nerves. It was good from there on out."– Duke junior Andie Smith
"It was a grind, for sure. I didn't start out with my best. I don't think I had a putt for par inside three feet in the first three holes. So, that was something I wanted to try and achieve in the next 16 or whatever holes I had left. It was just a big grind. I was hitting greens today, but I wasn't necessarily hitting them close. These greens are really fast, so it's hard to get it close by putting. Then on the back the last sort of six holes, something just kind of clicked. I was hitting it a little closer. I was reading the greens better. I had a 360 lip-in on eight, which was a little nerve wracking, to say the least. But yeah, it was just a grind to keep trying, keep going and just try and do my best every single shot."– Duke incoming freshman Avery McCrery
"Just played steady golf, especially on the back nine.Hit a lot of fairways, hit a lot of greens and gave myself some good looks. And, yeah, had a rough start, just kind of got unlucky on the first hole, but after that, just played steady throughout the rest of the round.I rolled in a couple good putts towards the end of the end of my first nine, so that was nice and kind of kept the momentum going into the into the back nine."– Duke graduate Emma McMyler

WHAT IS NEXT

In the second round, Katie Li opens things up with an 8 a.m., tee time with Emma McMyler (8:12 a.m.), Andie Smith (8:35 a.m.), Avery McCrery (9:21 a.m.) and Phoebe Brinker (9:32 a.m.) rounding out the Blue Devils.