Women’s Golf Closes Strong; In Striking Distance After Day One

CARLSBAD, Calif. – The ninth-seeded Duke women's golf team shot 5-under-par over its final 12 holes Friday in the opening round of the NCAA Championship and the Blue Devils sit tied for 16th, just four shots out of seventh place, at the 6,271-yard, par-72 Omni La Costa Resort & Spa North Course in Carlsbad.

Duke carded a 3-over-par, 291, in the first round with 17 birdies. The Blue Devils were paced by freshman Avery McCrery, who carded a 1-under-par, 71, in her NCAA Championship debut. A native of Wilmington, Delaware, McCrery collected five birdies on the afternoon and played her final 13 holes at 3-under-par. Of the 156 golfers in the field, McCrery was one of only 40 golfers to shoot under par in the first round.

After 18 holes, Southern California (281), Stanford (282), Oklahoma State (283) and Iowa State (284) are at the top of the leaderboard with Megha Ganne (Stanford) and Ellie Bushnell (Oklahoma State) leading the individual action with a 4-under, 68.

HOW IT HAPPENED

Duke opened action at 12:45 p.m., local time off hole No. 10. The wind was gusting most of the afternoon and led to the Blue Devils dropping some shots over the first nine holes.
The Blue Devils featured a solid start Friday with Avery McCrery and Katie Li collecting birdies on their first hole, the 521-yard, par-5 No. 10 hole.
As a team, Duke dropped 11 shots on holes No. 13 and No. 14 with two double-bogeys, one triple-bogey and four bogeys. The four counting Blue Devils played the other 16 holes at 6-under.
McCrery kicked off her afternoon by hitting her 60-degree wedge from 35 yards to two feet for birdie on No. 10. She then dropped three shots on No. 13 and No. 14, but closed the first nine holes with birdies on No. 15 and No. 18 along with two pars. McCrery drained an 8-foot birdie on No. 15 and then sank a 45-footer for birdie on No. 18. After missing the green and suffering a bogey on No. 1, McCrery played her final eight holes at 2-under-par. She rolled in a 15-foot birdie on the 531-yard, par-5 second hole, made a great up-and-down par on No. 3 and then used her 5-iron on No. 5 from 173 yards to eight feet for birdie. She hit 14 greens, 13 fairways and had 31 putts.
Both Li and Rianne Malixi signed for rounds of 73 in the first round.
Li used her 50-degree wedge from 94 yards and stuck it to five feet for birdie to open her day on No. 10. After a pair of pars, Li dropped four shots on holes No. 13 and No. 14. Li, a product of Basking Ridge, New Jersey, regrouped and played the final 13 holes at 2-under-par to finish with a 73. This included a key up-and-down par on No. 18 as she sank a downhill 8-footer. Li went on a tear from holes No. 4-6 shooting 4-under-par. She started the stretch by hitting her pitching wedge from 124 yards to five feet for birdie and then sank a 10-footer for birdie on No. 5. Li then collected her second eagle of the season on the 470-yard, par-5 sixth. She hit her 3-wood from 209 yards and reached the green in two. Li then rolled in a 30-foot eagle putt to return to even-par for the day. She got up-and-down for par on No. 7, parred No. 8 and suffered a bogey on No. 9 as she missed the green on her approach. She had 30 putts and 11 greens on the day.
Malixi opened her round with a bogey, birdie and bogey. She then parred the next five holes, before registering another birdie on No. 18. Malixi, a native of Manila, Philippines, could not get up-and-down on the par-5 second and suffered a bogey. She got a shot back on No. 3 with a birdie as she played her final seven holes at even par. Malixi had a double-bogey on No. 6, but backed that up with a birdie on No. 7.
Graduate student Andie Smith opened her day by dropping three shots over her first five holes, but settled down to play her final 13 holes at 1-under-par to finish with a 2-over, 74. Smith, who is from Hobe Sound, Florida, registered her first birdie of the day on No. 16 as she drained a 15-foot putt. She also added back-to-back birdies on No. 5 and No. 6. Smith hit an 8-iron from 158 yards to five feet on No. 5 and then sank another five-footer on No. 6. She had a key up-and-down par on No. 7, parred No. 8 and suffered a bogey on No. 9, after missing the green.
Anna Cañado Espinal turned in a 78 in the first round as she made her NCAA debut. She notched one of only 21 birdies on hole No. 16 as she rolled in a 9-foot putt. Cañado Espinal also hit her 58-degree wedge from 39 yards on No. 6 and sank a 6-foot birdie.

NOTES

The first round played to a scoring average of 73.79.
Duke shot 3-under-par on the par-5 holes, which ranked tied for seventh.
Katie Li carded one of only three eagles on the day. She now ranks tied for sixth over her career on Duke's all-time charts with seven eagles.
The Blue Devils' 17 birdies ranked second behind Baylor (20) and Oklahoma State (20).
Avery McCrery was 3-under-par on par-5 holes, which ranked tied for first among the field.
McCrery notched her 12th round of even or under par on the year. Her five birdies matched a season best for most birdies in a round.

QUOTES

"We played a lot of great golf today, with some hiccups. The best thing I saw was our ability to bounce back after mistakes. We were mentally tough." -- Duke head coach Dan Brooks
"Just staying patient, staying focused on the next hole. It was very up and down. I think I had five birdies today, one double, and like three bogeys or something like that. So just trying to stay in the moment was really important, not let the momentum swing me, you know, too much one way or the other and just keeping focused through the whole day." -- Duke freshman Avery McCrery on what went well for her today
"The wait actually for the afternoon tee times helped me because I got to sort of settle my nerves in the morning. Just kind of sit in the room, sit with things and sort of be like, 'okay, we're going to calm down, we're going to be ready to go when the time comes.' There are always nerves for me on the first tee, but by the time we sort of got into it, it was sort of all gone, and just focusing on golf was my main thing today. So, that's what I did." -- Duke freshman Avery McCrery

WHAT IS NEXT

Duke will tee off Saturday, May 24 beginning at 10:25 a.m. (ET) in the second round along with Wake Forest and Arkansas.

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
Avery McCrery                               71 (T24, -1)
Rianne Malixi                                 73 (T60, +1)
Katie Li                                            73 (T60, +1)
Andie Smith                                    74 (T86, +2)
Anna Cañado Espinal                   78 (T135, +6)
Team                                               291 (T16, +3)