Blue Devil Women’s Golf Advances to NCAA Championship

PALM BEACH GARDENS, Fla. – The Duke women’s golf team is heading back to the NCAA Championship for the 32nd time under head coach Dan Brooks as the Blue Devils carded a 54-hole score of 875 to finish second at the Palm Beach Gardens Regional, which was being played at the 6,318-yard, par-72 PGA National Champion course.  

Duke advanced to the NCAA Championship for the 23rd time out of the last 26 years under Brooks and will compete May 19-24 at Grayhawk Golf Club in Scottsdale, Ariz.  It marked the 17th time the Blue Devils have placed in the top-2 at a NCAA Regional.

Local product Andie Smith placed fourth overall with a 1-under, 215, over the last three days and closed the regional with nine birdies and a 3-under, 69.  Smith became just the seventh Duke freshman to place in the top-4 at a NCAA Regional.  Phoebe Brinker shot 4-under-par over the final day’s round and placed tied for ninth with a 218, while Erica Shepherd was tied for 14th with a 219.  

How It Happened

•    Duke opened the final round at 9:06 a.m., off hole No. 1 and were seven strokes off the lead heading into Wednesday’s action.

•    Boosted by a 3-under, 33, on the front nine by Andie Smith, Duke was 1-over-par making the turn.  Early on the back nine, Duke took the team lead with a 6-over-par overall score.  During a span of a couple of holes where Smith, Megan Furtney and Phoebe Brinker birdied, the Blue Devils moved up the leaderboard.  Duke dropped five shots down the stretch to fall back into second place.  

•    With a 6-under-par ledger through hole No. 12, Smith took the individual lead at 4-under-par for the tournament, but was 4-over on holes 13-16 to drop back.

•    Key birdies down the stretch by Anne Chen, Brinker and Smith solidified Duke’s second-place finish.  

•    Smith was hot from the start on Wednesday as she birdied her first two holes to get in the red early.  On hole No. 1, she missed the fairway and was 130 yards away from the green.  Smith had to navigate her ball in-between trees and stuck it 20-feet from the cup.  She went on to roll in the birdie and then sank a 10-footer for birdie on No. 2.  After suffering a double-bogey on No. 4, Smith strung three straight birdies together on holes No. 6-8 as she rolled in putts from one feet, six feet and 12 feet,…