All Six Blue Devil Golfers Named to All-ACC Academic Team

DURHAM – All six members of the Duke women’s golf team were named to the All-ACC Academic team for women’s golf on Tuesday, as announced by the league office.  Megan Furtney, Erica Shepherd, Phoebe Brinker, Anne Chen, Rylie Heflin and Andie Smith all received honors.  

Duke tied for the most selections along with North Carolina, Notre Dame and Virginia.  The Blue Devils’ six honorees are the most in school history.  

The trio of Brinker, Chen and Shepherd received honors for the third straight year, while Furtney, Heflin and Smith earned All-ACC Academic for the first time.  

Brinker, a Golfweek and Women’s Golf Coaches Association (WGCA) Honorable Mention All-American in 2022-23, led the Blue Devils with a 72.81 stroke average and earned All-ACC accolades.  She posted three top-5 finishes along with six top-10 placements.  

Shepherd, an All-ACC honoree as a senior, closed her Blue Devil career with a tied for 14th finish at the NCAA Championship.  She posted a 73.36 stroke average with 14 rounds of even or under par and six top-20 finishes.  Chen saw action in 10 tournaments, had two top-10 finishes and had a 74.59 stroke average.

As a rookie, Smith appeared in all 11 tournaments for Duke.  In her home state of Florida for the NCAA Regionals, she posted a season-best fourth-place ledger with rounds of 73, 73 and 69 for a 1-under-par, 215.  Her four rounds in the 60s this season ranked tied for second on the squad.  

Furtney played her best golf in the postseason as she placed tied for 15th in the ACC Championship and tied for 28th in the NCAA Regionals with three rounds of even or under par during that stretch.  In the Jackson T. Stephens Cup, Heflin posted a season-best finish as she was tied for 27th, which featured opening rounds of 72 and 74.

As a team, Duke won the Wolfpack Match Play and turned in seven top-5 finishes on the year.  The Blue Devils finished second in stroke-play at the ACC Championship, before advancing to the match play portion and placed second at the NCAA Regional.

Academic requirements for selection to the All-ACC Academic Team are a 3.0-grade point average for the previous semester and a 3.0 cumulative average during one’s academic career. In addition, student-athletes must compete in at least 50 percent of their team’s contests.

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