Smith Totals Top 20 Finish as Duke Closes Play in Illinois

WILMETTE, Ill. – Dealing with challenging conditions, the Duke women’s golf team closed play at the Windy City Collegiate Classic on Tuesday with three Blue Devils in the top 22 of the individual leaderboard.  Junior Andie Smith (T18), freshman Anna Cañado Espinal (T22) and freshman Carla De Troia (T22) led the Blue Devils at the Westmoreland Country Club in Wilmete, Ill. 
 
Smith, who hails from Hobe Sound, Fla., notched her ninth career top 20 finish as she rolled in seven birdies over the 54 holes of play.
 
How It Happened

• Duke once again started the round on hole No. 10.
• Sophomore Katie Li turned in a team-best round of 76 to close action on Tuesday.Li, a native of Basking Ridge, N.J., kicked off the morning with a 4-over, 40, on the opening nine holes.She registered a key up-and-down on No. 15 from a short-sided bunker.Li then hit her bunker shot to 21 feet and drained the putt for par.On the final nine holes, Li was even par with seven pars, one bogey and a birdie on No. 9.She hit a knock down 6-iron from 165 to 12 feet and sank the putt for birdie to close the day with a 76.
• After struggling out of the gate with a 6-over, 42, on the first nine, which included a 25-footer for birdie on No. 12, Andie Smith finished strong by shooting 1-under over her final nine holes to finish with a 77.She connected on two birdies on the final nine as she hit her pitching wedge to three feet for birdie on No. 6 and rolled in a 10-foot birdie on No. 8 to finish with a 77.
• Freshman Anna Cañado Espinal also shot an opening-nine 40, but settled down to close the day with a 1-over, 37, on the final nine holes.  The Barcelona, Spain product posted two birdies during that stretch on No. 2 and No. 8. 
• Fellow rookie Carla De Troia featured Duke’s best start to the day as she was dialed in early with back-to-back birdies on No. 10 and No. 11.She suffered a double-bogey on No. 12 and went on to finish the round with a 78.
• Senior Rylie Heflin closed the week with an 83 and was held without a birdie in the final round.

 
Notes

• As a team, Duke totaled rounds of 294, 299 and 308 for a three-day total of 901, which was 10th overall.Arizona State took home the team title with an 875.
• Jasmine Koo of Southern California won the individual title with a 54-hole score of 211.
• The Blue Devils played the…