Duke Women's Golf in NCAA Finals

[sagegrouse]

One of Duke's two most successful sports teams is the women's golf Blue Devils, winner of six NCAA championships. The Blue Devils are playing in the NCAA finals in Eugene, Oregon, but have a lot of work to do, standing tied for 21st in the 24-team field. Virginia Elena Carter is tied for third in the individual standings at -3. Third-ranked Leona Maguire is at even par 72, but the other players trail badly, with Sandy Choi at 78, Celine Boutier at 80 and Gurbani Singh last in the field at 81.

But there's time to make up ground, as the women's golf finals is a marathon -- seventy-two holes of medal play, finishing up Monday (Golf Channel at 6:30PM ET). The top eight teams then "duke" it out in match play to determine the winner: quarters and semis on Tuesday and the finals on Wednesday, all carried by the Golf Channel.

Oklahoma State is in the lead at -4. Duke, at +11, is six shots out of eighth place, which would qualify for the playoffs. We need to make up some ground and do it today.

Go Duke!

[BD80]

... Third-ranked Leona Maguire is at even par 72, ...

Where's Lisa?

[sagegrouse]

Where's Lisa?

Leona Maguire's twin, Lisa, is on the seven-person team, but not in the five-person lineup at Eugene. Senior Yi Xiao is also sitting out.

As most of you know, the entire Duke women's team hails from overseas: France, Italy, South Korea, Ireland, Ireland, India and China.

[sagegrouse]

Duke improved by 16 strokes today, going from +11 on Friday to -5 on Saturday, vaulting up the standings from T-21 to, as of now, tied for tenth. Duke played the morning round, and afternoon round is just underway.

Our own Virginia Elena Carta is atop the leader board at -7, after a 68 today. Leona Maguire is at -2 and tied for 9th. Positions will change as the afternoon round proceeds.

A shout out to Gulbani Singh, who had a tournament-worst 83 yesterday, but rebounded with a 74 today +2. Sandy Choi was -1, and Celine Boutier shot a 77. Best four-out-of-five rounds count for each team.

Southern California has a five-shot lead at the moment at -7, but the important thing is to finish in the top eight and get into the match play quarterfinals.

[grossbus]

Thanks for the updates sage.

[MCFinARL]

Duke finishes the day in a three way tie for ninth, with the teams from third through ninth fairly closely bunched. Virginia Elena Carta is now in third, two strokes back.

Let's hope for a strong round tomorrow.

[awhom111]

The teams higher up the standings tee off first on Sunday so Duke is set for an 8:36 start to the day locally here out West.

Besides being a stroke back of 8th place, we are now 7 strokes up on 16th place. The last 9 teams are eliminated after tomorrow and only the top 15 plus some individuals will play on Monday. It is quite a crowd in the middle with 3rd at +1 and 12th at +7.

[sagegrouse]

First the good news: through the first few holes on Sunday, Duke is -2 and the only team under par, sitting in fifth position.

However, we began with two (TWO) double bogies by Celine and Leona.

More to the point, Celine is out of it today, sitting at six-over after seven holes. The other four women are on their own, which ups the pressure. On the other hand, they have seen pressure before, and I am sure they will scoff at it.

Kindly,
Sage
'Six-over after seven holes? Not good for me, but not terrible either'

[arnie]

First the good news: through the first few holes on Sunday, Duke is -2 and the only team under par, sitting in fifth position.

However, we began with two (TWO) double bogies by Celine and Leona.

More to the point, Celine is out of it today, sitting at six-over after seven holes. The other four women are on their own, which ups the pressure. On the other hand, they have seen pressure before, and I am sure they will scoff at it.

Kindly,
Sage
'Six-over after seven holes? Not good for me, but not terrible either'

Duke tied for 2nd only 2 strokes behind USC. By far the best 2nd/3rd rounds in the field. Didn't realize this team could win another championship - N&O featured a UNC golfer last week, didn't mention Duke in the field.

[sagegrouse]

Heroic performance! What do I mean?

1. An eight-under par 280 today, five strokes better than any of the top twelve teams.
2. Moved all the way up to a tie for second place, starting the day at a tie for tenth and beginning the tournament in a tie for 21st.
3. Virginia shot a six-under 66 and now leads the entire field by six strokes. (Half the field is still on the course, playing an afternoon round.) What a performance by our freshman from Italy!
4. Eight-under despite a meltdown performance by Celine. She was never a factor and finished with a 12-over 84. The other women KNEW it was up to them.
5. How about this? Leona made one double bogey and Gurbani made two – in all three cases they were followed up with birdies. Clutch!

Oh, and by the way, we made up 11 strokes on tournament leader Southern California. Duke is tied with UCLA and trails USC by two shots.

[sagegrouse]

In other Sunday action, several ACC teams are still in play. The cut-down today is to 15 teams, which go to the fourth and final stroke-play round tomorrow. As of this moment, Virginia sits ninth and UNC and FSU are tied for 13th. All three teams are about halfway through their Sunday round.

Tomorrow the prize is to finish in the top eight and qualify for the quarterfinals Tuesday. The Monday finish also crowns the individual champion. Go, Virginia Elena Carta!

Here's the TV schedule on the Golf Channel:

4th round Monday at 7PM ET
Quarterfinals Tuesday at 4PM
Semis Tuesday at 6:30 PM
Finals on Wednesday (not on my TV schedule but probably Wed. evening)

[SoCalDukeFan]

Heroic performance! What do I mean?

1. An eight-under par 280 today, five strokes better than any of the top twelve teams.
2. Moved all the way up to a tie for second place, starting the day at a tie for tenth and beginning the tournament in a tie for 21st.
3. Virginia shot a six-under 66 and now leads the entire field by six strokes. (Half the field is still on the course, playing an afternoon round.) What a performance by our freshman from Italy!
4. Eight-under despite a meltdown performance by Celine. She was never a factor and finished with a 12-over 84. The other women KNEW it was up to them.
5. How about this? Leona made one double bogey and Gurbani made two – in all three cases they were followed up with birdies. Clutch!

Oh, and by the way, we made up 11 strokes on tournament leader Southern California. Duke is tied with UCLA and trails USC by two shots.

It was an heroic performance. With Celine way off her game Duke was essentially playing 4 handed, and they knew it.

Love this team!!!

SoCal

[mdj]

with no knowledge of the tourney thus far I just read this thread tip to bottom. It was quite the page turner . I'm looking forward to watching the action tomorrow night. GO DUKE!!

[SoCalDukeFan]

with no knowledge of the tourney thus far I just read this thread tip to bottom. It was quite the page turner . I'm looking forward to watching the action tomorrow night. GO DUKE!!

Flor those of you who do not know college golf:

Most tournaments are 5 player teams, each day the best four scores count. When one player is having a bad day, the pressure is on the other 4.

The NCAA tournament starts with 24 teams. After 3 rounds it cuts to 15, then after four rounds cut to 8. The 8 then have 3 rounds of match play, a la elite 8 in NCAA basketball.

There is a team medal champion (kinda like the ACC regular season champ) after 4 rounds. The national champ is the winner of the match plays. The medal champion has never the win the match play in either men or women's. This is only the 2nd year for this format for the women, men's has had it a little longer.

There is an individual champ after the four rounds.

Right now Duke is tied for 2nd after 3 rounds, 2 shots off the lead. Duke frosh Virginia Elena Carta is the individual leader by 6 shots.

Golf Channel will cover the tournament starting tomorrow at 7 eastern time. Coverage also on Tuesday and Wednesday. Some coverage tomorrow at 3 on Golf Central.

These ladies are great representatives of Duke in all aspects. Generally excellent students, excellent golfers, and excellent people.

SoCal

[awhom111]

Heroic performance! What do I mean?

1. An eight-under par 280 today, five strokes better than any of the top twelve teams.
2. Moved all the way up to a tie for second place, starting the day at a tie for tenth and beginning the tournament in a tie for 21st.
3. Virginia shot a six-under 66 and now leads the entire field by six strokes. (Half the field is still on the course, playing an afternoon round.) What a performance by our freshman from Italy!
4. Eight-under despite a meltdown performance by Celine. She was never a factor and finished with a 12-over 84. The other women KNEW it was up to them.
5. How about this? Leona made one double bogey and Gurbani made two – in all three cases they were followed up with birdies. Clutch!

Oh, and by the way, we made up 11 strokes on tournament leader Southern California. Duke is tied with UCLA and trails USC by two shots.

In a pretty bizarre development, Duke has the player at both the top and bottom of the leaderboard right now. With as much experience as Celine has, I would think that she will figure out a way to get back on track and end her career on a strong note. Overall, we have so much talent and experience and coaching that I always feel good in these situations.

Duke is also the only non-Pac 12 team in the top six. It would not be unreasonble for six of the eight match play teams to be from the Pac 12.

[budwom]

Flor those of you who do not know college golf:

Most tournaments are 5 player teams, each day the best four scores count. When one player is having a bad day, the pressure is on the other 4.

The NCAA tournament starts with 24 teams. After 3 rounds it cuts to 15, then after four rounds cut to 8. The 8 then have 3 rounds of match play, a la elite 8 in NCAA basketball.

There is a team medal champion (kinda like the ACC regular season champ) after 4 rounds. The national champ is the winner of the match plays. The medal champion has never the win the match play in either men or women's. This is only the 2nd year for this format for the women, men's has had it a little longer.

There is an individual champ after the four rounds.

Right now Duke is tied for 2nd after 3 rounds, 2 shots off the lead. Duke frosh Virginia Elena Carta is the individual leader by 6 shots.

Golf Channel will cover the tournament starting tomorrow at 7 eastern time. Coverage also on Tuesday and Wednesday. Some coverage tomorrow at 3 on Golf Central.

These ladies are great representatives of Duke in all aspects. Generally excellent students, excellent golfers, and excellent people.

SoCal

Nice summary. Magna Carta?

[sagegrouse]

Here are the pairings for today (Monday) and the final medal play round.

Duke, UCLA, and USC -- the top three teams -- are playing threesomes beginning at 1:10 PDT, which will be 4:10 EDT.

Players will tee off in reverse order of scores:

Duke (T2, -2)
1:10 - Celine Boutier (132, +25)
1:20 - Gurbani Singh (T106, +13)
1:30 - Sandy Choi (T45, +4)
1:40 - Leona Maguire (T10, -3)
1:50 - Virginia Elena Carta (1, -13)

TV time on the Golf Channel (DirecTV 218) is shown as 7:00 PM EDT. I dunno if this will be live or tape-delayed (or a mix). In a four-hour round, Celine should be finishing about the time the telecast starts.

AWhom pointed out that Duke had the "bookends" in the field after three rounds -- #1 and #132 (last). I am pulling for everyone today but would really like to see the redoubtable Celine Boutier come through strong. Celine was not only a first-team All-American in 2015, but she won the Ladies' British Amateur last summer. This year Celine has had some good results, winning the LSU Classic in March and placing 4th at the Landfall Tradition in October, but she struggle her last three outings, including at the ACC's (#40) and the NCAA Regionals (#68). Go, Celine!!

Kindly,
Sage Grouse

1:10 - Celine Boutier
1:20 - Gurbani Singh
1:30 - Sandy Choi
1:40 - Leona Maguire

[budwom]

so taking the info from SoCal's post, even if we win today (very possible) that's not the real championship...that's determined in
match play tomorrow, right?

[sagegrouse]

so taking the info from SoCal's post, even if we win today (very possible) that's not the real championship...that's determined in
match play tomorrow, right?

You got it! If Virginia Elena Carta maintains her lead, she is the women's individual champion. Past Duke individual winners include Candy Hanneman in 2001, Virada Nirapathpongporn ("Oui") in 2002 and Anna Grzebian in 2005. I suppose there is a trophy for the team finishing medal play in first place, but the real rewards come in match play.

Otherwise, the top eight teams start play tomorrow (two elimination rounds) with the finals on Wednesday. As in NCAA hoops, a really "good seed" is a really good idea. The other top teams, USC and UCLA, are ranked #2 and #3 in the team rankings. (Duke is #5.)

Down the standings, #1 Alabama, which started the tournament even worse than Duke, in 23rd place after Day 1 and 21st after Day 2, rallied yesterday to make the field of 15 playing today. The Tide lies nine strokes out of the top eight, but a lot can happen quickly in a team golf tournament.

Duke, at -2, is 11 strokes clear of the teams tied for 8th, Virginia and Arizona. We really want Duke, however, to continue the fabulous momentum shown Saturday and Sunday.

[burnspbesq]

so taking the info from SoCal's post, even if we win today (very possible) that's not the real championship...that's determined in
match play tomorrow, right?

Tomorrow and Wednesday, I think. Match play format can be a snooze, or it can be ridiculously exciting.