Holy, moly! Look at the Women Golfers

[sagegrouse]

:) After languishing in sixth place on the first day, a slew of birdies in the early holes today has pushed the Blue Devils into a tie for the lead.

See details at
http://www.golfstatresults.com//public/leaderboards/team/static/tdetail7_973.html

Sage Grouse

[sagegrouse]

With a score so far of -5 vs +2 for first day leader USC.

Sage Grouse

[sagegrouse]

After the morning round (1/2 the teams just about finished), Duke is five strokes ahead (at +11) of UCLA (playing holes 14-17) and 12 strokes ahead of anyone else playing the AM round.

UNC and Louisville are just starting and began the day at +9. If they match their first round scores, they would trail Duke by seven strokes.

Duke gained 19 strokes on first round leader USC. The teams were playing in the same foursomes, so the undercurrent must have been interesting.

Duke was incredibly consistent today, posting rounds of -2, E, E, +1, +1.

Amanda Blumenhurst, who is currently tied for the individual lead, had the WORST score on the Duke team today going into the 18th hole, which she then birdied.

I don't know if anyone is reading these posts....

Sage Grouse

[LetItBD08]

I don't know if anyone is reading these posts....

I sure am. Thanks for keeping us updated and for the link!

[ice-9]

Sweet -- go women's golf!

[DevilAlumna]

Looks like Vanderbilt's making a run -- since Sagegrouse's last post, they've moved from 6th into 2nd, and are on holes 5-8 at only 5 shots back. Guess it's a good day on the course for making some birdies and pars.

Now I'm a Duke-first sort of gal, but would love to see my Commodore ladies come in a close second!

Oh, and too bad for the teams (including the 'heel's) still on the course -- the weather notice on the site currently reads: The sun has come out again with some high clouds, but the winds have picked up significantly as compared to earlier this morning.

[juise]

My second favorite part of today's results (other than Duke moving into first) would have to be seeing UNC at +12 for the day with golfers on holes 6-8. Love it.

[phaedrus]

are there 2 rounds or 4?

[sagegrouse]

The Lady Tarheels are +17 halfway through the round.... but it is worse than that! Their five players are a collective +27 after only 44 holes. (Hey, that equates to an eleven handicap, which is better than mine.) Three different players have made triple bogeys, so, by definition, at least two of those will count in their score for the tourney.

This is a four-day tournament. The regionals were three-day events, IIRC. So, there are lots of opportunities for big swings in the scores before the champion is crowned.

Sage Grouse
'It would really be great to win three NCAAs in a row'

[Indoor66]

Holy Niblick, Putterman!!!! :)

[SoCalDukeFan]

It looks like Duke will finish Day 2 in the lead by 7 shots over UCLA.

Individually the Duke women are tied for 1st, 12th, 15th, and 2 at 23rd.

Go Duke

SoCal

[Tom B.]

The Duke women jumped into the lead today, and currently are ahead of second-place UCLA by seven strokes. There are a few teams left on the course, but it looks like the Duke women will be the only team to post a score under par. They were -1 for the day, and are +11 overall. Anna Grzebein recovered from shooting +8 yesterday to shoot -2 today, and two other Duke golfers shot even par. Nobody for Duke shot worse than +1 today. No teams were under par yesterday, so they're the only team so far to post a round under par in the whole tournament.

Southern California led at the end of yesterday's round with a score of +7, and UNC and Louisville were tied for second at +9. None of them shot terribly well today, though. Southern Cal finished +18 for the day and is +25 overall, good for fifth place. Louisville also finished +18 for the day for the day and is +27 overall, and is now in seventh place. And the Heels are still on the course at +36 for the day (ouch) and +45 overall, dropping them to 20th place.

Other good rounds were turned in today by UCLA (+3) and Purdue (+6) -- not coincidentally, those two teams are now second and third in the tournament. Arizona State (the #2 seed in the tournament) shot +10 and is +29 overall, tied for eighth.

You can follow the results here:

http://www.golfstatresults.com/public/leaderboards/team/static/team973.html

[juise]

I was tracking the scores throughout the afternoon. I have to admit that I'm a little disturbed by how much I enjoyed watching the progress of UNC's meltdown. It was spectacular. At this point, Duke's worst individual score is better than UNC's best. Ha. Go Duke!

[chrishoke]

Isn't this very similar to the comeback they made in the Eastern Regionals.

[hughgs]

Isn't this very similar to the comeback they made in the Eastern Regionals.

That comeback was made on the last day, much more dramatic. There is still a lot of golf to play in the NCAAs.

[duketaylor]

Yesterday I perused the scores for the opening round, noticing the Duke women had some unusally high scores. Truly, I thought they'd play much better today, which they did. I had no idea the competition would crumble like Feta. The Duke women just blitzed the field today as they threw out a 73 while many teams would've killed for a 78 and had to count an 80. In college golf you play 5 and count the 4 best scores each day. So the Duke women just crushed the field today, no other way to put it. Two more days to go. Let's GO DUKE!!! I've met the women on the team and they're worthy of our support, plus the coach is a friend of mine. I'm also trying to become the men's coach since my coach passed because of Leukemia March 30. I love Duke athletics, period. GO DUKE!!!

[sagegrouse]

Christel Boeljon of Purdue closed with three birdies in the last few holes to take the overall lead at -3. Stacy Lewis also rallied to take second at -2 (but in today's play has dropped a stroke).

Amanda is now in a tie for second. The Duke players tee off between 1:20 and 2:00 (Amanda) and are in foursomes with golfers from UCLA, Vandy and Arizona State.

Go Devils!

Sage Grouse

[sagegrouse]

Three under after holes 2-5 vs. even par for Purdue and UCLA. Everyone else in the field is over par.

[UNC was +23 for the completed round.]

Sage Grouse

[jimsumner]

Duke slowly pulling away.

Ten ahead of Purdue, eleven ahead of UCLA. Lots of golf yet to play but looking solid.

http://www.golfstatresults.com//public/leaderboards/team/static/team973.html

[chrishoke]

At the end of 3 rounds, Duke leads Purdue by 8 strokes.

[jimsumner]

Yep. UCLA in 3rd, 13 back. Nobody else close.

Duke gave back a few strokes down the stretch but I'll take an eight-stroke lead going into the final round.

[juise]

Duke's lead was as large as 12 strokes, but Christel Boeljon really kept Purdue in it. She's got a 5 stroke lead on the individual championship.

[duketaylor]

An eight shot lead is decent padding, especially with Purdue's 5th player not helping at all, so it's 4 on 5 tomorrow for the most part. What's really interesting is this, Purdue's coach is Devon Brouse, who coaches both the men's and women's team at Purdue, who was the UNC coach of the men's team when I was in school. He was also at Coach Myers' service a few weeks back and I had a chance to talk with him for a bit. I always liked him, despite his allegiance and we had a very nice visit. I still hope his team finishes 2nd, nothing personal. Good guy. GO DUKE!!!!

[SoCalDukeFan]

Is it rare to coach both?

Could Dan Brooks coach both men's and women's at Duke?

Go Duke

SoCal

[JasonEvans]

Could Dan Brooks coach both men's and women's at Duke?


Not if Duketaylor has anything to say about it ;)

Good luck, Chuck!!

-Jason

[phaedrus]

when do things get rolling today?

[davec]

Looks like the Dukies tee off starting at 1:20.

http://www.golfstatresults.com//public/tee_times/index.cfm?tournament_id=973&pagetype=static&round=3

[Bostondevil]

Purdue's coach is Devon Brouse

Wow, that takes me back, I used to babysit his kids, when I was in high school and he was still at UNC.

I babysat Randy Myers's kids too.

Makes me want Purdue to finish second.

[DevilAlumna]

Oh, poor Tar Heels look like they imploded a bit today -- +33 for the round, and not even in the clubhouse yet. :D

[duketaylor]

Is it rare to coach both teams? Yes, when he told me that I asked him how he handles it because lots of times the teams will have tourneys at the same time. He has an assistant that travels with one of the teams when that happens (I think that's what he said, not sure, but it is rare). I talked to Dan Brooks last week, the women's coach, he will remain the women's coach and be very involved in helping to interview and hire the men's coach. I know Dan well and I just want the chance to interview. Otherwise I'll be with Kroger for a long time;) Great company, IMO.

duke "gotta chase your dream" taylor

[Tom B.]

So far, the Duke golfers have completed between four and six holes of play. They're +2 on the day so far, but they're maintaining the eight-stroke lead they had at the end of yesterday's round because second place Purdue is also +2 on the day. Southern Cal and Pepperdine are having good rounds (they're -4 and -3 on the day, respectively), but barring an implosion by Duke, are probably too far back to catch up. Southern Cal is at +37 (19 strokes behind Duke) and Pepperdine is at +38.

Other than Purdue, third place UCLA is probably the only team with a realistic shot at catching Duke. They're having a good round (-2 on the day so far), and they're nine strokes behind Duke.

The website with the realtime scoreboard also has live streaming video, so you can watch the final round unfold online.

http://www.golfstatresults.com/public/leaderboards/team/static/team973.html

[jimsumner]

Duke leads UCLA by eight but the Bruins have made up five strokes and the teams are still on the front nine. A little too close for comfort.

[burnspbesq]

If one Duke player gets hot, and nobody blows up, it's over.

Alison Whitaker just eagled the par-5 8th. Maybe she'll be the one to get hot.

[burnspbesq]

Halfway through the final round, and the lead is (at least for the moment) up to nine.

The par fives have been Duke's salvation so far today. The played the two par fives on the front side in six under. This could still get very hairy down the stretch.

[adam]

A little over halfway through the final round, Duke is now up by 11 over Purdue and 13 over UCLA.

[ikiru36]

Now they're on 14-16, maintaining a 12+ stroke lead!

(UNC, btw, finishing today's round 4 strokes worse than any other team to secure 21st place out of 24 teams :0)

Go Lady Devils!!!!!!!!!!!!! Go Duke!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! GTHCGTH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[sagegrouse]

The four golfers in the money have only eight holes left to play in toto, and Duke has a 13 shot lead.

Looks loke three in a row!


Sage Grouse

[Tom B.]

Now they're on 14-16, maintaining a 12+ stroke lead!


The Duke golfers are cruising -- now up by 13 strokes over second place Purdue, and up by 14 over third place UCLA. There are only a handful of teams left on the course, and no Duke player has more than four holes left to play.



(UNC, btw, finishing today's round 4 strokes worse than any other team to secure 21st place out of 24 teams :0)


UNC was actually seeded 21st going into the Tournament, so they finished right where they were supposed to finish. They took an odd and inconsistent path to get there, though -- they were tied for second after the first round, then posted two rounds of more than 30 over par in their next three.

[CameronBlue]

You have to love how, after falling to 21 over par, but still with a comfortable 10-12 shot lead, Duke has now pulled back to even on the day at 16 over. With a 14 shot lead currently, that's called winning it going away. Bravo!

[JasonEvans]

Not only are we going to win, but we are (right now) have the lowest score of any team in the fourth round. We shot the best of any team in the 2nd round, shot the 2nd best of any team in the 3rd round, and are the leader in the 4th round.

So, we not only won the title, but we dominated in a truly impressive fashion.

As I write this, 3 of the top 8 golfers in the entire tourney are Dukies. Our 4th best golfer is #15. No other school has more than 2 golfers in the top 15 and we have 4.

We are pretty good at this sport, eh?

-Jason "I gotta run, but someone check the Director's Cup standings for me... are we having a good year?" Evans

[Clipsfan]

What I think is REALLY impressive is that if you take the 4 worst, rather than the 4 best, scores each round Duke would still be in 3rd place at 43 over. That's just sick consistency.

[Tom B.]

You have to love how, after falling to 21 over par, but still with a comfortable 10-12 shot lead, Duke has now pulled back to even on the day at 16 over. With a 14 shot lead currently, that's called winning it going away. Bravo!

It also looks like Duke will be the only team in the tournament that does not post a combined team stroke total of over 300 in any round. (They hit 300 on the nose the first day -- if not for that, they'd have four under-300 rounds).

How about Anna Grzebien -- after shooting 80 on the first day, it looks like she'll finish in the top ten (maybe the top five, if she can birdie 18). UPDATE: Soooooooo close. Anna's long birdie putt on the final green lipped out. She finishes at -2 for the day, +4 overall, and is currently tied for sixth. She could still get in the top five, though, if UCLA's Tiffany Joh (who is still on the course with two to play) drops a stroke or two.

Duke's Amanda Blumenhurst is currently fourth with two to play, and Jennie Lee is in ninth place as she plays the final hole. UPDATE: Jennie Lee chips in from off the green for a birdie on 18. Now that's going out in style.

[burnspbesq]

It's all over. Duke wins by 15, with Purdue finishing second and UCLA third.

[duketaylor]

Wow, Dan Brooks has a fifth NC!!!!! Awesome!!

[juise]

Congrats to the ladies! Although, I have to say that this accomplishment is marred a little by the fact that they only shot 81 strokes better than 20th place Carolina for the last 3 days (after being 3 behind the Heels on day 1). For shame! ;)

[TampaDuke]

Congratulations, Ladies!!

[SoCalDukeFan]

Great win ladies. 3 in a row.

Anna Grzebien leaves as a Duke grad, a member of 3 NCAA championship teams, and an individual NCAA champion. I think that is just great. And its great that she stayed for 4 years.

SoCal

[Indoor66]

Duke Golf Course = Titletown. Congratulations.

[chrishoke]

I really enjoyed following this team the whole year, but especially this week with the streaming video coverage. What a performance. Congrats, Duke women golfers!

[duketaylor]

http://www.golfstatresults.com//public/leaderboards/team/static/team_players_973.html
Women win again

[dukemomLA]

Major kudos to the Duke Women's Golf Team!!!! Awesome! Can't wait to watch these ladies rise to the top of the LPGA -- and even men's open events. Great job!! All Blue Devils applaud your efforts.

[jimsumner]

"can't wait to watch these ladies rise to the top of the LPGA -- and even men's open events."

Let's don't get carried away. The inability of former Duke golfers to win LPGA events is something of a mystery. Let's cross that bridge before we start haiving them win men's events.

Can we claim Morgan Pressel? :)