BATON ROUGE, LA. – The fourth-ranked Duke Blue Devils women’s golf team placed fourth overall at the Baton Rouge Regional Saturday and advanced to the NCAA Championship for the fifth straight year and 28th time in program history.
The Blue Devils registered rounds of one-under (287), and three-under (285), over the final two days to finish with a six-over-par (870) on their way to placing fourth overall at the University Club.
It marked the first time Duke has shot back-to-back red numbers in NCAA Regional play since 2007 which coincidentally also took place on the same course.
After carding nine birdies in first-round play and 11 birdies in the second round, the Blue Devils registered a season-high 23 birdies during the final round play.
All five Duke golfers posted at least three birdies on the day.
The Blue Devils placed three golfers in the top seven – the most by any team in the field – led by junior Sandy Choi who turned in rounds of 73, 69, and 71 for a season-best three-under 213 as she tied for third overall in the field.
Freshman Virginia Elena Carta posted a career-best five-under-par 67 in the final round that put her tied for seventh at one-under (215) along with sophomore Leona Maguire who matched that total with rounds of 73, 70, and 72.
“I am very proud [of how the team played the last two days],” Duke head coach Dan Brooks said per the team’s release.
“We got in a hole after day one, and the pressure can build at regionals. I think we played our best golf as we went along and that says a lot about this team. We actually had 21 birdies today, and everybody had at least three birdies. I think they freed up and played their best golf on the last day when we needed it the most.”
Florida and South Carolina tied for first with identical 54-hole totals of 857, followed by Washington (863), Duke (870), Oregon (882) and Brigham Young (884) as they advanced to the NCAA Championship that will take place May 20-25 at the Eugene Country Club in Eugene, Ore.
Duke will be appearing in the national tournament for the 21st time out of the last 22 years and in Brooks’ home state as he hails from Baker City, Ore., and attended Oregon State.
“I am really looking forward to that [traveling to Oregon for the NCAA Championship],” Brooks said.
“Eugene Country Club, we have some great memories there where Amanda [Blumenherst] won the U.S. Amateur. It is a great golf course. I am very much looking forward to getting back to the home state.”
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NCAA Women’s Golf Regional – Baton Rouge
Duke – Individual
Sandy Choi Duke 73 69 71 213 -3
Virginia Elena Carta Duke 76 72 67 215 -1
Leona Maguire Duke 73 70 72 215 -1
Gurbani Singh Duke 76 76 75 227 +11
Celine Boutier Duke 79 78 76 233 +17
Team – Overall
Florida 293 287 277 857 -7
South Carolina 290 277 290 857 -7
Washington 286 289 288 863 -1
Duke 298 287 285 870 +6
Oregon 292 296 294 882 +18
Brigham Young 298 290 296 884 +20
Houston 295 300 290 885 +21
Arizona State 296 298 297 891 +27
East Carolina 301 301 302 904 +40
Harvard 308 295 301 904 +40
LSU 299 310 296 905 +41
North Carolina State 307 307 293 907 +43
Augusta 311 301 301 913 +49
North Florida 322 300 303 925 +61
Denver 315 304 307 926 +62
New Mexico 313 309 305 927 +63
Wichita State 312 308 315 935 +71
Fairleigh Dickinson 322 313 321 956 +92
Individual – Overall
Katelyn Dambaugh South Carolina 70 66 71 207 -9
Karolina Vlckova Florida 74 71 65 210 -6
Charlotte Thomas Washington 73 67 71 211 -5
Elise Bradley LSU 72 72 69 213 -3
Lea Garner Brigham Young 73 69 71 213 -3
Sandy Choi Duke 73 69 71 213 -3
Leonie Harm Houston 69 77 69 215 -1
Linnea Strom Arizona State 71 73 71 215 -1
Virginia Elena Carta Duke 76 72 67 215 -1
Leona Maguire Duke 73 70 72 215 -1
Maria Torres Florida 71 75 69 215 -1
Anna Zhou Harvard 75 70 71 216 E
Madison Talley * Kansas State 70 75 71 216 E
Sarah Schmelzel South Carolina 75 69 72 216 E