HILTON HEAD ISLAND, S.C. – The Duke women’s golf team closed the Darius Rucker Intercollegiate in strong fashion on Wednesday as the Blue Devils carded the tied for third-lowest score of the day with a 6-over-par, 290, on their way to finishing in the top 10 at the 6,281-yard, Par-71 Long Cove Club in Hilton Head Island, S.C.
Duke improved its scores each day by shooting a 301, 294 and 290 to finish with an 885, which placed 10th. Wake Forest claimed the title with a 9-over, 861, while South Carolina (870), Arizona State (872), Baylor (873) and Texas (873) rounded out the top five teams.
“We got contributions from everybody in this tournament and I thought we got better every day,” said Duke head coach Dan Brooks. “We keep showing our talents and our abilities, but just haven’t become consistent yet. We have a hard-working group and, I think, a forward-looking group and we are just going to keep plugging away.”
With one of only five rounds in the 60s on Wednesday, Duke sophomore Phoebe Brinker paced the Blue Devils with a 2-under, 69, as she turned in a tied for 16th finish, individually. Over the three days, she carded rounds of 73, 76 and 69 for a 5-over, 218. After turning in nine pars on the front nine, Brinker bogeyed her 10th hole, No. 1, but caught fire notching four birdies over a span of five holes with birdies on No. 2, No. 4, No. 5 and No. 6. She dialed in her irons and had birdie putts of 10-20 feet. She bogeyed the final hole to finish with her third career round in the 60s. Brinker, who is from Wilmington, Del., hit 15 greens, 11 fairways and rolled 31 putts.
Junior Erica Shepherd placed tied for 27th with rounds of 74, 74 and 72 for a 54-hole score of 220. She missed the fairway on her opening tee shot and went on to bogey No. 1, but drained a 32-foot birdie on No. 2 to get back to even. She parred five straight holes and then missed another…
