Duke WGOLF: Blue Devils Open Tied Sixth at NCAA Regional

From Duke coach, Jack Winters

Live Scoring

Duke University's Blue Devils Open Tied Sixth at NCAA Regional as Leona Maguire goes over par with a 75

May 8, 2017

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – Monday's opening round of the NCAA Albuquerque Regional was a tale of two nines as the scores were in the red numbers early and then high winds arrived on the back nine, which elevated the numbers in the afternoon at the 6,637-yard, par 72 The Championship Course at the University of New Mexico.

Duke jumped out to a five-under-par ledger through three holes Monday and held the lead and made the turn at one-under-par, before the winds forced the Blue Devils to a 10-over-par back nine.

Through 18 holes, Duke is tied sixth overall at nine-over-par, 297. Pepperdine, who teed off at 7:30 a.m., took advantage of the easier conditions and shot a team-best one-under-par, 287, Stanford (290), Southern California (295), California (295), Washington (295), Campbell (297), Duke (297), NC State (301), SMU and Miami (303) rounded out the top 10 teams.

The Blue Devils didn't start teeing off Monday until approximately 9:20 a.m. local time. As a team, Duke registered six birdies over the first three holes and then had three over the final 15 holes.

The No. 1 ranked golfer in the nation, Leona Maguire, had an excellent start with birdies on No. 1 and No. 3, but played the final 14 holes at four-over-par, to finish with a three-over, 75. The round of 75 was only her second career over-par ledger in seven regional rounds. A product of Cavan, Ireland, Maguire connected on a 10-foot birdie putt on No. 1 and a six-foot birdie on No. 3 to go along with a bogey on No. 2, after missing the green. She added bogeys on No. 5, No. 11, No. 15 and No. 16 to finish with a 75, which was tied 30th. Maguire hit 12 fairways, 14 greens and had a season-high 36 putts.

Junior Lisa Maguire opened the day with eight pars over her first nine holes and made the turn with a two-over-par, 38. She added five bogeys on the back nine on her way to finishing with a 79, which is tied for 73rd. Maguire, who is from Cavan, Ireland, is tied for 73rd overall.

Also on the 79 mark are India Clyburn (NC State) and Scot Lauren Whyte (Denver).

Duke will open action Tuesday in the second round beginning at 7:30 a.m., along with NC State and SMU. The top six teams following 54 holes of action will advance to the NCAA Championship.

Duke Results
- T14 Ana Belac Duke 73 +1
- T24 Virginia Elena Carta Duke 74 +2
- T30 Sandy Choi Duke 75 +3
- T30 Leona Maguire Duke 75 +3
- T73 Lisa Maguire Duke 79 +7

1 Team Scores
1 Pepperdine 287 -1
2 Stanford 290 +2
T3 Southern California 295 +7
T3 California 295 +7
T3 Washington 295 +7
T6 Campbell 297 +9
T6 Duke 297 +9
8 North Carolina State 301 +13
9 SMU 302 +14
10 Miami 303 +15
11 Oklahoma State 304 +16
12 Denver 305 +17
13 Illinois 306 +18
14 New Mexico State 307 +19
15 Cal Poly 308 +20
16 Sacramento State 310 +22
17 Houston Baptist 314 +26
18 Texas Southern Univ. 365 +77