Reigning two-time Atlantic Coast Conference champion Duke
opened defense of its Ruth’s Chris Tar Heel Invitational team title Friday with
a sizzling 17-under-par 271 at the University of North Carolina’s Finley Golf
Course in Chapel Hill, N.C. to take a six-shot lead over one of the top fields
in women’s college golf.
The Blue Devils lost one of the best players in the history
of Division I women’s golf to graduation in Ireland’s Leona Maguire, but they
have not skipped a beat. I have a funny feeling that the influence of Maguire
just gets passed down in the way programs with winning legacies do.
Jaravee Boonchant, a sophomore from Thailand, reached the
top of the individual leaderboard with a sparkling 6-under 66 over the
6,379-yard, par-72 Finley Golf Course layout to lead the way for the Dookies.
Duke’s ACC rival Virginia fired a pretty impressive 11-under
277 and sits in second place. Reigning Southeast Conference champion Arkansas
carded a solid 3-under 285 and is eight shots behind the Cavaliers in third.
Louisville matched par with a 288 total and Furman and
another ACC power, Wake Forest, are tied for fifth at 1-over 289.
Host North Carolina and Brynn Walker, a two-time PIAA Class
AAA champion at Radnor, had to be a little disappointed with an opening round
of 9-over 297 that left the Tar Heels in 10th place in the stacked
18-team field.
Backing up Boonchant for Duke were Ana Belac, a junior from
Slovenia, and Virginia Elena Carta, a junior from Italy, both of whom were part
of a six-player logjam in fourth place at 4-under 68. Carta was a runaway
winner of the NCAA individual crown as a freshman two years ago and the
runnerup in the U.S. Women’s Amateur at Rolling Green Golf Club in Springfield,
Delaware County that same summer.
Miranda Wang, a redshirt sophomore from China, gave the Blue
Devils a fourth player inside the top 10 as she carded a 3-under 69 to join the
group tied for 10th.
Duke’s prized freshman recruit, Gina Kim, was playing in her
home town of Chapel Hill, but struggled to a 79 and is in the group tied for 85th.
Pretty sure her older experienced teammates will be able to get Kim to relax in
time for Saturday’s second round.
Furman’s Haylee Harford, a senior from Leavittsburg, Ohio,
and Wake Forest’s Emilia Migliaccio, a sophomore from Cary, N.C., are tied for
second in the individual chase, a shot behind Boonchant after each posted a
5-under 67.
Like Duke, Virginia has a pair of players in the group tied
for fourth at 4-under 68, Anna Redding, a senior from Concord, N.C., and
Katharine Patrick, a senior from Houston, Texas.
Rounding out the group tied for fourth are Arkansas’ Dylan
Kim, a senior from Plano, Texas, and Louisville’s Lauren Thibodeau, a freshman
from Hampstead, N.H.
North Carolina’s senior leader Kelly Whaley of Farmington, Conn.
led the way for the Tar Heels as she matched par at Finley with a 72 that left
her in the group tied for 19th.
North Carolina’s two freshmen, Jennifer Zhou of China, and
Nicole Lu of Taiwan, got off to solid starts in backing up Whaley. Zhou carded a
1-over 73 to land among the group tied for 26th and Lu was another
shot behind Zhou at 2-over 74 in the group tied for 32nd.
It was a tough start for Walker as she and teammate Mariana
Ocano, a junior from St. Petersburg, Fla. each carded a 78 that left them among the
group tied for 78th.
Ava Bergner, a sophomore from Germany, was out of the first
five, probably for the first time in her short college career. Competing as an individual,
Bergner carded a solid 3-over 75 to join the group tied for 42nd.
Two other Tar Heels, Rashnee Sharma, a junior from
Charlotte, N.C., and Clementina Rodriguez, a senior from Venezuela, also
competed as individuals. Sharma carded an 80 and is in the group tied for 91st
and Rodriguez posted an 85 and is alone in 96th place.
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