Duke holds off Wake Forest to claim team title in Palmetto Intercollegiate behind individual champion Shepherd

    It’s been nearly two years since Atlantic Coast Conference rivals Duke and Wake Forest met in the NCAA Championship’s Final Match at The Blessings Golf Club in Fayetteville, Ark.

   It was the last time the NCAA Championship was contested, thanks to the coronavirus pandemic that shut down women’s college golf a year ago and, in the case of the ACC, continued to keep players from competing on the golf course throughout the fall portion of the wraparound 2020-2021 season.

   But it hasn’t taken long for Duke and Wake Forest to find their competitive groove. They went head to head once again this week in the Gamecock Intercollegiate, which wrapped up Wednesday at Columbia Country Club in Blythewood, S.C., and once again it was the Dookies, No. 23 in the latest Golfstat rankings, coming out on top, edging the No. 6 Demon Deacons by three shots to capture the team title.

   Duke also took the individual trophy back to Durham as sophomore Erica Shepherd, the talented left-hander from Greenwood, Ind., beat a loaded field in difficult conditions by three shots with a 7-under 209 total.

   Not many players from either Duke or Wake Forest remain with the respective programs from that spring day at The Blessings when Duke edged Wake Forest, 3-2, to capture the Blue Demons’ seventh national crown. Duke’s lowest finisher, Gina Kim, a junior from Chapel Hill, N.C. and No. 51 in the Women’s World Amateur Golf Ranking (WAGR), was a freshman on that team.

   Gina Kim finished in a tie for 51^st place in the Gamecock Intercollegiate at 9-over 225, but her opening round of 2-under 70 over the 6,297-yard, par-72 Columbia Country Club layout Monday helped Duke get off to a fast start and it never looked back as conditions continued to worsen.

   Duke, getting matching 3-under 69s from Shepherd and freshman Phoebe Brinker, the Archmere Academy product from Wilmington, Del., in addition to the 70 from Gina Kim, opened with a 6-under 282.

   With threatening weather in the forecast, teams played their second rounds Tuesday morning and started in on their third and final rounds Tuesday afternoon, most of the top contenders getting through nine holes.

   Host South Carolina, ranked No. 2, added a 3-under 285 to its opening-round 287 and, through two rounds, held a one-shot lead over Duke, which carded a 3-over 291 in the completed second round. Wake Forest, coming off a dominating victory in last week’s Palmetto Intercollegiate at Turtle Point Golf Course on Kiawah Island, S.C. – Duke finished in third place in its season debut -- was in third place, trailing South Carolina by eight shots and Duke by seven.

   But Duke hung tough in the split final round, registering another 3-over 291 that left it with an even-par 864 total. Wake Forest was the only team that managed to better par over the two-day final 18 holes with a 1-under 287 that left the Demon Deacons three shots behind Duke in second place with a 3-over 867 total.

   Southeastern Conference power South Carolina closed with a 10-over 298 to finish alone in third place, three shots behind Wake Forest at 6-over 870.

   That was the beginning of a parade of SEC teams in the loaded 18-team field as No. 4 LSU finished eight shots behind the Gamecocks in fourth place at 14-over 878. The Bayou Tigers only trailed Duke by four shots after opening with a 2-under 286 Monday, but fell back a little with a 7-over 295 in Tuesday’s second round and a 9-over 287 in the split final round.

   No. 12 Auburn, another Tiger paw in the SEC, was a shot behind LSU in fifth place, struggling in the two-day final round to a 301 that left them at 15-over 879. Auburn opened with a solid 1-under 287 before adding a 3-over 291 in Tuesday’s second round.

   No. 38 Vanderbilt finished strong with a final round of 1-over 289 that left the Commodores a shot behind Auburn at 16-over 880. Vanderbilt opened with a 3-over 291 before struggling to a 12-over 200 in Tuesday’s second round.

   No. 61 Mississippi State probably made a case for a move up in the rankings as the Bulldogs closed with a 3-over 291 to finish in seventh place, a shot behind Vanderbilt at 17-over 881. Mississippi State opened with a 1-under 287 before struggling to a 15-over 303 in Tuesday’s second round.

   In a testament to the strength of the field, the Big 12’s Baylor arrived in Blythewood as the No. 1 team in the Golfstat rankings after claiming its fifth straight tournament title in last week’s ICON Invitational at the Golf Club of Houston in Humble, Texas. But the Bears couldn’t get it going in the Gamecock Invitational, finishing in 11^th place with a 26-over 890 total.

   Still think it’s smart scheduling to take a road trip and face top competition on a tough golf course in difficult conditions. The experience in Blythewood will play dividends for Baylor down the road.

   It was just a matter of time before Shepherd, winner of the 2017 U.S. Girls’ Junior Championship at Boone Valley Golf Club in Augusta, Mo., won an individual title at the college level. She finished third in last week’s Palmetto Intercollegiate. Nobody beat her this time.

   Shepherd got started with a 3-under 69 in Monday’s opening round and added a 2-under 70 that left her a shot behind South Carolina’s Lois Kaye Go, a senior from the Philippines, after two rounds. But with conditions deteriorating and the third round played over two days, Shepherd stayed steady, finishing up with a 2-under 70 that enabled her to finish with a 209 total.

   Backing up Shepherd for Duke was Brinker, playing in just her second college event. If she felt any pressure, Brinker didn’t show it. After matching Shepherd’s opening-round 69, Brinker added a 1-over 73 in Tuesday’s second round and matched par in the final round with a 72 that left her in a tie for third place with LSU’s Ingrid Lindblad, a sophomore from Sweden and No. 4 in the Women’s WAGR, and Alabama’s Benedetta Moresco, a freshman from Italy and No. 17 in the Women’s WAGR, at 2-under 214, two shots behind Kaye Go, the runnerup.

   Brinker hinted at this kind of poise under pressure when she finished in a tie for second in qualifying and then reached the second round of match play in last summer’s U.S. Women’s Amateur Championship at Woodmont Country Club in Rockville, Md., but as I mentioned in last week’s post on the Palmetto Intercollegiate, I ceased being surprised by Brinker a long time ago. The brighter the spotlight, the better she seems to play.

   Megan Furtney, a sophomore from St. Charles, Ill., finished among the group tied for 40^th place at 7-over 223. She was solid for Duke as well, adding a final-round 75 over two days to the pair of 2-over 74s she posted in the first two rounds.

   While Duke was gearing up for that national championship run in the spring of 2019, Furtney teamed with Shepherd to capture the 2019 U.S. Women’s Amateur Four-Ball Championship at Timuquana Country Club, a Donald Ross classic in Jacksonville, Fla. Veteran Duke head coach Dan Brooks, who claimed career tournament title No. 37 in the Gamecock Intercollegiate this week, knew reinforcements were coming.

   Another freshman, Anne Chen of Sugar Land, Texas, also came up big for Duke in Blythewood. After opening with a throwout 76, Chen put together a pair of gritty 2-over 74s that left her in the group tied for 45^th place with an 8-over 224 total.

   Following her opening-round 70, Gina Kim struggled to a 79 in Tuesday’s second round and closed with a 76 in the split final round to finish at 225. The kid freshman from 2019 is now a wise veteran for the Blue Demons.

   Kaye Go struggled a little in the split final round, closing with a 2-over 74, but still earned runnerup honors, three shots behind Shepherd at 4-under 212.

   LSU’s Lindblad added a 71 to her opening round of 2-under 70 before closing with a 73 to join Brinker in the tie for third place at 2-under 214, two shots behind Kaye Go. Alabama’s Moresco was only two shots behind Kaye Go after carding a pair of 2-under 70s in the first two rounds before she finished up with a 74 to round out the trio at 2-under.

   South Carolina’s Ana Pelaez, a senior from Spain and No. 23 in the Women's WAGR, Vanderbilt’s Auston Kim, a junior from St. Augustine, Fla. and No. 43 in the Women’s WAGR, North Carolina’s Nicole Adam, a freshman from Pinehurst, N.C., and Auburn’s Mychael O’Berry, a senior from Hoover, Ala., finished in a four-way tie for sixth place at even-par 216.

   Pelaez bounced back from an opening-round 75 with a 1-under 71 in Tuesday’s second round and a closing 2-under 70 to get it back to even-par. Auston Kim fired a 2-under 70 in Monday’s opening round and added a 74 in Tuesday’s second round before matching par in the final round with a 72. Adam matched the low round of the day in Monday’s opening round with a 3-under 69 and added a 74 in Tuesday’s second round before closing with a 73. O’Berry was in contention for individual honors after she added a 3-under 69 to her opening-round 71, but she backed off a little with a final-round 76.

   Wake Forest had two of the five players who finished in a tie for 10^th place at 1-over 217 in Lauren Walsh, a sophomore from Ireland, and Mimi Rhodes, a freshman from England.

   Walsh, coming off a runnerup finish in the Palmetto Intercollegiate last week, rebounded from an opening-round 76 by recording a 1-under 71 in Tuesday’s second round and a 2-under 70 in the split final round. Rhodes was steady throughout, matching par in each of the final two rounds after opening with a 73.

   Rounding out the fivesome at 217 were Mississippi’s Julia Johnson, a fifth-year senior from St. Gabriel, La., Auston Kim’s Vanderbilt teammate Celina Sattelkau, a sophomore from Germany, and Mississippi State’s Blair Stockett, a senior from Jackson, Miss.

   Johnson opened with a 1-under 71 and matched par in Tuesday’s second round with a 72 before closing with a 74. Sattelkau sandwiched a 77 in Tuesday’s second round with a pair of 2-under 70s. Stockett matched the low round of the day in the opening round with a 3-under 69 before adding a pair of 74s.

   Wake Forest’s Walsh and Rhodes are two of the 17 women on a list the Royal & Ancient released late last year of candidates for the Great Britain & Ireland team in this summer’s rescheduled Curtis Cup Match at Conwy Golf Club in Caernarvonshire, Wales.

   The two Kims, Duke’s Gina and Vanderbilt’s Auston, were just two of the seven players in the Gamecock Intercollegiate field who participated in a practice session for candidates for the U.S. Curtis Cup side in late January at the Lake Nona Golf & Country Club in Orlando, Fla.

   The other U.S. Curtis Cup candidates who teed it up in the Gamecock Intercollegiate included a pair from Wake Forest, Emilia Migliaccio, a senior from Cary, N.C. and No. 12 in the Women’s WAGR, and Rachel Kuehn, a sophomore from Asheville, N.C. and No. 18 in the Women’s WAGR. Migliaccio finished in a tie for 20^th place at Columbia Country Club at 3-over 219 and Kuehn landed in the group tied for 26^th place at 4-over 220.

   The other potential U.S. Curtis Cuppers in the field included Auburn’s Megan Schofill, a sophomore from Monticello, Fla. and No. 33 in the Women’s WAGR who finished in a tie for 29^th place at 5-over 221, Arkansas’ Brooke Matthews, a redshirt junior from Rogers, Ark. and No. 60 in the Women’s WAGR who finished in a tie for 60^th place at 11-over 227 and Ole Miss’ Kennedy Swann, a senior from Austin, Texas and No. 68 in the Women’s WAGR who finished in a tie for 67^th place at 12-over 228.