Kim leads the way in dominant run to ACC title for Duke at Sedgefield

    Leave it to Duke to take all the drama out of the Atlantic Coast Conference Championship.

   The Blue Devils, No. 2 in the latest Golfstat rankings, won the last NCAA Championship contested, edging Wake Forest, 3-2, in an all-ACC Final Match at The Blessings Golf Club in Fayetteville, Ark. in the spring of 2019.

   Gina Kim, a junior from Chapel Hill, N.C. and No. 54 in the Women’s World Amateur Golf Ranking (WAGR), was part of that championship two years ago and she was very prominent in last weekend’s ACC Championship, which wrapped up Sunday at Sedgefield Country Club in Greensboro, N.C. with the Blue Devils rolling to a 5-0 match-play decision over No. 8 Florida State.

   Match play was new for the ACC, which joined other conferences in mimicking the NCAA Championship with a layer of match play with three rounds of stroke play acting as a match-play qualifier. But unlike the NCAA Championship, only the top four teams advanced out of stroke play, so it was straight to the semifinals.

   It can’t hurt to get a little match play under your belt if you have designs on making it to match play in next month’s NCAA Championship at Grayhawk Golf Club in Scottsdale, Ariz. and, trust me, that’s exactly the goal for several of these ACC teams.

   None of it seemed to matter to Kim or Duke. Kim opened the weekend with rounds of 4-under 68 and 3-under 69 in Thursday’s double round over the 6,089-yard, par-72 Sedgefield layout. Kim didn’t let up, closing with a 3-under 69 to leave a field filled with players high on the Women’s WAGR list and contenders in the Augusta National Women’s Championship earlier this month in the dust as she claimed the ACC individual crown with her 10-under 206 total.

   It was an eventful time in 2019 for Kim as she followed up Duke’s national championship by earning low-amateur honors in the U.S. Women’s Open, finishing in a tie for 12^th place at the Country Club of Charleston, in Charleston, S.C.

   She became the 14^th Duke player to claim an ACC individual crown and her 10-under total matched the best finish by a Blue Devil in the conference championship. Former Duke great Leona Maguire, whom you could catch on television contending in the LPGA’s Lotte Championship at Kapolei Golf Course in Hawaii over the weekend, also finished 10-under in winning one of her three ACC individual titles.

   The highest-ranked individual player in the ACC Championship field was Florida State’s Beatrice Wallin, a sophomore from Sweden and No. 11 in the Women’s WAGR. She was the runnerup to Kim in stroke play, finishing three shots behind the winner with a 7-under 209 total.

   The talented Wallin grabbed the lead with a 5-under 67 in the opening round and fell a shot behind Kim with a 1-under 71 in Thursday afternoon’s second round. Wallin closed with another 1-under 71.

   And two days later, who should hook up in the match-play final, but Kim and Wallin. And Kim got the better of Wallin again, claiming a 3 and 2 victory.

   Jaravee Boonchant, a senior from Thailand and No. 55 in the Women’s WAGR, was the other holdover from the victory over Wake Forest at The Blessings two springs ago in the Duke lineup against Florida State. Boonchant delivered a 6 and 5 victory over the Seminoles’ Taylor Roberts, a freshman from Parkland, Fla.

   Duke’s Erica Shepherd, a sophomore from Greenwood, Ind. and No. 80 in the Women’s WAGR, earned a 2-up decision over Florida State’s Alice Hodge, a freshman from Larchmont, N.Y.

   Shepherd had long ago established her match-play chops, winning the 2017 U.S. Girls’ Junior Championship at Boone Valley Golf Club in Augusta, Mo. and teaming with current Duke teammate Megan Furtney, a sophomore from St. Charles, Ill., to win the U.S. Women’s Amateur Four-Ball Championship in the spring of 2019 at Timuquana Country Club in Jacksonville, Fla.

   And then there are the freshmen. I’ve been singing the praises of Phoebe Brinker, the Archmere Academy product from Wilmington, Del. all spring. Veteran Duke head coach Dan Brooks sent the kid out first in both the semifinals and the final and was rewarded with a pair of victories.

   You might have thought that the ACC’s decision to not allow its golfers to compete in the fall portion of the wraparound 2020-2021 season might slow the progress of some of the freshmen. But Brinker has been solid all spring and delivered a 5 and 4 victory over Florida State’s Amelia Williamson, a junior from England in Saturday’s title match.

   Anne Chen, a freshman from Sugar Land, Texas, pulled out a 1-up victory over the Seminoles’ Charlotte Heath, a freshman from England and No. 45 in the Women’s WAGR.

   Duke got a bigger fight in Saturday’s semifinals from No. 11 Virginia, seeded fourth, with the Blue Devils reaching the final with a 3-2 victory over the Cavaliers.

   Kim defeated Brinker’s fellow Wimingtonian, Jennifer Cleary, also a freshman and a Tower Hill product, 3 and 2, for one of Duke’s victories.

   Brinker and Cleary were part of a Delaware team that was the runnerup in the final staging of the USGA Women’s State Team Championship in the fall of 2017 at The Club at Las Campanas’ Sunrise Course in Santa Fe, N.M. Much like Brinker at Duke, Cleary has had an immediate impact as a freshman at Virginia despite not getting a chance to compete last fall.

   Brinker, again batting leadoff, gave Duke another point with a 4 and 2 victory over Riley Smyth, a junior from Cary, N.C. Smyth made a run to the quarterfinals in last summer’s U.S. Women’s Amateur Championship at Woodmont Country Club in Rockville, Md.

   Chen picked up the third point for the Blue Devils against Virginia with a 5 and 3 victory over Celeste Valinho, a sophomore from Jacksonville, Fla.

   Boonchant dropped a nail-biter to Virginia’s Virginia Bossi, a sophomore from Italy and No. 95 in the Women's WAGR, in a match that went 20 holes. Shepherd fell, 4 and 2, to the Cavaliers’ Beth Lillie, a senior from Fullerton, Calif.

   Florida State earned its spot in the title match with a surprising 4-1 victory over No. 3 Wake Forest, which had earned the second seed behind Duke in the match-play qualifying.

   You could have caught a neat little matchup between Wallin, No. 11 in the Women’s WAGR, and Wake Forest’s Emilia Migliaccio, a senior from Cary, N.C. and No. 12 in the Women’s WAGR, in Saturday’s semifinals. Wallin held off a late rally by Migliaccio to pull out a 2-up victory.

   If you watched the Augusta National Women’s Amateur, you saw Migliaccio come up short in a playoff with Japanese teen Tsubasa Kajitani. Wallin finished in a tie for 10^th place at Augusta.

   The Seminoles got a big upset win from Roberts, the freshman who knocked off Rachel Kuehn, a sophomore from Asheville, N.C. and No. 22 in the Women’s WAGR, 4 and 3. It was the kind of result that makes match play so intriguing because, as you may heard, anything can happen in match play.

   Williamson pulled out a 3 and 1 victory over the Demon Deacons’ Siyun Liu, a graduate student from China and No. 68 in the Women’s WAGR. Florida State’s final point came from Hodge, who claimed a 4 and 3 decision over Mimi Rhodes, a freshman from England.

   Migliaccio and Liu are both veterans of Wake Forest’s run to the NCAA Championship’s Final Match at The Blessings two springs ago, each winning their match to account for the Demon Deacons’ two points in the 3-2 loss to Duke.

   Wake Forest’s lone win in the semifinal loss to the Seminoles came from Lauren Walsh, a sophomore from Ireland and No. 24 in the Women’s WAGR who earned a 2-up victory over Heath.

   The battle for the top seed in match play was a strictly two-team affair between the Dookies and Wake Forest. The Demon Deacons grabbed a two-shot lead over Duke following Thursday’s double round as they matched par in the opening round with a 288 and then fired a sparkling 11-under 277 in the afternoon. Duke had opened with a 2-under 286 before adding a 7-under 281 in Thursday afternoon’s second round.

   But Duke, behind Kim’s final-round 69, closed with a 2-under 286 for an 11-under 853 while Wake Forest could only manage a 3-over 291 to finish three shots behind the Blue Devils at 8-under 856.

   It was 15 shots back to Florida State in third place as the Seminoles matched par in the opening round with a 288 and added a 1-over 289 in Thursday afternoon’s second round before closing with a 6-over 294 for a 7-over 871 total.

   Virginia came on strong in the final round, matching Duke’s final round of 2-under 286, to grab the final spot in match play with a 12-over 876 total that was two shots better than No. 16 Virginia Tech’s 14-over 878 total. The Cavaliers had opened with respective rounds of 297 and 293 in Thursday’s double round and trailed Virginia Tech in the battle for fourth place by seven shots going into Friday’s final round.

   The Hokies had followed up an opening-round 294 with a solid 1-over 289 in Thursday afternoon’s second round before finishing up with a 7-over 295.

   No. 34 Clemson sandwiched a 304 in Thursday afternoon’s second round with a pair of 5-over 293s to finish 12 shots behind Virginia Tech in sixth place in the 12-team field with a 26-over 890 total.

   Backing up Kim for Duke in stroke play was Chen, the freshman rattling off three straight 1-under 71s to finish alone in fourth place in the individual standings with a 3-under 213 total. Shepherd gave Duke three players in the top eight as she bounced back from an opening-round 76 with a sparkling 5-under 67 in Thursday afternoon’s second round before closing with a solid 1-over 73 to land in a trio tied for eighth place at even-par 216.

   The veteran Boonchant sandwiched a 74 in Thursday afternoon’s second round with a pair of 1-over 73s to finish in a tie for 20^th place at 4-over 220.

   For what seemed like the first time all spring, Brinker struggled a little in stroke play as she posted a pair of 2-over 74s in Thursday’s double round before closing with a 78 to end up among the group tied for 32^nd place at 10-over 226. Brinker quickly made amends with her two match-play wins.

   Wake Forest’s Kuehn, winner of last summer’s North & South Women’s Amateur Championship at the Pinehurst Resort’s iconic No. 2 Course, finished third in stroke play, two shots behind Wallin with a 5-under 211 total. Kuehn sandwiched a 71 in Thursday afternoon’s second round with a pair of 2-under 70s.

   Wake Forest’s Liu finished a shot behind Duke’s Chen in fifth place at 2-under 214. After opening with a 73, Liu contributed a 5-under 67 to the Demon Deacons’ second-round surge before finishing up with a 74.

   Louisville’s Lauren Hartlage, a graduate student from Elizabethtown, Ky. and No. 89 in the Women’s WAGR, and Miami’s Nataliya Guseva, a freshman from Russia and No. 70 in the Women's WAGR, finished in a tie for sixth place, each landing on 1-under 215. Hartlage added a 75 to her opening-round 71 before closing with a 3-under 69. After opening with a 1-under 71, Guseva matched par in each of the final two rounds with a pair of 72s.

   Joining Duke’s Shepherd in the trio tied for eighth place at even-par 216 were Wake Forest’s Heath and North Carolina State’s Monika Vicario, a senior from Germany. After opening with a 2-over 70, Heath matched par in the second round with a 72 before finishing up with a 74. Vicario got off to a fast start with a 3-under 69 in Thursday morning’s opening round before adding a 75 in the afternoon and matching par in the final round with a 72.

   Cleary, the freshman from Wilmington and Tower Hill, was the low woman for Virginia in stroke play, contributing a 3-under 69 to the Cavaliers’ final-round surge that left her among the group tied for 11^th place at 1-over 217. Cleary had posted a pair of 2-over 74s in Thursday’s double round.

   Wonder if U.S. Curtis Cup captain Sarah Ingram wandered over to Sedgefield to check up on some the candidates for the team that will take on Great Britain & Ireland at Conwy Golf Club in Caernarvonshire, Wales in August? Wake Forest’s Migliaccio and Kuehn, Duke’s Kim and Louisville’s Hartlage were among the 12 candidates who joined Ingram for a practice session at Lake Nona Golf & Country Club in Orlando, Fla. in late January.

   Ingram also could have checked out Wake Forest’s Walsh and Rhodes and Florida State’s Heath, all of whom are on a list of 17 candidates for the GB&I team released by the Royal & Ancient in November.