Duke Women’s Golf Set To Open Season At NCAA Fall Preview

By Duke Athletics
Posted Sunday, September 7, 2008

DURHAM, N.C. – The five-time NCAA Champion Duke women’s golf team will open the season on Sept. 7-8 at the NCAA Fall Preview, which will be played at the 6,270-yard, par 72 Caves Valley Golf Course in Owings Mills, Md.

Competing this weekend will be Alabama , Arizona State , Arkansas , Auburn , Denver , Duke, Florida , Georgetown , Georgia , Oklahoma State , Purdue, Southern California, Texas A&M, Virginia and Wake Forest .

Last year at the preview, the Blue Devils claimed the team title with a 54-hole total of 16-under-par 860, after notching rounds of 287, 286 and 287. Dewi Claire Schreefel from Southern California posted the individual title with a 15-under-par, 204, while Duke’s Amanda Blumenherst was second with an 11-under-par, 208.

Duke will be traveling this weekend with Blumenherst, senior Jennie Lee, junior Alison Whitaker, junior Yu Young Lee and freshman Mina Harigae.

Earlier this week, the Blue Devils were tabbed No. 3 nationally in the Golfweek preseason rankings. Earning the top slot was UCLA with Arizona State , Duke, Southern California, Oklahoma State , Denver , Purdue, Pepperdine , Georgia and Alabama rounding out the top 10.

Golfweek also released its preseason All-America teams with Blumenherst on the first team, while Jennie Lee and Harigae were listed on the second team. Harigae was also listed on the “Frosh to Watch” list.

The Caves Valley Golf Course was designed by nationally acclaimed golf course architect Tom Fazio as “a golfer’s club.” Caves Valley is one of a few clubs in America focused solely on golf and golfer’s needs. The course features 18 holes, each uniquely fashioned to suit the natural environment, as well as a comprehensive state of the art practice facility which includes multiple practice ranges with sand bunkers, chipping greens and putting greens. The golf professional staff is highly regarded for their teaching expertise and their hospitality towards our Members and their guests. The course became fully playable in July 1991.

Duke returns four letterwinners including three-time All-America Jennie Lee and Blumenherst, who is the three-time defending National Player of the Year. The Blue Devils also return Whitaker, a two-time All-ACC selection, sophomore Kim Donovan and junior Yu Young Lee . Arriving in Durham this season as a freshman will be Harigae, who is one of the top amateur golfers in the nation and the 2007 Women’s Amateur Public Links (WAPL) champion.

Blumenherst, who is coming off winning the 2008 U.S. Women’s Amateur, is once again tabbed as the top female women’s golfer to watch by Golf World. A native of Scottsdale , Ariz. , Blumenherst became the first golfer in NCAA history to register three straight NCAA Player of the Year and Golfstat Cup awards. The Scottsdale , Ariz., product owns a career scoring average of 71.21 and has 11 victories in three years with the Blue Devils.

Lee, who is from Henderson , Nev. , owns 10 career top 10 finishes, a 73.94 scoring average and 31 career rounds of even or under par. She has played her best in NCAA Championship action posting a second place, seventh place and 15th place finishes in three years.

Harigae, who is a product of Monterey , Calif. , arrives at college coming off playing in the last two U.S. Women’s Opens and with a National Championship on her resume -- the WAPL. Harigae also teamed with Jennie Lee and Blumenherst on the United States winning squad at the Curtis Cup this summer.

One of only two golfers on the Blue Devil roster to register an individual medalist honor in her career, Whitaker, who is from Melbourne, Australia, is coming off a sophomore campaign where she posted a career-best 54-hole total of 208 at the UCF Challenge to win the individual title. In the two years, she has notched eight top 20 finishes and was an honorable mention All-America in 2007-08.

Donovan, a native of Hopkinton , Mass. , totaled a 76.44 stroke average as a freshman as she played in all 11 tournaments. Yu Young Lee , who is from Orlando , Fla. , has seen action in four tournaments for the Blue Devils in her career.

The Blue Devils have won NCAA Championships in 1999, 2002, 2005, 2006 and 2007. Duke has won 76 tournaments over the last 10 years, won 13 straight ACC Championships and finished in the top five of the NCAA Championship in seven out of the last eight years.