PINEHURST, N.C. ? For the 11th straight year the Duke Women?s Golf team claimed the ACC Championship on Sunday as the Blue Devils carded a 54-hole total of 885 to win by 19 strokes at the Par 72, 6,293-Yard Pinehurst #8 Golf Course in Pinehurst, N.C. Freshman Amanda Blumenherst became Duke?s 12th ACC Individual Champion as she carded a total of 212 to win by seven strokes.

The team title by the Blue Devils is the 14th overall in school history and 13th by Duke Head Coach Dan Brooks. Blumenherst became the seventh Blue Devil freshman to earn the ACC Individual title and seventh Duke golfer out of the last eight years to win the individual crown.

"We have a lot of talent on this team," said Brooks. "We played percentage golf. We hit a lot of greens and I think that is why we came out on top."

Duke finished 21-over-par, 885, followed by Virginia (904), Wake Forest (914), Maryland (917), Florida State (918), N.C. State (920), North Carolina (928), Miami (933) and Boston College (967).

With Duke finishing better than North Carolina in the tournament, the Blue Devils earned one point towards the Carlyle Cup, which is a year-long competition between Duke and North Carolina. Duke now owns an 11-10 overall lead in 2005-06.

Brooks on if winning never gets old, "It doesn?t. I enjoy this and more than anything I enjoy the people I have been fortunate enough to coach. They are great kids; they are receptive and are a lot of fun. Then, winning is just icing on the cake. It is nice and I enjoy it."

Finishing with a tournament-best 13 birdies over the weekend, Blumenherst won her third tournament of the season with three straight rounds of even or under par, 69-71-72. A native of Scottsdale, Ariz., Blumenherst was the only golfer in the championship to register a round in the 60s on Friday with a 69. On Sunday, she kicked off her final round with bogies on holes No. 4 and No. 8 on her way to making the turn at 38.

"I came out to win and I am so glad our team did well," said Blumenherst. "I hit the ball very well and putted very well the first two days. The combination of both really helped me in my play. To get this win is so amazing."

Blumenherst collected a birdie on No. 10, but followed it with a bogey on the par-five 11th to start the final nine holes of the 2006 championship. A 5-9 golfer who is ranked No. 1 in the latest Golfweek/Sagarin Performance Index, Blumenherst settled down to play her final seven holes at two-under-par as she notched birdies on No. 15 and No. 17.

"Amanda was able to get on a lot of greens and was able to get her putter going better at this tournament than she has had it going," said Brooks. "Strong hitting and putting on this course is going to do the job."

Both Liz Janangelo and Jennifer Pandolfi finished tied for eighth in the individual action as the do turned in a 10-over-par 226 on Sunday. Janangelo, a native of West Hartford, Conn., finished the weekend with a 73. She totaled two birdies on the day on the fifth and 17th holes, while her 37 pars over the weekend were tied for the third-most in the field.

Continuing to play some of the best golf of her career, Pandolfi finished the weekend with a 77 and totaled her second straight top-10 finish. A product of Navarre, Fla., Pandolfi had an excellent day going on Sunday as she was one-over-par heading to the par-three eighth hole before suffering a four-putt double-bogey. She went on to bogey three out of the next eight holes, but cranked out a birdie on the par-five 17th hole to bring her score back to five-over-par. It marks the second straight year she has finished in the top-10 of the ACC Championship.

Freshman Jennie Lee rebounded from an 81 on Saturday with a one-over-par, 73, to close out the tournament with a 228, which was tied for 13th. Lee, who is from Huntington Beach, Calif., began the day with a par on the first hole but went on to bogey three straight. She calmed herself down and was able to play stellar golf as she collected birdies on No. 7 and No. 14.

After totaling a team-best four birdies on the day, junior Anna Grzebien finished with a 76 on Sunday. A Narragansett, R.I., native, Grzebien notched a 54-hole total of 231 to rank tied for 15th and finished the weekend with seven birdies to rank tied for fifth. On Sunday, she made the turn at one-under-par with birdies on the fourth and fifth holes, but had bogies on the 10th and 11th holes to start the back nine. After an errant tee shot on No. 14, Grzebien went on to suffer an eight on the par-four, but was able to regroup and notch birdies on No. 16 and No. 17.

As a team, Duke totaled 12 birdies in the final round including four on the par-five 17th hole to close out the day.

"Pinehurst is such a wonderful place and these are the nicest people you are going to meet," said Brooks. "There has been so much history here and to win in Pinehurst is great."

Duke will next await the NCAA Regionals, which will be announced on Monday, May 1 at 4:00 p.m. (EST). The East Regional will be played on May 11-13 at the Bryan Park Champions Course in Browns Summitt, N.C.

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rank team scores
1 Duke 294 297 294 885 +21
2 Virginia 308 300 296 904 +40
3 Wake Forest 314 302 298 914 +50
4 Maryland, U. of 308 304 305 917 +53
5 Florida State Univ. 302 307 309 918 +54
6 North Carolina State 302 312 306 920 +56
7 North Carolina, U of 315 306 307 928 +64
8 Miami, U. of 316 310 307 933 +69
9 Boston College 330 323 314 967 +103

start finish player school scores
1 1 Amanda Blumenherst Duke 69 71 72 212 −4
T2 2 Leah Wigger Virginia 76 72 71 219 +3
T4 3 Nancy Mountcastle North Carolina State 74 75 73 222 +6
8 4 Caroline Westrup Florida State Univ. 72 79 72 223 +7
T4 5 Katie Trotter Maryland, U. of 72 77 75 224 +8
T4 T6 Katie Stepanek Maryland, U. of 75 74 76 225 +9
T9 T6 Jessica Steward Miami, U. of 74 78 73 225 +9
T13 T8 Jean Chua Wake Forest 75 78 73 226 +10
T13 T8 Elizabeth Janangelo Duke 76 77 73 226 +10
T4 T8 Jennifer Pandolfi Duke 75 74 77 226 +10
T13 T11 Mandy Goins Wake Forest 79 74 74 227 +11
T9 T11 Rachel Smith Virginia 75 77 75 227 +11
T17 T13 Jennie Lee Duke 74 81 73 228 +12
T9 T13 Carly Truitt Virginia 78 74 76 228 +12
T17 T15 Whitney Brummett Florida State Univ. 76 79 76 231 +15
T2 T15 Jaclyn Burch Florida State Univ. 75 73 83 231 +15
T17 T15 Anna Grzebien Duke 80 75 76 231 +15
T26 T15 Lauren Mielbrecht Virginia 80 77 74 231 +15
T13 T19 Katie Miller North Carolina, U of 78 75 79 232 +16
T17 T19 Josie Shinn Miami, U. of 80 75 77 232 +16
T22 T19 Maggie Simons Wake Forest 84 72 76 232 +16
T9 T22 Stephanie Derrey North Carolina State 75 77 81 233 +17
T22 T22 Lauren Hunt North Carolina, U of 77 79 77 233 +17
T26 T24 Lorraine Ballerano North Carolina State 77 80 77 234 +18
T26 T24 Laura Caniff North Carolina, U of 82 75 77 234 +18
T22 T26 Jennie Arseneault Virginia 79 77 79 235 +19
T33 T26 Sydney Crane North Carolina, U of 79 80 76 235 +19
T30 T26 Ann Laney North Carolina, U of 81 77 77 235 +19
T33 T26 Kelly MacWhinnie Maryland, U. of 82 77 76 235 +19
T22 T30 Molly Birmingham North Carolina State 76 80 80 236 +20
T30 T30 Nannette Hill Wake Forest 80 78 78 236 +20
T30 T32 Kelly Calkin Maryland, U. of 79 79 79 237 +21
T26 T32 Caroline Larsson Florida State Univ. 79 78 80 237 +21
36 T34 Tiffany Prats Miami, U. of 82 78 78 238 +22
T33 T34 Hagen Weintraub Miami, U. of 80 79 79 238 +22
37 36 Emily Cannon Boston College 79 82 78 239 +23
T38 37 Laura Crawford Wake Forest 80 85 75 240 +24
T17 38 Lara Smilnak Boston College 78 77 87 242 +26
40 39 Jessica Vincent North Carolina State 80 87 76 243 +27
T38 40 Whitney Wright Florida State Univ. 88 77 81 246 +30



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