Tenth-seeded Duke produced an up-and-down performance Monday at the NGCA Match Play Championship, winning one match and losing another to cap a second straight 36-hole day.
Playing in the tournament’s consolation bracket, the Blue Devils eased past 15th-seeded Colorado before going down against No. 11 TCU.
The afternoon match against the Horned Frogs gave Duke more than it could handle as TCU earned the victory, 3-2.
The Blue Devils fell behind early in all five matches but managed to catch up in two of them as junior Kim Donovan and freshman Lindy Duncan recorded wins.
Two other Duke players trailed throughout and could not recover, and freshman Courtney Ellenbogen’s slim lead through 15 holes disappeared late to give the Horned Frogs the victory.
Monday morning, though, Duke’s five golfers swept their matches against the Buffaloes, led by Donovan’s easy 7-and-6 win over Colorado’s second seed, Emily Talley. Duncan continued her strong play from the day before with a 4-and-2 win of her own.
Tuesday, Duke takes on No. 9 Kent State in its final match.
The NGCA Match Play Championship has a unique format that includes one day of combined-score team play followed by two days of match play. Sunday, Duke shot a combined 30-over par to earn the tenth seed going into Monday’s match play; the top eight seeds, led by Florida, were placed in the championship bracket, while the bottom eight seeds filled out the consolation bracket.
—from staff reports
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