Duke's Phoebe Brinker takes ACC individual title

April 15, 2022 | by Jim Young of AmateurGolf.com

Courtesy of Duke Athletics

Duke sophomore seized control of the tournament with a second-round 65; Wake Forest claims top seed in match play qualifying

After tying an ACC record with a 7-under-par 65 on Thursday, Duke's Phoebe Brinker finished off a six-shot victory over teammate Erica Shepherd to win the ACC individual championship Friday afternoon at The Reserve Golf Club in Pawley's Island, S.C.

Brinker carded five birdies and an eagle on her way to a bogey-free, 7-under 65 in the second round on Thursday. With a 9-under score of 135, she took a four-stroke over North Carolina's Krista Junkkari (139) into Friday's final round and shot a 1-under 71 on Friday to finish off her first collegiate victory.

Brinker's win also marked the 16th time a Blue Devil has won the ACC individual crown over the past 23 championships.

"I hit it pretty far, so the par fives are reachable, which always helps, but overall, I just hit a lot of fairways, a lot of greens and I had my game this week," said Brinker.

Phoebe Brinker (L) and Erica Shepherd

Shepherd followed a second-round 68 with a 69 on Friday to slip into second place at 4-under 212, while Lauren Walsh and Virunpat Olankitkunchai of Wake Forest, Kendall Griffin of Louisville and Amanda Sambach of Virginia tied for third at 1-under 213. Junkkari struggled to an 80 over her final 18 holes and finished tied for 13th.

Wake Forest, ranked fourth nationally by Golfweek/Sagarin, earned the top seed for Saturday's match play semifinals against four-seeded Virginia after finishing at the top of the field on Friday during the stroke-play portion with an even par score of 864.

Florida State, which grabbed the second-seed at 5-over, will face third-seeded Duke (+9) in the other semifinal match with the winners advancing to Sunday's championship match.

"I cannot wait," said Brinker about advancing to match play. "The team has some experience in match play so I just cannot wait to play a different style with my team."

ACC Championships | Match Play Semifinals

Saturday, April 16
No. 1 Wake Forest vs. No. 4 Virginia
No. 2 Florida State vs. No. 3 Duke

Championship Match | Sunday, April 17
Duke Athletic Communications contributed to this report.

Results: ACC Women's Championship

Place	Player	Location	Pts	Scores
1	Phoebe Brinker	Wilmington, DE	800	70-65-71=206
2	Erica Shepherd	Greenwood, IN	500	75-68-69=212
T3	Lauren Walsh	, Ireland	400	75-67-73=215
T3	Kendall Griffin	Sebring, FL	400	73-69-73=215
T3	Amanda Sambach	Davidson, NC	400	70-72-73=215