Smith Places in Top 5 at Tar Heel; Blue Devils Finish Second Overall

Friday, October 17

Chapel Hill, N.C.

Duke University

Ruth's Chris Tar Heel Invitational

Photo by: Duke Athletics

Smith Places in Top 5 at Tar Heel; Blue Devils Finish Second Overall

10/19/2025 8:53:00 PM | Women's Golf

Scoring

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. – Graduate student Andie Smith carded a tied for fourth placement at the Ruth's Chris Tar Heel Invitational over the weekend, while the Duke women's golf team earned a runner-up finish at the 6,095-yard, par-70 Finley Golf Club in Chapel Hill.

After claiming the individual title a year ago, Smith closed strong with a tournament-best ledger of 5-under, 65, Sunday to move into a tie for fourth with a 2-under-par, 208. As a team, Duke totaled rounds of 282, 285 and 283 to finish second with a 54-hole score of 850. The Blue Devils were second behind Auburn (835).

HOW IT HAPPENED – ROUND THREE

Andie Smith had her putter working early in the final round as she drained a 10-footer for birdie on No. 2 and then a 15-foot birdie on No. 3 to get to 2-under early. She then parred five holes in a row and added a 35-foot birdie on No. 9. Smith, who hails from Hobe Sound, Florida, had a greenside chip-in on No. 10 and then hit her 54-degree wedge from 106 yards to five feet for birdie on No. 11 to get to 5-under. She connected on her sixth birdie on No. 15 as she hit her 5-wood from 242 yards to 40 feet and 2-putted. Smith suffered her lone bogey on No. 16 and then finished with two pars for a 5-under, 65. She hit 10 fairways, 14 greens and had 29 putts.
With a 1-under, 69, to finish the weekend, Katie Li finished tied for 21st for the event.She had three birdies on the day on No. 4, No. 12 and No. 15, including two on par-5 holes in which she hit in two.
Anna Cañado Espinal started her day with a par, bogey and then registered back-to-back birdies on No. 3 and No. 4. She held a 1-under score through nine holes and then finished the back nine with a 3-over ledger en route to a 2-over, 72, score. Cañado Espinal finished the week with her second straight top-15 finish with rounds of 71, 72 and 72 for a 5-over, 215.
After turning in a 54-hole score of 216, Rianne Malixi posted her first collegiate top-20 finish.She struggled in the final round with a 77 as she was held to only one birdie.
Carla De Troia closed the weekend with a 77.

HOW IT HAPPENED – ROUND TWO

Following 36 holes of action, the Blue Devils were in fourth place with 7-over, 567, behind Auburn (555), NC State (562) and Virginia Tech (564).
Freshman Rianne Malixi paced Duke in the second round with a career-best 1-under, 69.She opened with five pars and then stuck her 5-iron from 186 yards to three feet for birdie on No. 6.After a bogey on No. 9, she reeled off two birdies on No. 10 and No. 12 to get to 2-under.She dropped three shots over the next two holes and then nearly holed out for eagle on the 15th hole while settling for a tap-in birdie.Malixi then rolled in a 10-footer for birdie on No. 16 and finished with a 69.She had 28 putts on the day.
Andie Smith opened the day by sinking a 15-foot birdie putt on No. 1 and then hit her 54-degree wedge from 112 yards to six feet for birdie on No. 2. She then played the final 16 holes at 3-over to finish with a 1-over, 71. Smith hit 16 greens in the second round.
Anna Cañado Espinal had a tough start to her round as she was 4-over through 12 holes, but had a hot finish with birdies on No. 13 and No. 17 to finish with a 72.
Katie Li rolled in a 20-footer for birdie on No. 2 and then dropped four shots over the next 12 holes. She added a 9-foot birdie on No. 16 and finished with a 73. Carla De Troia was limited to one birdie on day two and signed for a 76.

HOW IT HAPPENED – ROUND ONE

Duke opened the first round with a 2-over, 282, and sat in a tie for third place.NC State carded a 5-under, 275, to lead the field, while Auburn was second with a 1-over, 281.
Sophomore Carla De Troia opened the event with a team-best 1-under-par, 69, and was tied for fourth on the individual leaderboard.She opened the day with birdies on No. 3, No. 6 and No. 8 and was 2-under through eight holes.De Troia suffered back-to-back bogeys on No. 9 and No. 10, but had a nice birdie on the 518-yard, par-5 No. 12 to get back to 1-under for the day.She parred the final six holes.
After getting unlucky on the first hole and finishing with a double bogey, freshman Rianne Malixi hit her pitching wedge from 117 yards to three feet for birdie on No. 3 and then hit her 9-iron from 119 yards to seven feet for birdie on No. 7 to get back to even par.She had bogeys on No. 9 and No. 10, but responded by sticking approach shots to three feet for birdie on No. 11 and No. 12 to once again get back to even.Malixi closed the day by shooting even par over the final four holes to finish with an even-par, 70, and was tied for ninth.
Sophomore Anna Cañado Espinal totaled birdies on No. 3 and No. 6 on her way to shooting 1-under, 33, on the front nine.She had three bogeys over a span of four holes on the back nine, before rolling in a birdie on the 387-yard, par-4 No. 16.Cañado Espinal parred the final two holes to finish with a 1-over, 71, and was tied for 21st.
With a total of 14 pars on the day, graduate student Andie Smith signed for a 2-over, 72.She bogeyed holes No. 1 and No. 3, before collecting pars on the next eight holes.Smith 2-putted for birdie on the par-5 No. 12 for her only birdie of the day.Overall, she played the final 15 holes at even par.
Junior Katie Li opened with two pars and then rolled in a 15-footer for birdie on No. 3.She went on to play the next 13 holes at 6-over.Li stuck her pitching wedge from 121 yards to two feet for birdie on No. 17 and then bogeyed No. 18 to finish with a 75.

NOTES

Duke finished the weekend with 41 birdies.
Carla De Troia tied for the lead among the field with a 3-under score on par-3 holes.
Rianne Malixi collected 11 birdies over 54 holes to rank tied for second overall.
Four different Blue Devils collected rounds in the 60s. Andie Smith had her 20th career round in the 60s, while Katie Li notched her ninth.
Smith posted her 40th career round of even or under par.
Duke has finished first or second in each of the last two tournaments.

QUOTES

"I'm proud of the team's effort this week. Everyone made a significant contribution. Finley was playing tough. The rough was deep and the wind pretty strong, particularly today.Congratulations to Auburn for their consistency all three days."Duke head coach Dan Brooks

WHAT IS NEXT

Duke will close the fall season next weekend at the Landfall Tradition in Wilmington.It will take place Oct. 24-26.

To stay up to date with Blue Devils women's golf, follow the team on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook by searching "DukeWGOLF".

#GoDuke

Duke Results
Anna Cañado Espinal 71-72-72=215 (T14, +5)
Andie Smith 72-71-65=208 (T4, -2)
Katie Li   75-73-69=217 (T21, +7)
Rianne Malixi   70-69-77=216 (T17, +6)
Carla De Troia 69-76-77=222 (T40, +12)
Team   282-285-283=850 (2, +10)