Li Turns in Second Consecutive Top-5 Finish; Blue Devils Place T2 at Windy City Classic

Monday, October 5

Glencoe, IL

Duke University

Windy City Collegiate Classic

Round 1 & 2 Results Final Results

Photo by: Duke Athletics

Li Turns in Second Consecutive Top-5 Finish; Blue Devils Place T2 at Windy City Classic

10/6/2026 4:46:00 PM | Women's Golf

Scoring

GLENCOE, Ill. – The sixth-ranked Duke women's golf team shot a team-best even-par, 284, Tuesday in the final round of the Windy City Collegiate Classic and tied for second at the 6,361-yard, par-71 Lake Shore Country Club in Glencoe.

The Blue Devils concluded with a 54-hole total of 862 after totaling rounds of 293, 285 and 284 over the two days to finish in a tie with Virginia. Stanford won the team title with an 856.

Duke senior Katie Li turned in her second consecutive top-five individual finish with rounds of 74, 71 and 70 for a 2-over, 215, which tied for fifth. It marked the second time in her collegiate career she has posted back-to-back top-10 finishes. The Blue Devils also featured Avery McCrery (T10) and Mia Hammond (T14) registering top-15 placements to help pace Duke.

HOW IT HAPPENED – ROUND THREE

Duke opened the final round on hole No. 1 Tuesday morning.
Rookie Mia Hammond led the way for Duke in the final round, carding a 3-under-par, 68, to move into the top 20 of the individual leaderboard. She finished with scores of 76, 73 and 68 for a 4-over, 217, which tied for 14th. After seven pars in a row to open the third round, Hammond registered back-to-back birdies on No. 8 and No. 9. She holed out from the greenside bunker on No. 8 for birdie. Then on the par-5 ninth, she went for the green in two from 236 yards away before getting up-and-down for birdie from behind the green. Hammond, a native of New Albany, Ohio, moved to 3-under as she drained a 6-foot birdie on the 105-yard, par-3 No. 14. After a bogey on No. 17, Hammond drained a 20-foot birdie putt to finish with a 68. She hit 15 greens, 12 fairways and rolled 30 putts.
Katie Li bogeyed the first hole Tuesday morning, but then parred the next seven. On the ninth, Li hit her 5-iron from 207 yards to five feet for eagle to move to 1-under. She reached 2-under after draining an 18-footer for birdie on No. 11. Li, who hails from Basking Ridge, New Jersey, played her final seven holes at 1-over with six pars and a bogey on No. 13 to finish with a 1-under, 70. She turned in her second top-10 finish in a row with rounds of 74, 71 and 70 for a 2-over, 215. Li hit 16 greens on the day.
In her first event of the season, sophomore Avery McCrery turned in a tie for 10th placement with a 3-over, 216. She turned in rounds of 75, 70 and 71 over the 54 holes. McCrery parred her first hole Tuesday and then drained a 35-foot birdie putt on No. 2. After dropping three shots over the next two holes, McCrery rebounded by hitting her 7-iron from 142 yards to a foot on the 385-yard, par-4 fifth hole. She played her final 14 holes at 2-under as she stuck her 48-degree wedge from 105 yards to inches on No. 14 for birdie.
After an impressive first round with an even-par, 71, Anna Cañado Espinal shot 78 and 75 the final two rounds to finish tied for 39th with an 11-over, 224. She finished with two birdies in the final round.
Carla De Troia closed the tournament with a 5-over, 76, as she was held without a birdie in the final round. She finished tied for 28th with a 7-over, 220.

HOW IT HAPPENED – ROUND TWO

The Blue Devils opened the second round on hole No. 10 for the second round in a row Monday afternoon.
Avery McCrery turned in her first under-par round of the season with a 1-under, 70 to move up to a tie for 21st on the individual leaderboard. She opened by sinking a 25-foot birdie putt on the 380-yard, par-4 No. 10 and then parred the next eight holes. McCrery, who is from Wilmington, Delaware, suffered a bogey on No. 1 and then parred the next two holes. She drained another long birdie of 20 feet on No. 4, but suffered back-to-back bogeys on No. 5 and No. 6. McCrery went to the final hole, the 498-yard, par-5 No. 9, and holed out for eagle from 99 yards with her 48-degree wedge to finish with a 1-under, 70. She turned in 29 putts on the afternoon.
Both Carla De Troia and Katie Li signed for even-par rounds of 71 for the Blue Devils.
De Troia, a native of Paris, France, had a solid start to her second round, totaling five pars and a birdie on No. 11. She then had bogeys on No. 16, No. 18 and No. 1. De Troia was able to get two shots back with birdies on No. 2 and No. 4 to get back to even par. After a bogey on No. 5, she registered three pars and closed with her team-best fourth birdie of the afternoon on No. 9 to finish with a 71.
Li held an even-par score through eight holes as she notched six pars, a bogey on No. 11 and an 18-foot birdie putt on No. 15. She dropped three shots on holes No. 18, No. 1 and No. 2, but responded by collecting birdies on three consecutive holes. Li sank an 18-foot birdie on No. 3, hit her pitching wedge from 115 yards to five feet for birdie on No. 4 and then rolled in a 16-footer for birdie on No. 5 to return to even par. She parred her final four holes to close the day.
Mia Hammond signed for a 2-over, 73, as she totaled 16 pars and two bogeys. She hit 17 greens and 14 fairways, but couldn't get her putter working in the afternoon.
Anna Cañado Espinal signed for a 7-over, 78, in the second round as she was held without a birdie.

HOW IT HAPPENED – ROUND ONE

Duke opened the round on hole No. 10.
With an even-par, 71, to open the morning, Anna Cañado Espinal led the Blue Devils and was tied for seventh on the individual leaderboard. After opening with nine pars and two bogeys over her first 11 holes, Cañado Espinal closed strong with birdies on No. 3 and No. 5 to finish 2-under over her final seven holes.
Junior Carla De Troia was 2-over through nine holes, but closed her final nine holes with an even-par score to finish with a 73. She collected birdies on No. 1 and No. 8 on the way in, while adding five pars and bogeys on No. 6 and No. 7. De Troia was tied for 22nd on the leaderboard.
Katie Li was the lone Blue Devil to open the tournament with a birdie on No. 10 as she hit her 9-iron from 128 yards to 10 feet and drained the putt. After a bogey on No. 11, Li played the next five holes at 1-under as she rolled in a 12-foot birdie on No. 13. Li went through a tough stretch, playing the next 11 holes at 5-over-par. She closed with three pars and drained a 15-foot birdie on No. 7 to finish with a 74.
Seeing her first action of the 2026-27 season, sophomore Avery McCrery had a solid start by parring the first hole and then rolled in a 20-foot birdie on the 185-yard, par-3 No. 11 to get to 1-under. After a bogey on No. 13, McCrery got a stroke back on No. 15 as she hit her 8-iron from 141 yards to six feet for birdie. She played the final 12 holes at 5-over to finish with a 75.
Mia Hammond opened her day with six consecutive pars and then hit her 6-hybrid from 170 yards to 20 feet and made the birdie to get to 1-under. After a double-bogey on No. 17, Hammond closed the final 10 holes at 4-over to finish with a 5-over, 76.

NOTES

Stanford won the event with an 856, while Duke (862), Virginia (862), Oregon (864), Purdue (869), Arizona State (873), Illinois (880), Columbia (880), Northwestern (884) and Iowa State (886) rounded out the top 10 teams.
Virginia's Jaclyn LaHa won the individual title with a 7-under, 206.
Avery McCrery collected her 13th and 14th career rounds of even or under par in the second and third rounds. She also notched her second collegiate eagle in the same round.
Katie Li registered her eighth career eagle to move into a tie for third on Duke's all-time record charts. She is two away from matching Phoebe Brinker's record of 10.
Li notched her 39th career even or under par round and her fourth career top-10 finish.
Mia Hammond has now turned in even or under par scores in four of six rounds competed in as a Blue Devil. She leads Duke with two rounds in the 60s.
Hammond's 40 pars ranked tied for fourth overall.
Duke played the par-5 holes at 5-under-par, which was second among the field.
The Blue Devils finished the week with 31 birdies and their two eagles led the tournament.

QUOTES

"The take away from this event is that things can change a lot, and it's never time to stop playing with passion. We made up 13 shots, just today. I'm very proud of how the team fought and took advantage of the windy conditions. The second round was good, but today was special, in tough conditions." -- Duke head coach Dan Brooks

WHAT IS NEXT

Duke will remain local in the next tournament as the Blue Devils compete in the Ruth's Chris Tar Heel Invitational Oct. 16-18 at Finley Golf Club in Chapel Hill, North Carolina.

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