Women's golf team member Kathi Poppmeier didn't take a trip over spring break so she could concentrate on her game.
She was rewarded with a trip up the leader board this weekend at the Lady Gamecock Classic in Columbia, S.C. She finished in second place and helped the Blue Devils finish runner-up in a tournament for the second time this year. The team also placed second at the Carolyn Cudone Intercollegiate last fall.
"Last week, after we got back from Texas where I didn't feel I played well, I decided to stay at Duke and practice rather than go somewhere on vacation," Poppmeier said. "It really paid off. I worked on my swing and I went into the tournament all excited. I knew I was in the position where I could play well if I could just focus well. It worked out."
Poppmeier finished at 215 (70-72-73) for the tournament, falling by the narrowest of margins to Florida's Jeanne-Marie Busuttil (214--73-68-73). Poppmeier entered the final round trailing Busuttil by one shot but could not pull even early on Sunday. Instead, she fell three strokes behind after her birdie putt at the 16th hole lipped out while Busuttil's fell in. Having also failed to drop a short birdie putt at the 15th, Poppmeier said she knew by the 17th tee that she needed a birdie-eagle finish to catch Busuttil.
"The last four holes I knew I had to make something up," Poppmeier said. "I had a birdie chance on every hole but it just didn't work out."
Poppmeier almost pulled it off anyway. She holed a putt from the fringe of the par-four 17th hole to pull to within two. Then, she smacked her second shot onto the green of the par-five 18th hole to set up an eagle opportunity from about 35 feet away that could have sent the tournament into a playoff.
"My eagle putt went right over the hole and just didn't go in," Poppmeier said. "I hit a good putt and it rolled over the hole."
Poppmeier made the following putt and fell one short stroke of forcing sudden death when Busuttil made par. Head coach Dan Brooks was still pleased with Poppmeier's performance.
"I liked the way she remained poised down the stretch," Brooks said. "The fact that she birdied the last two holes was real positive. She was in control of the parts of the game that she could control, and that's all she could do. She just had a couple of little putts--not real little, but fairly small--that got away and didn't fall in during the round. "
Brooks also liked the way the team performed after several disappointing finishes earlier this season. Florida won the tournament, beating the Blue Devils for the top spot by 11 shots. In falling only to Florida, Duke finished ahead of Atlantic Coast Conference rivals Wake Forest and North Carolina by two and 17 shots, respectively.
Behind Poppmeier, Liz Lepanto shot 232 from the team's fifth position to finish in 26th place. Senior Pam Soliman was one stroke behind Lepanto, with Alicia Allison and Jamie Koizumi at 235 and 237, respectively.
"I'm proud of the team because they've been through a tough spring both finish wise and practice-wise," said Brooks, whose team has seen its practice time limited due to bad weather this spring. "You've just have to be patient and let the game reward you for your work. That's what happened this week."
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