CHAPEL HILL -- If golf is a mental game, the Duke women's golf team did a lot to further its cause this weekend.
The Lady Tar Heel Invitational, played on the A.E. Finley Golf Course in Chapel Hill, proved to be an important stepping stone for a talented Blue Devil squad that could contend for the NCAA championship next spring.
"What we've got to do is foster some serious belief in our capabilities," head coach Dan Brooks said. "I don't think that we could win the championship right now, but I think by the spring we could. I think half of the gap between the teams that right now could win the championship [and our team] is going to be filled by us believing in ourselves, as we are right now.
"I think we took a huge step in this tournament by just believing that you ought to be shooting around even par."
Duke picked up second-place honors behind Wake Forest, who shot a one-over-par 877 at the tournament. The Blue Devils finished with 891 and were followed closely by host North Carolina at 893.
On Friday and Saturday, the Blue Devils put in two solid rounds of golf, scoring 300 and 302. It was evident after that second day, however, that those scores would not allow Duke to win the tournament. Wake Forest opened a 15-stroke lead on Saturday, and North Carolina even slid in front of Duke that day. In fact, it appeared that if the Blue Devils posted another 300-stroke day, placing better than fourth in the tournament would be out of the question.
Duke didn't let that fact stop its drive and desire. On Sunday, the Blue Devils came through with the tournament's best day at 289.
"I couldn't be any happier as far as the attitude and personalities on the team," Brooks said Sunday. "I'm especially happy with the team because it seems like today their expectations were high. It looked to me like they were content--they started going low, they started getting under par and they were content there.
"You have to believe you're that level of a player to be able to be content there and keep it going. We talked about that after the first two rounds. We talked about how they should be the ones shooting around 290."
The Blue Devils responded on Sunday, and had three players shoot under par for the round. Seniors Kathi Poppmeier and Jamie Koizumi both grabbed two-under 71s, while freshman Jenny Chuasiriporn shot 72. Poppmeier finished fifth overall with her one-under 218 for the tournament.
Even though that threesome led Duke through most of the tournament, Brooks cited the play of sophomore Alicia Allison as crucial for the Blue Devil surge during the final round.
"Things are going well for [Poppmeier and Chuasiriporn] and I'm happy for them," Brooks said. "But what's most important in a team event is the person that doesn't have it going perfectly, and then they still manage to get in with one or two over par. That is the person you absolutely have to have on a team. We had that in Alicia."
Allison stuck through Sunday's round to pull in a two-over par 75, which included a couple of spectacular shots by the Santa Ana, Calif., native. On the par-five No. 13, Allison hooked her tee shot, which resulted in a difficult lie. Instead of being disgusted with that shot, Allison knocked the ball out of the trees onto the green. She followed with two putts for a birdie.
On No. 15, Allison nailed a long putt--which hit the rim and dropped in--for another birdie.
"I like to pick out the player who I think was a pivotal person and it's the one who struggles a little bit," Brooks said. "I told Alicia that after the round. It was a crucial round."
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