Sounding more like a recruitment letter for a Spanish slugfest, the women's golf team spent the last few days in the land of the sand at the Conquistadors Arizona Invitational.
Facing perhaps the stiffest competition this side of the NCAA Championships, the Blue Devils took their sticks and the entire golfing reputation of the East Coast out to Arizona to tackle the nation's elite collegiate golfers. Even without bloodshed, Duke made a point that it will be a team to be reckoned with come tournament time in May.
"I'm just really happy, but I'm not satisfied," head coach Dan Brooks said of his team's sixth-place finish. "We were talking about winning the tournament when we came down here and we're disappointed that we didn't. I'm not naive. I see those shots between us and the team that won. That's a lot of shots. But I also see how much better we are than the numbers we produced at this tournament. I don't think the players have really come close to what they're capable of."
The shots between Duke and the top team actually totaled 31, and the school that captured the title was the University of Texas. Duke wasn't the only team to get rushed by the Longhorns, as their winning margin of seven strokes over runner-up UCLA was capped by a strong final round. Texas was able to pull away on Wednesday behind the play of Kelli Kuehne, who finished second, and fellow teammate Heather Bowie, who ended the three-day event three shots behind champion Janice Moodie from San Jose State.
The Blue Devils' annual migration out West offered a slight twist this season. Amongst the faces on the Duke team was two-time All-American Stephanie Sparks, who had been sidelined for what seemed like ages due to a bad elbow. She has made the 18-hole journey less than six times in the past year and a half before arriving at Duke this fall, and played only a total of 10 rounds since classes began. Brooks said her steady overall play and 19th-place finish showed that Sparks is ready for the heat of competition.
"Stephanie's return is one thing that has me feeling really good," Brooks said. "This is a tough game. To come in after a year and a half of not even playing and shoot competitive rounds of 75-76-73.... Quite frankly, that impressed the hell out me."
Also impressive in leading Duke to its sixth-place finish was the play of senior Kathi Poppmeier. Her three consecutive rounds of 73 left her in fourth place, six shots behind Moodie. The second-team All-American is fast becoming a permanent fixture atop the leader boards at nearly every tournament. Her play in Arizona can't help but pave the way for future status.
"Kathi has gotten better every period of time that she has been out," Brooks said. "She had the opportunity to do some good practicing this winter in a sunny place, and I think it has really paid off for her."
Accompanying Sparks and Poppmeier on the trip was fellow senior Jamie Koizumi, who finished at 239. Also competing for the Blue Devils were sophomore Alicia Allison and freshman Jenny Chuasiriporn. Both golfers shot their best round on the tournament's final day. Allison's 232 total placed her one stroke ahead of her teammate.
So where exactly does this strong showing leave Duke? The team only has two more competitive tournaments to perfect its game before the highly anticipated postseason begins in early April.
"There's a lot of indicators on the team, within each individual player and in their games, that tells that we're going to be doing a lot better in a short period of time," Brooks said. "This team can compete with anybody in the country. The reason is because they've got talent, they've got experience and they want it. You can't ask for anything more than that."
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