The sixth-ranked women's golf team seems to have finally found a winning combination.
After having two second-place finishes in the fall, the Blue Devils were searching for a successful spring-one in which the golfers aimed to take the program one step further.
In just three tournaments this spring, Duke has already captured two tournament titles. The Blue Devils picked up their first victory of the season March 8-10 in Austin, Texas, at the Betsy Rawls Longhorn Classic, and edged out a one-stroke win at the Lady Gamecock Invitational this past weekend in Columbia, S.C.
After a record-breaking day on Saturday, Duke narrowly escaped with a first-place finish over conference foe Wake Forest. The Blue Devils took a 12-stroke lead into Sunday's final round, and despite the pressure of maintaining the lead, Duke finished with another championship trophy.
"It was a little nerve-wracking the last day, but a win is a win and I'm very, very excited for the team," head coach Dan Brooks said. "We were trying to think the right things... but I think that when we got on the golf course, it's a mental thing and you just end up getting a little defensive out there."
Senior All-American Kathi Poppmeier also felt that nervousness contributed to the team's performance on the final day.
"We all knew that in the tournament before in Texas, we were behind 11 strokes, and we went and won it," Poppmeier said. "Maybe the feeling that this could also happen to us was a little bit with us.... We started nervous and the gap was smaller and smaller, and I'm very happy that it worked out and that we won, because I think we still played well."
The 286 for which the Blue Devils combined on Saturday in Columbia marked a tournament record at the 14th annual Lady Gamecock. Poppmeier headed up the Blue Devil attack, falling just one shot shy of a tournament record with a two-under-par 69. She finished with a 217, good enough to garner second-place individual honors in South Carolina.
The Blue Devils' 305 on the final day gave them just enough of a margin to maintain their lead, but Poppmeier felt the team came together remarkably well to hold onto its first-place finish.
"I think that we all knew that even though we didn't play great the last day, we really played every shot as the shot which counts, and then we would come out the winners," Poppmeier said. "I think the team chemistry we had going on at the tournament was so perfect that it just helped us to gain the extra shot over Wake Forest.... [Wake Forest] has done that a few times to us-winning by just one shot-so it was great to get them back."
Although the Blue Devils have likely established themselves as the team to beat in the East, Brooks still feels that the team can improve to put itself on the level of perennial powers such as San Jose State, UCLA and Arizona State, which are ranked Nos. 1, 2 and 3, respectively.
"We're really interested in beating three or four teams out west-the very top teams...." Brooks said. "I think I've got a team that when they step out on the golf course, they're going to be playing with the idea that they know what kind of numbers it will take to beat the very best.... You can step on it if you do it correctly mentally, you can set goals as if every great team in the country is on the golf course. That's what we're going to shoot for."
One of the benefits that the Blue Devils looked to capitalize upon during this spring was the return of senior Stephanie Sparks, an All-American in 1993 and 1994. Sparks missed all of the 1994-95 campaign due to an elbow injury, but came back to finish her final year of eligibility this year. After competing in Duke's opening tournament in Arizona and starting off in the Betsy Rawls Longhorn Classic, Sparks missed the final round in Texas and all of the tournament in South Carolina due to a back injury.
"Chances are pretty good that she'll play at our tournament this weekend," Brooks said. "We're waiting for her back to heal up. I think she's going to be OK."
The supporting cast behind the All-American tandem of Poppmeier and Sparks provides Duke with depth which could finally enable it to put up the consistent numbers necessary to beat those top teams. Sophomore Alicia Allison and freshman Jenny Chuasiriporn have been solid contributors for the Blue Devils all year, while senior Jamie Koizumi, junior Liz Lepanto and freshmen Filippa Hansson and Amanda Loewen continue to battle for the fifth spot on a talent-laden squad.
Yet despite all the honors that Duke has received this year, Brooks and the team still see room for improvement.
"We've got some statistical things that are showing us that we can actually play consistently in the 280-range," Brooks said. "We've been there a few times, but we can do it consistently just with some hard work on certain areas and mainly just with some good belief in ourselves. I think that's our biggest challenge right now is just believing.... This is the kind of game that just takes a lot of belief, just tons of it.
"So that's where we are-we've just got to believe. If we can do that, we've got everything else that we need."
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