The women's golf team recorded its first win this season March 10 at the three-day Betsy Rawls Longhorn Classic by shooting a score of 909. The team was 11 shots down after the first two rounds of play, but made a remarkable comeback to win the tournament by three strokes, defeating the second place Arizona team.
"We won it all, and that's about as good as you can do," head coach Dan Brooks said. "I've been doing this for 12 years and this is a particularly special win."
The team played only four players in the final round of play on Sunday after senior Stephanie Sparks withdrew with a back injury. Sparks played the first two rounds with a modified swing, but her condition worsened towards the end of the weekend and she was unable to complete tournament play on Sunday.
"Every player's score had to count in the last round, and they all knew that going in," Brooks said. The team responded by shooting a stellar 302 on Sunday to pull away from the competition.
Freshman Jenny Chuasiriporn came within one stroke of winning top honors as she fired a 222 to finish second in the tournament. Chuasiriporn was a two-time Rolex All-American in high school, and has made a smooth transition from high school golf to the more competitive college green. "From the beginning, I've been trying new mental techniques, and they finally came around for me," Chuasiriporn said.
Two other Duke golfers finished in the top 20 as sophomore Alicia Allison tied for fifth with a score of 225 and senior second team All-American Kathi Poppmeier shot a 230 to earn a tie for 14th place. Blue Devil freshman Filippa Hansson finished tied for 50th with a score of 244.
"It felt really good to have the team effort and be able to pull through in a tough situation," Chuasiriporn said. "It shows how much depth we have in the team and how far we can go for the rest of the season."
"This is an impressive comeback under normal circumstances," Brooks said, "but to win with an injured player is particularly spectacular."
Cold, windy weather left the course at a chilly 20 degrees during the weekend, making play difficult during the tournament, Brooks said. "Sometimes I thought it was closer to ten degrees, but there was no defeat in their attitudes-they were going to confront the elements and win," he said.
"This is the kind of tournament you're going to win if you're the gutsiest team, and that's how we won it," Brooks said.
Chuasiriporn said she was especially pleased with the team's play after the loss of Sparks on Sunday and hopes this tournament will serve as a building block towards higher achievements throughout the regular season and beyond. "We're beating teams we lost to in the fall and it's wonderful to see so much improvement," she said. "Our consistency has gotten a lot stronger with our scores; we're putting in three good, solid rounds.
"If we can stay healthy, I see us having a strong postseason," she said.
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