The women's golf team opened its fall season this weekend at the Lady Tar Heel Invitational in Chapel Hill. Though the Blue Devils are disappointed with their sixth place finish, they realize that the season has just begun.
Duke's three day total of 925 placed it 17 strokes behind champion Tennessee and was 34 stokes higher than last year's score of 891, which earned the Blue Devils a second place finish.
Coach Dan Brooks emphasized that the Blue Devils could only do so much in the tournament because the Finley Golf Course was in such poor condition.
He places most of the blame on the course's slow and bumpy greens and he believes that bad greens hurt better players the most.
"It's kind of hard to talk about this tournament," Brooks said. "We played on some greens [at Finley] that were exceptionally bad. They're normally not very good, and bumpy greens are, by-and-large, the most frustrating for the best players. It equalizes the field.
"I don't think I could ask more of my team in terms of attitude. I think I was more frustrated by the greens than the players who were actually on the greens because I know my team is a good putting team."
Even though the course was in such poor condition, sophomore honorable mention All-American Jenny Chuasiriporn did not use the greens as an excuse for her individual performance or as an excuse for the team's performance.
Out of a field of almost 100 golfers, Chuasiriporn finished tied for third with a score of 220 (69-73-78), nine strokes behind UNC's Kelly McCall, who won the tournament with an eight-under par score of 211.
Though the greens were poorly maintained, Chuasiriporn realizes that everyone had to deal with the same playing conditions.
"I don't think [the greens] really affected me too much," Chuasiriporn said. "I played pretty well the first day, and then I guess I had a gradual [down slide]. I don't think the greens at all had a direct effect on anyone's game. I mean, everyone had to deal with it. I think I played okay, but I think I just ran into a couple of mental blocks-things that always happen in the first couple of tournaments of the year."
Chuasiriporn entered Sunday's final round tied for second overall. She was only three shots behind McCall. But she finished the tournament with a final-round 78 that left her nine strokes back in third place.
"Jenny was not happy with her performance," Brooks said. "It was well above what she felt she can do. I saw her on the range before the round [Sunday] and she was striking it very well. It was her short game and she missed a few approach shots-I saw that she knocked it thin a few times [during the round]."
Despite the team's sixth place finish, the Blue Devils were able to gain some valuable experience at the tourney. Brooks pointed out that Duke's two freshmen recruits, Anne Cardea and Amia Lehman, played surprisingly well, finishing 15th and 31st respectively, in their first college tournament.
The Blue Devils will spend this week preparing for the NCAA Fall Classic, which begins on Friday in Columbus, Ohio.
"We obviously know we have things to work on after today," Chuasiriporn said. "Hopefully we can each individually figure out what we need to improve on. Most of the time it is our mental game, but it's all on an individual basis. Hopefully we'll be able to change that going into the fall season."
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