The women's golf squad took advantage of its two spring break tournaments, as it solidified its spot among the top echelon of national competition. On March 16, the Blue Devils garnered second-place honors at the Betsy Rawls Longhorn Classic in Austin, Texas, finishing a single, painful stroke behind Texas Christian.
Junior Alicia Allison led the way for the Blue Devils, shooting a three-day score of 226, which tied her for third individually. Sophomore Jenny Chuasiriporn tied for 13th place with 235 strokes for the tournament. Sophomore Amanda Loewen finished in a tie for 21st, while freshman Amie Lehman tied for 29th and sophomore Filippa Hansson tied for 46th to round out the field for the Blue Devils.
"The number one thing I'm excited about in that tournament is Alicia Allison's play," head coach Dan Brooks said. "Excited, but at the same time, disappointed. I felt like she was going to win it. She was very concentrated, and it looked like it was hers, but then some people got in some hot rounds at the end."
Despite the team's frustrating finish, defending Atlantic Coast Conference champion Chuasiriporn suggested that the second-place mark didn't upset the team.
"It was unfortunate, but I think we took it OK," Chuasiriporn said. "The weather was a little cold, and the course was difficult, and some of us were out of sync."
The weather affected nearly every golfer in the tournament, Brooks said, generating higher scores across the board. The windy weather, combined with the hilly, par-73 course at Austin Great Hills Golf Club, made for a difficult weekend.
"Those kinds of conditions take a lot of creativity," Brooks said. "That creativity is why I was so pleased with Alicia."
The Blue Devils came out of the Texas tournament ready to shine at the Lady Gamecock Classic in Columbia, S.C., the next weekend.
Duke, however, finished tied for third with Furman, three strokes behind tournament champion Tennessee and one stroke behind second-place North Carolina.
Chuasiriporn fired a three-day 218 to finish sixth overall, while Allison followed with a score of 220 to finish ninth. Hansson placed 17th, with Lehman and Loewen finishing in the 32nd and 49th spots, respectively.
"I was able to play better in better weather in South Carolina," Chuasiriporn said. "I was able to keep a better rhythm and keep focused on my game. There weren't too many outside factors."
Brooks said that the Blue Devils had a hard time overcoming their mediocre first-day score of 306, but that good weather helped Duke to tackle the par-71 University Club course.
"The first day was disappointing with a 306," Brooks said. "That's where we created our deficit. Three-o-six put us far enough behind that it was quite a deficit to come back from."
A major factor in Duke's struggles at the Lady Gamecock Classic was its inability to putt effectively.
"A couple of putts didn't fall," Chuasiriporn said. "I hit the ball pretty well. It just came down to a couple of putts that didn't go so well."
After the two outings, team members agreed that the Blue Devils have come a long way since their first tournament competition three weeks ago.
"The team is definitely more focused-it was a good three-week stretch," Chuasiriporn said. "We're all playing our best and I'm really optimistic about playing the rest of our season and the postseason."
In the next few weeks, however, Brooks will have to decide just who will compete down the stretch for the Blue Devils. The team has used six golfers during its early-season tournaments, even though only the top four scores out of five competing players are recorded in each tournament.
"It's a nice problem to have," Brooks said. "But there is a lot more time left to play and see who is going to fill the [fourth and fifth positions]."
The new national rankings, issued last week, list Chuasiriporn as the second-best women's golfer in the nation, behind Arizona's Marisa Baena. Chuasiriporn moved up three spots from her previous fifth-place ranking, but feels that she has yet to put forward her best performance.
"I think there's more to come," Chuasiriporn said. "I feel like I've been playing well, but I haven't put three solid rounds together."
Brooks was happy with the ranking, but felt that the actual number had little significance.
"As far as I'm concerned, she's the best player in the country," Brooks said. "You could take any of the top three or four players and anyone could beat each other on any given day. She's as good as any of them."
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