Blue Devils place 2nd on home course at Washington Duke

Those who do not study the past are doomed to repeat it.

Last year the women's golf team came into the East Regionals on a roll. It had just won its second-consecutive Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament and seemed set to make a run in the NCAAs. Disaster struck, however, as the Blue Devils, expected to win the region, could not even make the top eight to qualify.

This year No. 5 Duke hosted the East Regionals on its home course of Washington Duke from May 8-10. The Blue Devils vanquished all memories of last year's failure by shooting a 14-over 890 to finish second in the East Regional Tournament. Jenny Chuasiriporn tied for 5th and led Duke with a 219, even par for the tournament.

The Blue Devils started the tournament well. Shooting a 297, Duke and Louisiana State only trailed Georgia by four strokes after the opening day. However on the second day disaster and lightning struck. The first two days of the tournament had occasional rain, but the second day also saw lightning. According to NCAA rules, if lightning is seen during the course of play, play must be stopped. The lightning and rain caused two delays, the first lasting over an hour. While many people would see this as an excuse for bad play, the Blue Devils did not.

"I don't think the delay affected our play," Duke coach Dan Brooks said. "We had pretty much finished the front nine by then, and our scores on the back nine were close to if not better than our front nine."

Whatever the reason, Duke saw its hopes for a title pretty much wither away as its top two golfers, Chuasiriporn and Alicia Allison, both shot uncharacteristic 77s. In fact, if it was not for the exceptional play of Amy Lehman, who shot a 73, and Filippa Hansson's solid 75, the Blue Devils might have been in danger of fighting for a chance to qualify. Instead, Duke found itself 14 shots back but still in second place.

"Filippa and Amy were huge," Allison said. "Jenny and my scores of 77 had to count, and fortunately for us, Fillipa and Amy were able to pick it up and offset our bad scores."

The final day saw the Blue Devils make a run at the leading Bulldogs. Duke was able to shave six strokes off the lead but fell short in the end. While Brooks was pleased with the overall effort, considering the circumstances Chuasiriporn was a little disappointed.