TULSA, Okla. - The night before the final round, the women's golf team gathered for one last team meeting. There wasn't much that could be said that the Blue Devils didn't already know. But Duke gathered for one last show of support-they huddled together in a massive group hug.
Less than 24 hours later, there was another group hug. This one celebrated a national championship.
Golf, by its nature, is an individual sport. But at the collegiate level, one plays as part of a team. And last week in Tulsa, it was a team effort that won the national championship for the Blue Devils.
"I wish I could have contributed a little more," Jenny Chuasiriporn said. "But I have a great team behind me.... I'm really proud of all of us on the team. The way we pulled together just sums up the whole year.... Everyone had a big part in this win."
Instead of Chuasiriporn and Beth Bauer leading Duke to the promised land, it was less-heralded Candy Hannemann and Kalen Anderson who carried the load.
Hannemann never did anything eye-boggling, save for a chip-in birdie on day one and a few long putts, but her 34 pars over the three days keyed a very solid and consistent outing.
Sophomore Anderson is the least-heralded and least-experienced member of the top four Blue Devil golfers. Her best performances have gone relatively unnoticed. But her week in Tulsa certainly caught a few eyes, including her coach's.
"I'm so happy for Kalen Anderson right now," coach Dan Brooks said. "It was a fantastic performance when we needed it the most. You talk about moving into the next level, well, she took it to the next level in this tournament."
It was the surprising play of Hannemann and Anderson that saved the tournament for the Blue Devils. No where was this more evident than during the second round.
Up 12 strokes after the first day, Duke nearly had a total collapse the very next day. In the second round, superstar Chuasiriporn began struggling with her alignment and her drives started to miss fairways and hit trees. She began the second round with three straight bogeys and never scored a birdie on the afternoon.
Her slicing woes became so prolific that during the back nine of the third round, the graduated senior put her driver away and only used her 3-wood the rest of the way.
Beth Bauer, the third-ranked golfer in the country, played well in the first and third rounds, but had a complete breakdown in the second. Bauer lost her touch on the greens, usually a strength of her game, and the freshman phenom finished with an 11-over-par 82.
"[The second round] was really, really weird," Bauer said. "I played bad, I got a lot bad breaks, my putting was terrible.... It was probably one of my worst rounds of the year."
Ordinarily, when a team's top two players struggle like that, a 12-stroke lead could disappear in a hurry. But Hannemann and Anderson stepped up and played some of their best golf of the season when the team needed it the most.
Anderson shot a solid 76, a very low score given the fact that it was the Championships' windiest day. Her performance was critical in enabling Duke to maintain a six-stroke lead.
Hannemann proved that she was not a one-round wonder, firing a 1-over 72, capped by a beautiful 25-foot birdie putt on 18. She used two birdies and 13 pars to turn in yet another consistent scorecard.
And while Hannemann's and Anderson's performances were vital at the tournament, they are also a good omen for the team's future.
"This spring has really kind of been a stepping stone for me. Hopefully I'm kind of moving to the next level," Anderson said. "Next year, I think we'll be just as strong as ever. I think it's pretty neat, this tournament, Jenny obviously didn't have her strongest tournament, but it just kind of shows what we have next year is going to be just as strong. I'm excited about it."
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