ORLANDO, Fla. - The women's golf team arrived in Florida late Wednesday night to a sign reading in oversized letters, "Welcome to Orlando."
Such a greeting was apt for the No. 1-ranked squad that is strongly favored to extend its record of five straight ACC championships this weekend in Lake Buena Vista, Fla.
Coach Dan Brooks brings a team coming off its best performance of the year two weeks ago in Greensboro, N.C., and that dominance will likely continue when play starts today at the Disney Resort's Palm Course.
"We're excited that Wake Forest has been playing better," Brooks said. "But the main thing that I'm looking for is getting used to the greens. We want to win this tournament, but being prepared for the NCAAs is the most important thing. Greensboro was a big performance for us, we shot 856 and finished underpar as a team. I think we will have to do that at the NCAAs."
Brooks is talking about the Palm Course's Bermuda greens, a longer grained grass than the more popularly used bent variety and the kind that will be found at the NCAA championships next month. Players sometimes have difficulty adjusting to the increased effect of the grain, but Brooks hopes this weekend will get his team prepared.
In fact, Duke will return to the same area for the NCAAs, which will be played at nearby Howey in the Hills, Fla. Brooks, however, said a visit to that course is unlikely.
"My best feeling is that we're going to be on bermuda greens and that's the type we'll be on in the NCAAs," Brooks said. "We might get up to Howey-in-the-Hills, but I really think we're seeing what we need to see in this golf course."
The Blue Devils will be hard-pressed to improve on last year's performance, in which they took the title by 34 strokes and shot a tournament-best 871. But that was with All-American Beth Bauer, who has since turned professional.
Filling Bauer's shoes is freshman Virada Nirapathpongporn, who has so far lived up to high preseason expectations by achieving the second best scoring average on a competitive Duke team.
Brooks said the rest of the team, paced by junior Candy Hanneman, is on track as well.
"The attitudes are excellent, we're all in step," the coach said. "We're where we need to be. We're not at a peak yet, but we do not want to be just yet."
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