HOWEY-IN-THE-HILLS, Fla. -- An old golf course tucked into the Florida countryside that IS rumored to have at one time been a hideout of gangster Al Capone carries a signature 17th hole known as the Devil's Delight.
And delight is what the women's golf team has found there--the El Campeon golf course at the Mission Inn Golf Resort, where the Blue Devils entered the third day of the NCAA championships tied for the lead.
The No. 1 ranked and top-seeded Blue Devils are knotted on the leader board with Oklahoma State as both teams shot 16-under par.
"I'm happy with our results after the first two days," coach Dan Brooks said before his Blue Devils took the lead later in the day, much because of the misfortune of other teams. "Any strokes separating us and the leaders are pretty much insignificant. I feel better about where we are, but we're not done."
Although Duke now rests in first place, the road there has not been easy. It was partially due to the Blue Devils' plus-5 performance today, the second lowest in the field and partially due to the fact that many of the first day's field leaders began to slip up.
After a uncharacteristic plus-11 performance on the first day, the Blue Devils came out yesterday with a clear message that they were here to a win their second national title in three years. They began play on the back nine and soared through the first few holes. They then managed to get through 17 and 18--the two holes that accounted for eight of Duke's 10-over-par yesterday--unscathed and went around the turn at 3-under.
As the 90-degree heat began to set in, the Blue Devils appeared to be tired and began to falter on the front nine, especially near holes seven and eight, before pulling back together to shoot plus-eight on the front nine and plus-five on the day.
"The more you play on the course the better you feel," senior Candy Hanneman said. "But there are still some tough holes."
Hanneman and Kristina Engstrom, who fired a first-round 77, lead Duke by shooting a healthy dose of birdies and bogies to finish the day at even par. However, Virada "Oui" Nirapathpongporn anchored the team with 16 pars, one birdie and a sole blemish--a double bogey on five--to finish the day at one-over. She remained tied for eighth in the individual standings, seven back of leader Laura Moffat of UCLA. Leigh Anne Hardin added a plus-four to round out the scoring for Duke, while Kalen Anderson's score of plus-6 was dropped.
"Today was much better for me because I was hitting better shots and my putts started falling," Engstrom said.
The course also played much better for Duke, since they were not only playing at the very beginning of the day, but also did not have to deal with the winds and slight rains that accompanied the end of yesterday's play. The course, ranked as one of the top-25 in Florida has still presented numerous challenges with soft greens and long par-fives from the women's tees, not to mention rolling hills and bunkers lining almost every green. For most teams anything less than seven or eight-over is excellent.
"I was really suprised yesterday when I talked to Oui yesterday and she said it was tough," Brooks said. "I had no idea. It was something I could not tell just from coaching. However, I still think it can be played under par. You learn from a golf course each day, but we can do it."
Now, the Blue Devils need to keep up their good play and hopefully even raise it to the higher level of which they are capable. No team that has a serious shot is in a better position than Duke, but they cannot count solely on solid play and other teams falling apart to win a championship.
"I think we're fine," Hanneman said. "I'm not pleased, I want to play better, but we're in good shape. It's not time to panic."
Get The Chronicle straight to your inbox
Signup for our weekly newsletter. Cancel at any time.