The women's golf team coasted to its seventh consecutive ACC championship Sunday, as all five of its golfers finished in the top seven in the tournament.
Candy Hannemann placed first by playing consistently, shooting a 71-72-73=216. The No. 2 Blue Devils held a 27-stroke lead after the second round. Despite falling off its pace Sunday with a 10-over 298, Duke finished with an ACC record 866.
"I think we did really well--especially the first two days," Hannemann said. "The course was really tough today because of the pin placements, but I think we had a great tournament."
For Hannemann, who sat out the fall with an ankle injury after winning last year's individual national championship, the victory in the ACC Tournament was a particularly sweet first.
"Especially after not playing in the fall, it was really good for me and my confidence," the senior said. "I was very patient today, and it really paid off."
Going into the final round, Hannemann trailed teammates Virada Nirapathpongporn and Kristina Engstrom by two strokes. In fact, all the Blue Devils were within six strokes of the leaders and were in the top five overall.
"Our goal--it wasn't a definite goal, but we joked about it--was to try to get everybody to stay in the top five," coach Dan Brooks said. "I think that became a motivator."
Nevertheless, Duke struggled slightly in the final round as Nirapathpongporn shot a 76 and Engstrom shot a 79. Brooks acknowledged that the team's big lead may have contributed to the lesser performance on the final day.
"You get a 27-shot lead, it's hard to stay as focused as you were gaining that lead, so we probably gave up a little bit that way," he said.
Hannemann and Nirapathpongporn, however, said they felt that interpersonal competition kept them focused in the face of their overwhelming lead.
"It's a win-win situation," Nirapathpongporn said. "You go out there and try to play your best, because when you play your best it helps the team and also yourself."
Duke's mediocre performance Sunday did not shrink its lead; in fact, the Blue Devils' lead increased by two strokes over second-place Wake Forest.
"More than anything, it's nice to be surrounded by people who are playing well," Brooks said. "I think the hardest thing is playing your best golf when people around you are playing not quite at that level."
That Duke won as a team and a Blue Devil won individually was not surprising, but the way in which the entire team played--Leigh Anne Hardin, who finished last for Duke with a six-over 222, would have been the best scorer on three of the other teams--heartened Nirapathpongporn.
"We played really well and showed we have a really deep team," the Blue Devils' strokes-average leader said. "We shot 284 the first two days. I think that's really good for us, for our confidence, to let us know that as a team--the five of us--we can post five good scores, and that's what we need at nationals.
"It's great to have a deep team because you don't really depend on the top two. All five of you contribute and you know that if you might not be having the greatest day, your teammates are going to be there for you. It helps a lot mentally."
With NCAA Regionals coming May 9-11 in Baton Rouge, La., and nationals in late May, Duke, which has won every tournament it has competed in this spring, has itself in an ideal position to compete for a national championship.
"I think we've done really well this spring," said Hannemann, a native of Rio de Janeiro. "We have two more tournaments to go, and we'll focus on that--each one at a time--but it gives us great confidence, because we're playing really, really well. I think we'll do very well in nationals."
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