The reigning national champion women's golf team begins it title defense this weekend when the top-ranked Blue Devils tee off against a handful of the nation's other top teams at the NCAA Fall Preview this weekend.
Despite losing 2001 NCAA individual title winner Candy Hannemann to graduation, anything less than a repeat at the end of the season would be disappointing for the Blue Devils.
"We have a relatively mature group, a motivated group and a coachable group," head coach Dan Brooks said, adding that he did not think his squad's talent would cause them to be overly cocky. "I hope that we have ego. It's a big part of being good. When we form a team that can succeed, we form ego."
Entering this weekend's tournament at Kampen Golf Course in West Lafayette, Ind., Duke is ranked No. 1 in the Golfworld poll, but the squad sits in second behind Auburn in the computer-generated Golfweek rankings.
Brooks and many of the players said that although all the schools participating this weekend have a shot to win both the fall preview and the national championship, the Blue Devils view Arizona and Auburn as their biggest threats.
Eighteen of the top schools in the country will play 54 holes on the Pete Die-designed course, which is home to the Purdue University golf program. The course for this tournament--the Kampen course--will host the NCAA tournament in late May with many of the same schools expected to be in contention.
"[The course] is a lot of fun to play," said Indiana-native Leigh Anne Hardin, the only Blue Devil who has played it before. "It will be a good test. You have to hit a variety of good shots."
The Blue Devils will be led by Virada Nirapathpongporn, the reigning NCAA individual champion, who is currently ranked No. 1 in the country by Golfweek. Nirapathpongporn was also named as the top player in the nation to watch by Golfworld, while fellow teammate Hardin was listed at No. 9.
Although the Blue Devils will be focused on a victory this weekend, they will also use the opportunity to learn the course and analyze the areas of their games that need improvement in order to bring a third title back to Durham.
Brooks said that since the Blue Devils have an experienced team this season, they are very good at studying and learning a course.
"Conditions could be very different [for the national championships], but the fall preview is a great opportunity to see the course and know what to work on for the next nine months," Nirapathpongporn said.
After the weekend, the Blue Devils will participate in three additional tournaments before the end of the fall season. Duke will travel to Florida State at the end of the month to compete in the ACC-SEC Challenge.
Get The Chronicle straight to your inbox
Signup for our weekly newsletter. Cancel at any time.