In dramatic fashion, the women's golf team claimed the NCAA Fall Preview title, defeating host school Auburn on the first playoff hole. The two schools were notched at six-over-par at the completion of three rounds in the fall season's most important event.
When the teams returned to the difficult 18th for the playoff, the Blue Devils turned in three pars and a pair of bogies, which was enough to edge out the Tigers who could only muster two pars, two bogies and a double bogey.
"It was great to pull out a win today, especially in a playoff," head coach Dan Brooks said. "We made a good team effort today."
During the final 18 the Blue Devils were led by senior Virada Nirapathpongporn who was five-under-par for the round. The senior was five-under-par on a stretch of five holes during her round, which included an eagle on the par five 12th. The 2002 NCAA Individual and U.S. Amateur Champion climbed from 24th to eighth with her final round performance.
"I didn't start out well during the first two days of the tournament, so I wanted to come out and finish strong today," Nirapathpongporn said. "I started off the round with a bogey and then got in a rhythm."
Duke held the lead midway through Sunday's final round, but the Blue Devils struggled on the last hole, allowing Auburn to tie the score. After having a terrific tournament, Brittany Lang--who finished in a tie for eighth in her first collegiate event--recorded a double bogey on the 18th Sunday. Fellow freshman Anna Grzebien also ended the tournament with a miscue, but had recorded back-to-back birdies on the previous two holes.
Auburn saved its best play of the weekend for the final nine holes. The Tigers' scoring golfers carded a bogey or worse on only four holes. Auburn's top finisher Nicole Hage fired four birdies on the back nine and ended the event in a tie for third place.
For the Blue Devils, the tournament got off to a terrific start as Lang notched a five-under-par 67 in her first round of collegiate golf. During the round, the Texas native made three consecutive birdies to close out the front nine. Lang fired rounds of three-over-par and two-over-par respectively Saturday and Sunday.
Duke's top individual finisher was Elizabeth Janangelo, who was one-under-par for the weekend. Like Lang, the sophomore marshaled her best score in the first round, shooting two-under-par. Janangelo shot even-par in her final round, but carded four birdies in the process.
Grzebien had an inconsistent final 18 holes, but was still able to piece together a two-over-par round. The freshman struggled in her opening round with a plus-five score, but came back to finish in 29th position.
"To have a couple of freshman start for us in the third-most important tournament of the year and for them to play as well as they did was outstanding. From top to bottom, we have a very solid team this year and that is exciting."
The lone disappointment for Duke was the shaky performance of senior Leigh Anne Hardin. She carded plus-10 and plus-7 rounds Friday and Saturday, but came back to shoot even par Sunday.
Pepperdine's Carolina Llano took individual medalist honors after shooting a six-under-par 66 yesterday. She recorded four birdies on the front nine and capped off her round with a hole-in-one on the fifteenth. Despite entering the final round in a tie for twelfth, Llano outpaced the field, beating Oklahoma's Lisa Meldrum by three shots.
Auburn and Duke dominated the tournament, beating third place Arizona by eight strokes. Oklahoma and Oklahoma State rounded out the top five with scores of plus 24 and plus 31, respectively.
The win, against almost all of the national powerhouses, is a major confidence builder for the Blue Devils. This is compounded by the fact that the field will return to this same course in mid-May to compete for the national championship.
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