The women's golf team continued its dominant season with another victory Tuesday at the SunTrust Lady Gator Invitational. The Blue Devils led from start to finish and ended the 54-hole event with a commanding 33-stroke win, despite challenging conditions.
The team has now won all six tournaments which it has entered, playing against the nation's top competition, and in five stroke play events, the Blue Devils have taken four by more than 20 strokes.
Duke golfers swept the podium this week in Gainesville, Fla., as freshman Brittany Lang earned her first collegiate victory. The freshman, ending the event at six over par, showed mental toughness, battling through difficult conditions on the course.
"The victory feels great," Lang said. "The key this weekend with my game was staying patient as the greens were very tricky and the wind was blowing all three days. During those conditions, you have to play aggressive but pay attention to the greens."
Lang edged out teammate Liz Janangelo by one stroke for the individual championship. Janangelo, the nation's top-ranked player, entered Tuesday's final round two shots off the pace and carded the low round of the day to move up to second.
Anna Grzebien finished third for Duke. The freshman started the final round tied for the lead with Lang but shot three over par in her final round to slip to third.
"I cannot say enough about our two freshmen," said head coach Dan Brooks about Lang and Grzebien, who are ranked sixth and 12th, respectively. "It was not easy golf and their performance was tremendous. Those two seem like they are veterans and have been very impressive all year long."
Virada Nirapathpongporn rounded out the scoring Duke players, finishing in a tie for 10th. The senior opened with a 74 and concluded with rounds of 77 and 76 to end the event at 17 over par.
"It was really, really tough golf," an impressed Brooks said about his team's overall effort. "It can be very frustrating, but I didn't see any frustration in my team. Afterwards, I heard them talking about how difficult it was but not how they were being ripped off."
Leigh Ann Hardin was tied for 35th and fellow senior Niloufar Aazam-Zanganeh, who was recovering from hip surgery and played as an individual and tied for 40th position.
The Duke performance at the University of Florida Golf Club was especially impressive given the high caliber of competition. The No. 1 Blue Devils defeated eight other top-20 schools in the Golfweek/Sagarin rankings.
The Blue Devils, who are heavily favored to win their third National Championship in May, will try to continue their undefeated season at the Liz Murphy Collegiate at the end of March in Athens, Ga.
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