Their season ended with a disappointing third-place finish at the NCAA Championships, but members of the Duke women's golf team have spent the month following the season's completion racking up awards and playing in individual tournaments.
Liz Janangelo and Brittany Lang, the team's top two performers from 2003-04, have led the group. Both helped the U.S. team beat their European opponents in the Curtis Cup; Janangelo won her second-consecutive Connecticut State Open; and Lang enters today's match play competition at the U.S. Women's Amateur Public Links Championship as the top seed.
Meanwhile, 2004 graduate Virada Nirapathpongporn made her pro debut on the FUTURES Tour and qualified for the U.S. Women's Open. Duke senior Niloufar Aazam-Zanganeh has also earned a spot in the Open field.
Aazam-Zanganeh, after having hip surgery this past season, won her sectional qualifying event on June 15 in Spartanburg, S.C.
"This is really impressive what Niloufar has done in two qualifying events," Duke head coach Dan Brooks said. "Because I know her I am not surprised, but people should be impressed by what she has accomplished, after what she has gone through this past year."
Nirapathpongporn, who turned professional after the NCAA Championships, will be making her third straight U.S. Open appearance.
Lang also made a push for the 2004 Open but missed a playoff for the last of four slots by a single stroke at the sectional in Williamsburg, Va.
Rebounding from the June 18 qualifying disappointment, Lang won the 36-hole stroke play portion of the U.S. Women's Amateur Public Links Championship Wednesday.
The Duke sophomore carded a two-under-par 70 Tuesday and was tied for third after 18 holes. Wednesday, Lang carded four consecutive front nine birdies and then eageled the 10th en route to a seven-under-par 65.
The nine-under-par total was enough to give Lang a two-stroke advantage over Jenna Pearson. The stacked field included 14-year-old phenom Michelle Wie--last years winner of the event--who finished at three under par.
The top 64 players from stroke play compete in the match play portion, which will conclude Sunday with a 36-hole championship match.
Although Wie is a potential opponent for Lang in match play, the two were teammates on the victorious U.S. Curtis Cup team, which teed off earlier this month in Formby, England.
Janangelo--named Golfweek College Player of the Year after spending the majority of the season on the top of the rankings--was also a member of the U.S. team, which has now won the biennial amateur competition 24 of 33 times against its European opponents.
Janangelo beat Shelley McKevitt 1-up to give the United States a 9-7 lead and clinch the victory. The team went on to win 10-8.
The nation's top collegiate golfer lost a pair of matches earlier in the competition.
"I had played well in my earlier matches. I just hadn't won," Janangelo said. "I'm just so happy my captain had the confidence to put in me."
Earlier Sunday morning, Janangelo played with Wie, but the American pair fell 3 and 2. Lang also had the chance to play with Wie, but the duo lost during the opening flight of competition.
After sitting out the singles matches, Lang returned to action Sunday paired with Anne Thurman. The team beat their European opponents 5 and 4, leading from the outset. Lang concluded the competition with a 3 and 2 loss in singles.
While Lang and Janangelo are competing in events as amateurs, Nirapathpongporn has moved on to the professional ranks, where she is 72nd on the FUTURES Tour money list after competing in three events. Her best finish was in her first professional tournament, when she finished tied for 14th.
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