Former Duke golfer Maria Garcia-Estrada lost her eight-month battle with cancer and passed away Saturday at her home in Tenerife, Spain. She was 24.
“I love Maria, she was part of our family, and she will be dearly missed,” head coach Dan Brooks said. “Her contribution was much more than just golf. She had a lot of heart and she loved to touch people. She was so outspoken and so honest that she had a cleansing effect on the entire team.”
The 2003 graduate moved to London after completing her degree and this past March was diagnosed with a rare and deadly form of cancer that attacked her lungs, diaphragm and ribs. Brooks and many former Duke golfers traveled to Europe to visit Garcia-Estrada in both her London hospital room and home in Spain.
Many of them said that while her contributions on the golf course were substantial, Garcia-Estrada touched more people with her great sense of humor and tremendous generosity toward others.
“Even at the end she was still Maria,” former teammate Leigh Anne Hardin said. “She was one of the best people I’ve ever met and even when I last talked to her, she was curious to see how my family was doing and didn’t want people to feel sorry for her. I’m always going to remember how she used to make me smile and her whole team feel so comfortable and upbeat.”
Shortly following her death, PGA standout Sergio Garcia, a friend and fellow Spaniard, dedicated his win at the European Masters to Garcia-Estrada.
“I guess Maria was watching me from the sky,” Garcia said after his tournament victory. “She has been fighting cancer for about eight months and unfortunately she couldn't handle it any more. She was a lovely, caring person and it’s such a shame that she’s gone.”
Garcia-Estrada won the ACC individual title as a freshman in 2000 and helped the Blue Devils to the NCAA Championship in 2002.
Her strong freshman campaign earned her the ACC Rookie of the Year Award and Second Team All-American Honors.
Get The Chronicle straight to your inbox
Signup for our weekly newsletter. Cancel at any time.