Women's Golf Finishes Second at Mercedez-Benz

Breaks Streak of Three Straight Tourney Titles
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (October 17) - Duke's top-ranked women's golf team suffered its first defeat of the season, finishing second to Georgia, despite turning in the best third round score in the field Sunday at the Mercedes-Benz Women's Championship at the Gettysvue Polo, Golf & Country Club.

Duke started the day in sixth place but fired a third round 299 to make up seven strokes on second round leader Georgia to finish at 908 while the Bulldogs won the title with a 906. Duke had opened the year with three straight tournament titles and earned the nation's number one ranking.

Sophomore Candy Hannemann paced the Blue Devil squad with a fourth place finish at 222. She shot a final round 74 to tie with two other golfers at six-over par. Kalen Anderson shot a team-low 72 on Sunday to finish in a seventh place tie.

Freshman Maria Estrada placed 18th with a 231 while sophomore Beth Bauer, the number two ranked golfer in the country, struggled with a 74-82-77--233 for a 29th place finish. Rounding out the Blue Devil scorers was Amie Lehman who finished 35th with a 234.

Georgia's Shauna Estes won the individual medalist honors in a playoff with Wake Forest's Nuria Clau. They both tied with a one-over par 217.

Team Scores 1. Georgia 297-303-306--906 2. Duke 302-307-299--908 3. Wake Forest 306-298-306--910 4. South Carolina 300-300-311--911 5. Purdue 309-299-311--919 6. LSU 302-308-311--921 7. Auburn 307-299-316--922 8. Tennessee 310-312-305--927 9. Swedish National Team 320-304-314--938 10. North Carolina 316-311-316--943 San Jose State 321-312-310--943 12. Ohio State 325-313-315--953 13. Vanderbilt 311-318-333--962 14. Furman 318-317-328--963 15. Mississippi 315-326-324--965 16. Florida 318-324-333--975 17. Alabama 327-326-328--981 18. Memphis 333-315-340--988

Individual 1. *Shauna Estes, Georgia 70-71-76--217 2. Nuria Clau, Wake Forest 74-71-72--217 3. Celeste Troche, Auburn 75-72-74--221 4. Candy Hannemann, Duke 73-75-74--222 Maria Beautell, Wake Forest 72-72-78--222 Lisette Lee, LSU 72-78-72--222

Other Duke Scorers 7. Kalen Anderson 77-77-72--226 18. Maria Estrada 78-76-77--231 29. Beth Bauer 74-82-77--233 35. Amie Lehman 79-79-76--234