No. 1 Duke Women's Golf Takes Home Title at CGF National Match Play

ESTERO, FLA. - The Duke women's golf team, currently ranked No. 1 in the Golfweek/Sagarin rankings, took home the team title at the 2000 College Golf Foundation (CGF) National Intercollegiate Match Play Championships presented by Rolex on Sunday with a tie breaking victory over No. 8 seed Georgia.

Both teams finished play even at 2.5-2.5 and Duke, the No. 2 seed, won the team title by virtue of winning more holes during the final round match. The Blue Devils won eight holes to Georgia's three. All matches were played at the West Bay Club in Estero, Fla.

Picking up victories on the afternoon for Duke were Candy Hannemann 4&3 over Whitney Christie and Kristina Engstrom $&2 over Reilley Rankin. Maria Garcia-Estrada halved with Summer Sirmons. Freshmen Virada Nirapathpongporn fell to Laura Henderson (2UP) and Leigh Anne Hardin fell to Angela Jerman (1UP). Hannemann, a junior native of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, did not lose a match all weekend going 3-0.

Duke defeated Pepperdine in the first round 4-1 and Southern California 3-2 in the semifinals to advance to Sunday's final.

The CGF National Intercollegiate Match Play Team Championships, presented by Rolex, are the highlight events of the Rolex Collegiate Tour, which is administered by the College Golf Foundation.

This was the final competition for the Blue Devils in the fall and will be off till February 19-21, when they will travel to the University of Arizona to compete in the Arizona Invitational.