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Blue Devils Finish Second At NCAA Women's Golf Championships
5/25/2001 1:00:00 AM | Women's Golf
May 25, 2001
HOWEY-IN-THE-HILLS, FLA. -- The Duke women's golf team couldn't overcome a rough start Friday morning in the final round of the 2001 NCAA Championships and finished second to the University of Georgia as the Bulldogs fired a 290 on its way to winning the school's first national title at the El Campeon course in Howey-in-the-Hills, Fla.
Top-ranked Duke finished three shots back (1179) to sixth-ranked Georgia (1176) with Texas (1191), Auburn (1193), Oklahoma State (1194), and UCLA (1194) rounding out the top six teams.
As a team, the Blue Devils began the day with a four-stroke lead over Georgia, but a seven-over-par score during the first three holes of competition would give Georgia a three-stroke lead heading into the fourth hole.
Duke never gave up as the Blue Devils shot two-under-par as a team to close out the back nine, but a disastrous 11-over-par front nine dug to much of a hole for the Blue Devils, which finished with a 297 on Friday.
Junior Candy Hannemann (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil) continued her dazzling play with her second-consecutive round of 69 and finished in a tie for first individually with Arizona's Lorena Ochoa (285). There will be a sudden-victory playoff beginning at 6:00 PM tonight on hole number 17. Hannemann is ranked third in the latest Golfweek/Sagarin rankings, while Ochoa is ranked number one. The round of 285 by Hannemann equals Duke's best 72-hole total by an individual (Jenny Chuasiriporn in 1998 as she finished fifth).
Kalen Anderson (Edina, Minn.) fought back from two bogies and one double bogey in her first four holes to card a 75 in the final round. The senior birdied number's 17 and 18 to close out her day. She finished the tournament with a total of 307.
Freshman Leigh Anne Hardin (Martinsville, Ind.) came down with the flu on Thursday evening and struggled all day. She kicked off her round with a drive into the woods out of play and was four-over-par her first three holes. Hardin battled back to shoot one-over-par on the back nine and netted a 78 for the round. She posted Duke's third best four-day total of 301.
Duke's Djursholm, Sweden native, Kristina Engstrom, also got off to a rough start with two double-bogies and two bogies her first five holes and turned with a seven-over-par in the first nine holes. Engstrom would not quit as she was even par her final nine holes to finish with a 79. For the tournament, she finished with a total of 307.
On the day, Duke tallied 14 birdies, which is the most the Blue Devils had all week, but 21 bogies and four double-bogies dug to much of a hole. The second place finish is the second-highest finish for the Blue Devils in the NCAA Championships and the fourth time Duke has ended up in the top five under head coach Dan Brooks.
Duke will return five members of the number one ranked squad with Anderson leaving after graduation.
Duke Individual Results
| Candy Hannemann | 75-72-69-69=285 |
| Virada Nirapathpongporn | 72-73-74-75=294 |
| Leigh Anne Hardin | 75-76-72-78=301 |
| Kristina Engstrom | 77-72-78-79=306 |
| Kalen Anderson | 79-78-75-75=307 |
Duke Comments
Head Coach Dan Brooks
"We fought hard and lost some shots early in the round. Then, we just settled down and played really tough from then on. We were up against a very tough Georgia team."
"I kept thinking that we had won a lot this year, been in the lead, and were comfortable in that position. I just felt like eventually we would get a few strokes back and Georgia would falter a little bit, and they didn't. They [Georgia] played really, really well. My hats off to them."
"I am really proud of my team. They stayed really tough. We needed to do a little better at the start of the round, that's all."
"I couldn't think of any reason that we didn't just go out and play our normal golf for the whole round, but right at the very start we didn't play the golf we can play. That is just the game. I don't think there is any reason for it."
On the course
"I think it is a golf course that looks more scoreable than it is. That is
what I have observed the four days I have been here. There is some things
going on out there and I think a lot of it has to do with the greens.
On Leigh Anne Hardin being sick today
"I think it affected her. She was actually having a little wave of that
stuff early. She hit a drive on the first hole out of bounds. It is hard
to say how much of an effect it had on her. I think that early she said she
was feeling that. Her dad is a doctor and he thought there was some type of
virus going on."
Junior Candy Hannemann
"I started birdie, par, par, birdie so I thought everything was great and I was a little bit surprised. There are so many tough holes out there and things can change so fast. I didn't panic at all."
On the course
"It is a tough golf course and birdies don't come easy."
Senior Kalen Anderson
"Going into it, we said fight hard no matter where we stand. Unfortunately, we had to fight really hard really quick. Like coach said, that is the way golf is. It wasn't as easy for us today as it could of been."
Players Mentioned
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/ Women's Golf
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