Duke Women's Golf Opens In Fourth At NCAA Fall Preview

Sept. 15, 2002

WEST LAFAYETTE, IND.-- The top-ranked Duke women's golf team opened the 2002 fall season with a 297 and are in fourth place at the NCAA Fall Preview in West Lafayette, Ind. The Blue Devils trail Oklahoma State (288), Vanderbilt (290) and Texas (293) heading into day two at the Kampen Golf Course.

"The unamious comment from the team after we finished playing was it was a learning experience," said Duke head coach Dan Brooks. "We are playing on a great golf course and you have to think on every hole. This is a great golf course to play a championship on."

Leading the Duke charge was the 2002 NCAA Individual Champion, Virada Nirapathpongporn. The Bangkok, Thailand native fired an even par 72 and is tied for eighth individually. Senior Kristina Engstrom (Djursholm, Sweden) turned in a 74, freshman Liz Janangelo (West Hartford, Conn.) fired a 75, Niloufar Aazam-Zanganeh (Lausanne, Switzerland) finished with a 76 and junior Leigh Anne Hardin (Martinsville, Ind.) posted a 78 on Sunday.

"We got in some difficulty on a few holes which we have learned from," said Brooks. "I think we are going to finish playing this course much better than we did today."

As a team, Duke registered 13 birdies, but turned in 24 bogies and two double-bogies. The Blue Devils will begin teeing off at 8:45 AM on Monday for round two along with Ohio State and Arizona.

Virada Nirapathpongporn  37-35=72
Kristina Engstrom        39-35=74
Liz Janangelo            37-38=75
Niloufar Aazam-Zanganeh  36-40=76
Leigh Anne Hardin        41-37=78