Top-ranked Duke Wins Third Straight NCAA East Region Title

May 10, 2003

CLEMMONS, N.C.-- For the third straight year, the top-ranked Duke women's golf team won the NCAA East Regional on Saturday with an eight-stroke victory at the Par 71, 6,116-Yard Salem Glen Country Club in Clemmons, N.C. The Blue Devils fired a one-under-par round of 283 on Saturday and advance to the NCAA Championship for the sixth consecutive year.

The Blue Devils finished with an 857 with Georgia (865), Vanderbilt (865), Auburn (867), Arizona (874), North Carolina (882), South Carolina (884) and Florida State (889) rounding out the eight teams who advance to the NCAA Championship. The three-day total of 857 is the best finish for the Blue Devils all season long and is three shy of a school record (854).

Duke continued to get steady play from the entire team as all five Blue Devils finished in the top 18 of the individual rankings. Leading the way is the reigning NCAA Individual Champion, Virada Nirapathpongporn, who finished tied fifth with a three-day total of 212. The Bangkok, Thailand native finished off the weekend with an even-par 71.

Junior Leigh Anne Hardin and freshman Liz Janangelo each finished tied 14th individually on Saturday with a 217. Hardin carded a 72 on the final day, but was two-under-par at one time before losing two strokes on the back nine. Janangelo turned in a 74 in the final 18 holes after being four-over-par through 11 holes today. The West Hartford, Conn., native rebounded with two birdies in her final six holes for her sixth top-20 finish this season.

Niloufar Aazam-Zanganeh, a product of Lausanne, Switzerland, and Kristina Engstrom, from Djursholm, Sweden, each collected Duke's best rounds of the day with a one-under-par round of 70. Aazam-Zanganeh finished tied 16th overall with a 218, while Engstrom was tied 18th with a 219.

Duke will be vying for its third NCAA Championship in the last five years at the Kampen Golf Course in West Lafayette, Ind. from May 20-23.

Duke Results
Virada Nirapathpongporn  73-68-71=212 (T5th)
Liz Janangelo            71-72-74=217 (T14th)
Leigh Anne Hardin        71-74-72=217 (T14th)
Niloufar Aazam-Zanganeh  73-75-70=218 (T16th)
Kristina Engstrom        77-72-70=219 (T18th)

d-u-k-e

Post Tournament Comments

Duke Head Coach Dan Brooks

"It is exciting, fun and nerve-racking. We like to win and there are some teams that were playing good today. A lot of people were under par today. Golf has a way of changing directions on you, but I have a team that I am less concerned about because they are so solid. They are not out there holding their breath hoping that they can bring it to the house. They are out there wishing they had a few more opportunities to birdie more holes."

"We have interesting scoring averages on our team, they are between 73.4 to 74.5. There is about a one shot difference between one and five throughout the year. That means in any given tournament any individual can win. It is really fun to coach this group because of that, you never know who is going to get hot."

"To win the East Regional and not have anyone in the top three and have nobody higher than 19 is pretty exciting. It shows we are going to go into nationals with five golfers all of whom can all finish very high at the championship. That is exciting."

"From a game development point, we are right where we need to be right now. We have one week to tune things up and we know exactly what we are working on. We have already made progress in those areas. I couldn't ask for anything more and if we get to the nationals healthy we have a really good chance."