No Time to Panic
Brooks' steady hand makes a difference down the stretch
Johnny Moore, GoDuke The Magazine
This story originally appeared in the 14.9 Issue of GoDuke The Magazine – April 2023
With success comes the never-ending desire for continued success. The Duke women’s golf program may well be the definition of that enduring excellence — seven national championships, 21 ACC titles and tournament hardware that literally fills up the trophy room at the Karcher-Ingram Golf Center.
The Duke women’s golf program is recognized as one of the most successful college programs of all-time — not just in golf, but in all collegiate sports.
But with all those accomplishments comes an expectation of success every year. The reality is each year the team is different and faces different situations from previous years.
The person who handles all those bumps and turns just happens to be the winningest coach in the history of NCAA Division I women’s golf, Dan Brooks.
In now 39 years at Duke, Brooks has 141 career wins, including one this year giving him at least one team victory in 36 of his 39 years. But this year began a little different than most years with a mix of some low placements in tournaments and then some nice moments with a strong finish at the Annika Intercollegiate and a match play win over a very strong nationally-ranked South Carolina team at the Stephens Cup held at the Seminole Golf Club in Florida.
“Our fall wasn’t very good,” explained Brooks, “but we did play well in Minnesota at the Annika and had a really good showing at Seminole with the win over South Carolina and finishing two shots back from Stanford in the stroke play. That indicated to me that we were talented. Right after Seminole things began to slide with the way we performed and the way we finished in tournaments.”
Brooks added one more tournament than usual to the team’s schedule in the fall and felt that may have tired them out. In the spring he felt they did a better job of pacing and in late March-early April things began to click for this team.
A trip to Augusta, Ga., and the Augusta National Golf Club is a special time for anyone, but for three Blue Devil golfers that trip was unique as they were able to play in the fourth annual Augusta National Women’s Amateur (ANWA).
In 2018 Augusta National Golf Club announced the creation of the ANWA, featuring 72 of the world’s top amateur golfers the week prior to the Master’s.
The first year, 2019, the Blue Devils had four current players in the event and a fifth future Blue Devil in high school senior Eric Shepherd, wearing Duke colors.
Shepherd ended up finishing tied for 23rd in the inaugural event. Five years later (the event was cancelled one year due to covid) Shepherd would be playing in her fourth tournament at Augusta National along with teammates juniors Phoebe Brinker and Anne Chen
The first two days of the event are played at Champions Retreat Club in Augusta with the top 30 finishers in that two-day event advancing to play Augusta National.
Following a solid opening round, Shepherd crafted together a great second round and a 36-hole total of 1-over-par 145 to place tied for 21st and advance to the championship round for a third time.
Brinker and Chen both missed the cut but had an opportunity to play a practice round the next day at the fabled Augusta National course.
One of the really special moments in this event for Shepherd was the fact her brother Ethan was her caddy, both in the two-day event at Champions Retreat and the practice round and championship round at Augusta National. Ethan played collegiately at Indiana.
On Friday in the practice round, the Shepherds played the course with an Augusta caddie who helped them with reads and expert knowledge.
“The course is so much better in person than on TV,” said Shepherd. “It was great to play the practice round with my teammates and Ethan and I learned so much from Mark (her Augusta caddie). Along with the greens, knowing where to hit the ball off the tee is so key on this course.”
In the championship round at Augusta, Shepherd played well starting on No. 10 and going through Amen Corner 1-under par, birding the famed 13th hole. She ended the day shooting 76, tied for 22nd.
“To just have the opportunity to compete at Augusta National is very special,” said Shepherd following the round. “Just hoping to make the cut three years ago, to having played at the course in competition three times is incredible.”
Brinker, the 2022 ACC individual champion, turned in an impressive 12-under-par 204 on her way to finishing second overall behind Virginia’s Amanda Sambach, who shot an ACC-record 14-under 202. The 54-hole total of 204 equals the lowest score by a Blue Devil in the ACC Championship, previously set by Brittany Lang in 2004.
“It was pretty unbelievable,” said Brinker. “Golf felt pretty easy. It's just one of those days that every golfer loves and really hopes for. I was just firing at the pin all day. I left myself a lot of under 15-foot birdie putts. So, I think that was the key to shooting a low round.
“I guess maybe I should treat every tournament like the ACC Championship,” she continued. “I really don't treat it any differently. I think it's just random that it happens at the same of the championship tournament. The focus level was there. And I'm excited that it came out during this tournament.”
After an even-par 35 on the front nine on Friday, Chen saved her best for last as she played the final nine holes at 4-under to card a season-best 4-under-par 68 and a ninth-place finish.
“So excited,” said Chen. “It just brings back so many good memories and the excitement of just having the whole team here and cheering each other on.”
“It was a good conference championship from the standpoint that prior to N.C. State, we hadn't been having a really good spring,” explained Brooks. “And we now have had two tournaments where we've played Duke golf. It didn't come out in the end the way we wanted it to, but these two tournaments were what Duke does — bodes well for the future.”
Brooks’ coaching success can be tied to the fact he has an incredible understanding of his players, and a true belief in them at all times.
“We don’t do things a lot different as we go along each year,” said Brooks. “I think one of the most important things is for a coach not to panic. We’ve had a successful way of doing things for a long time. I have complete confidence in this team and what I do is tell them as often as possible how much I believe in them. I truly do believe in this team. I believe this team is really good. Look at the scores from the ACC Championship at a course like Sedgefield. Phoebe shot 64, that’s very impressive. Player-by-player we have a lot of talent on this team. I constantly try to remind them of that.”
The Blue Devils now head into the national championship portion of their schedule with NCAA regionals and an opportunity to qualify for the school’s 33rd NCAA championship event.
“I see a team that now realizes how good they are at this point,” said Brooks. “That’s who we have been all year. The only thing holding back this team during the year was knowing if they could play with the best and they now know they can play with the best and win. Confidence is so key in this game and we got our confidence back with the win at N.C. State in the match play event and took that with us into our solid play at the ACC Championship.”
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