The Trophy Team
Celebrating 50 years of Duke women's golf
Johnny Moore, GoDuke The Magazine
When you consider the success of the Duke women’s golf program, now in its 50th season, it’s easy to be distracted by seven national championships and 22 ACC titles. But a closer look will show a program made up of some of the most successful people in the world of golf. In that world, the competitive bar of success has been set by the Blue Devils and the people who have elevated that bar over the years.
It all began back in 1974 under first-year coach Jane Lloyd. The team played mostly match play events against other collegiate programs that first season. Lloyd led the Blue Devils for five seasons, guiding them to four wins. She was an associate professor in the Health and Physical Education department who taught golf along with 13 other activity and health courses.
Lloyd was a very avid and successful golfer herself. She was the chairman of golf in the NCAIAW (prior to NCAA sponsorship of women’s sports) and helped start the Big Four competition in the 1970s with Wake Forest, North Carolina, Appalachian State and Duke. She also played in match play tournaments on the North Carolina and South Carolina teams and participated in the Trans-National and U.S. Senior Women’s Open at Pine Needles. Lloyd passed away on Feb. 10, 2023 at the age of 91.
Under Lloyd the Blue Devils’ first team championship came on April 15, 1976, at the UNC-G Invitational in Greensboro and their first individual champion came at the North Carolina Women’s Collegiate when Jan Disque, of Jamestown, N.C., captured that title.
Ron Schmid, assistant pro at the Duke Golf Course and assistant men’s golf coach, took over the head coaching duties in 1979. Under his guidance the Blue Devils played in their first NCAA Championship in 1983 with a team made up of Mary Anne Widman, Jodi Logan, Maggie Pierson, Valerie Faulkner and Michelle Miller. Under Schmid they captured their first ACC title as well.
Widman would go on to become one of Duke’s greatest golfers, winning the first ACC individual title in 1984 while putting together 12 individual titles in her career — a record that still stands today after being tied by Amanda Blumenherst in 2009. Widman was honored three times as an All-America, twice second team and Duke’s first women’s golfer to achieve first team All-America status in 1984.
“Duke afforded me a great opportunity,” said Widman, now Mary Anne Levins, one of five Duke golfers enshrined in the Duke Athletics Hall of Fame along with coach Dan Brooks. “When I left Elmira (New York) I wanted to be the No. 1 player in the country and Duke gave me that opportunity. If I wanted to stand on the range and hit balls for five hours, Coach Schmid would stand with me for five hours and help me get better.”
There is even a story of Widman hitting balls on the range in the snow. “I loved to practice, play and be around the people at Duke,” she added. “I loved Duke and Duke loved me and made it possible for me to chase my dream.”
That early success showed Duke had the potential to be a very solid women’s golf program, but no one had any idea of how successful it would be until the man from Oregon arrived on campus.
In 1984 Schmid moved into fund-raising as the head of the Iron Dukes (and later went on to become the Carolinas PGA section executive director). Athletics Director Tom Butters, an avid golfer, began the interview process for a new head coach and really liked a young man from Oregon, Dan Brooks, a 1981 graduate of Oregon State.
Butters’ instinct in hiring Brooks paid off immediately. In his first season, Brooks led the Blue Devils to three team wins in their first five events and captured the first of his 21 ACC championships.
“I grew up in Oregon and left God’s country to come to Duke,” explained Brooks, a native of Baker City, Oregon. “It was an adventure. I didn’t know what I wanted to do. I knew I wanted to teach something. I went into golf and started to teach people and just liked that feeling.
“So, I came out here for the interview and met a guy named Tom Butters. I remember riding in the car with him during the interview. I said, ‘Mr. Butters, if you give me this job, I’ll give it everything I’ve got.’ That seemed to matter to him. The next day, he said, ‘You’re everything we don’t want. You’re young. You’re single. You live on the other side of the country. But I like you. You’ve got the job if you want it.”
During one streak the Blue Devils ruled the ACC, winning the conference title 13 years in a row from 1996-2008.
The first national title came in 1999 with the lineup of Candy Hanneman, Kalen Anderson, Beth Bauer, Jenny Chuasiriporn and Filippa Hansson as they captured the crown at Tulsa (Okla.) Country Club.
“Obviously winning our first NCAA championship (in 1999) was really, really special,” said Hanneman.
“That was a team that bonded incredibly well. It was such a great mix of seniors and freshmen coming in. Jenny (Chuasiriporn) and Filippa (Hansson) really took us in as seniors and made us feel welcome, but also built a culture around our team that lasted the whole time I was there. Winning the first one was special, and winning my last year was special because it gave me an opportunity to leave with incredible memories and seal the deal on that last day. The championships are great but the memories with my teammates are far better.”
With that win in 1999, the floodgates opened and the Blue Devils captured titles in 2002, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2014 and 2019. The Blue Devils also had four NCAA individual champs in that time frame with Hannemann in 2001, Virada Nirapathpongporn in 2002, Anna Grzebien in 2005 and Virginia Elena Carta in 2016.
The back-to-back-to-back threepeat titles marked the most impressive run of women’s golf at Duke. The teams were loaded with All-Americas and outstanding players.
Five first team All-Americas were members of those teams in Blumenherst, Grzebien, Liz Janangelo, Brittany Lang and Jennie Lee.
During that time frame the Blue Devils also had their first four-time first team All-Americas in Lindy Duncan (2009-12) followed by Leona Maguire (2014-18).
“Each year is unique,” said Brooks. “You get a whole new group. When somebody graduates, somebody new comes in. And when you have a small team, it’s incredible how the team changes. It becomes a different deal. So now you’re excited again.
“Every season has its parts. You have your offseason, your on-season. There’s a lot of variety to it, and every one of those parts is going to change every year.”
The list of accolades by this program are enough to have the program itself enshrined in any Hall of Fame in the world. Sixteen Blue Devils have played on Curtis Cup teams over the years with Sarah LeBrun Ingram serving as captain of the team in the covid-cancelled 2021 event and the 2022 Cup won by the USA. Eight Blue Devils have played in the prestigious Augusta Women’s National Championship with Erica Shepherd making the field all four years of her collegiate career. The Blue Devils had five individuals play in the inaugural event in 2019, and this year they had two representatives in Phoebe Brinker and Emma McMyler.
Three Blue Devils have played in the Olympic Games for their country — Laetitia Beck for Israel in the 2016 games, along with Leona Maguire who represented Ireland in 2016 and 2020, and Celine Boutier for France in 2020. Three Blue Devils captured US Amateur titles — Nirapathpongporn in 2003, Blumenherst in 2008 and Hannah O’Sullivan in 2015. The Blue Devils have had the national player of the year (either Honda or WGCA) 12 times since 2001, as well as 20 ACC players of the year.
The trophy room in the Karcher-Ingram Center that houses the Duke golf teams is literally overflowing with hardware from this women’s program.
Following their years at Duke, women’s golfers have gone on to outstanding careers. On the professional level the Blue Devils have had 22 members of the LPGA Tour, starting with Jean Bartholomew in 1996. Boutier has been the most successful with 10 professional titles. Brittany Lang has two titles, including the 2016 US Open, and Leona Maguire also has won twice, while Beth Bauer captured rookie of the year honors on the LPGA Tour in 2002. Blue Devils have been a part of the last eight Solheim Cups.
Kalen Anderson, a member of that first national championship team, has gone on to be a very successful women’s college coach at South Carolina. Four Blue Devil golfers went on to outstanding broadcasting careers with Kelly Tilghman, Stephanie Sparks and Blumenherst on GolfChannel and NBC, and Alison Whitaker on the DP World Tour broadcast.
For Brooks the run has been remarkable. He is the winningest coach in college women’s golf history with a record 143 tournament titles. He is a true Hall of Famer, inducted in the Duke Athletics, Women’s Golf Coaches Association, Carolinas Golf Association and most recently the North Carolina Sports halls of fame.
“When my days are done here at Duke, the word I will use to describe my experience is ‘awe,’ just in the character of the individuals that I’ve been able to coach,” Brooks said. “It’s been phenomenal. They have had so much asked of them and have risen to the challenge and exceeded what you’d expect.”
This story originally appeared in the 15.8 issue of GoDuke The Magazine – April 2024. Dedicated to sharing the stories of Duke student-athletes, present and past, GoDuke The Magazine is published for Duke Athletics by LEARFIELD with editorial offices at 3100 Tower Blvd., Suite 404, Durham, NC 27707. To subscribe, join the Iron Dukes or call (336) 831-0767.