Pam Soliman's collegiate golf career has turned into a bit of a Duke fairy tale.
Soliman, a senior from Lutherville, Md., has gone from being an unknown, non-contributor her freshman year to one of the better collegiate golfers in the nation.
"I would say she has improved more than anyone I've ever had on my team, and I've been doing this for 11 years now," head coach Dan Brooks said. "I also can't think of anyone on other teams who has improved that much."
Last week, Soliman had her best individual showing ever in a college tournament. She placed third at the Duke Spring Invitational by shooting a three-day total of 222--missing out on a first-place playoff by only one stroke.
And this was not a powder-puff tournament. Some of the best female golfers in the nation came to Durham for the tournament, and Soliman beat all but two of them. On top of that, she helped her team to a comfortable victory on the newly-remodeled course.
"I think that tournament right there is testimony to her ability to do it when it really counts," Brooks said. "There are a few factors here. First, we're playing without a solid player that was on the team last year, [senior] Stephanie Sparks [who is out with an injury]. [Soliman's] really carrying the weight of losing a player that we had before.
"She's playing as a senior, which puts extra pressure on you. She's also playing in a home tournament, which we haven't had for a couple of years. So all of a sudden you're on your home track in front of everybody, and then there she goes."
Brooks said that Soliman has always had a good mind for the game of golf. And when she came to Duke, he also knew that she was a talented athlete and had the potential to be a pretty good player. Still, her modest junior career did not seem to signal imminent collegiate greatness.
In her first year as a Blue Devil, Soliman played in exactly one tournament--then the Duke Fall Invitational--and shot a less-than-impressive 254 for three rounds. It wasn't quite a rousing opening to her career.
"I didn't really know what to expect," Soliman said. "My freshman year, I played horribly the whole year. I think a lot of that was adjusting and playing on a really competitive team for the first time."
But during her sophomore year, Soliman began to make her move. She played in seven tournaments and shot a season-best 75 at the Lady Tar Heel Invitational in Chapel Hill.
Then in her junior year, the fairy tale really began to take shape--after she got through a couple of bumps in the road.
At the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament, Soliman made a minor scorecard error in the second round. Even though her overall score was correct on the card her opponent had kept, Soliman signed it without noticing an error on one of the hole scores. In competitive golf, not even the most innocent of errors is forgiven.
Soliman was disqualified, and it cost her team 11 strokes and a probable title.
"That was a really, really bad experience," Soliman said. "I know it's something I'll never do again after going through that. I wish that it didn't cost my team so much."
She then strug-gled at the NCAA regionals in early May, placing 74th in the 19-team tournament.
But then, last May at the NCAA championships, everything came together for the hard-working Soliman and her team.
At the tournament in Portland, Ore., Duke earned its best-ever NCAA finish by taking fourth place. And Soliman posted Duke's third-lowest score by shooting a four-day total of 309 to tie for 25th place--including a remarkable team-best 76 during the rainy final round.
"She had shown me enough things throughout the year that I expected her to do well," Brooks said.
"For me, that was the biggest tournament I've ever played in," Soliman said. "They had all the best players there, obviously, and my team was doing well. Everything was great. It was a great golf course, so it was fun."
In three years, Soliman had developed from a nervous, non-distinguished freshman into the 25th best golfer in the nation.
And she's kept moving up from there.
"She takes it to the next level every two or three months," Brooks said. "That's what's phenomenal. I've never seen a college player improve like that."
Even if she hadn't become a great golfer, Soliman still would have had plenty going for her. She is a pre-med student and is planning to go to medical school next fall, although she doesn't know where just yet. But she does know that she wants to work in surgery, and has considered becoming a neurosur-geon.
Last year, Soliman was one of three Blue Devils to be named an Academic All-American--the Duke team's cumulative grade-point average was higher than a 3.5. Prior to last season, Duke had had two Academic All-Americans in the history of the program.
"I think people on our team have always looked up to Pam," Brooks said. "It's a natural thing to do. It's something that I think I have done. She's just a very sharp person with a pretty level head. So I think grade-wise, scholarship-wise and golf-wise, what she's added to the team is an `it-can-be-done' type attitude."
Soliman has definitely learned to get it done on the links, and Brooks thinks she could have a future on the professional golf tour--if she did not have other ideas on the horizon.
"There are just so many things, mentally and physically in her game, that are improving, not just one area or the other," Brooks said. "I would really wonder how far she could go. That improvement I wouldn't expect to just stop when she graduates."
"[Playing professionally] is something that I've always wondered about, but it's not in my future plans," Soliman said.
Soliman has been planning on pursuing a medical career ever since her arrival in Durham, and she does not expect to stray from that course. Her future golf plans will likely revolve around top-flight amateur competitions.
But her college golf career is not yet done. Soliman has some unfinished business left at the ACC tournament, which will be held April 21-23.
No matter what happens the rest of the way, Pam Soliman has made the most of her college golf career--and a lot more.
"It's been really good, but I think that it can even get better," she said. "I'm really happy with the way things have gone in golf, but there's always room for improvement. We have ACCs, regionals and nationals coming up, so hopefully it will be a good ending."
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