After a disappointing finish in the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament, members of the women's golf team made it sound like they had played their first round with shovels, not golf clubs.
"We dug ourselves too big of a hole to make up the ground," senior Pam Soliman said. "The first day nobody played exceptionally well. We all played mediocre and put ourselves in a bad position. The whole tournament, we had to make up shots and as easy a golf course as it is, it's tough to make up that many shots."
Duke finished in a tie for third with North Carolina in the four-team meet at Killearn Country Club in Tallahassee, Fla. Wake Forest beat Florida State by 12 strokes in the final round to come from behind and win the tournament. The Demon Deacons tallied 906 strokes for the three rounds, edging Florida State by just two strokes for the title. Duke and UNC finished at 918.
On an individual basis, freshman Alicia Allison made the most of her ACC tournament debut. Seven strokes behind champion Laura Philo of Wake Forest, Allison shot 75-77-71 to finish fourth.
"I'm just tickled," Duke head coach Dan Brooks said. "She comes off of a 75 talking about how she's tired of playing mediocre. You know this kid has a good idea of what good golf is when she's coming off of mid-seventy rounds and she's talking about mediocrity."
What made that kind of talk more surprising is that Allison had beaten all of her teammates in Friday's first round. Sophomore Liz Lepanto carded a round of 77, but the team's upperclass players saw their scores balloon. Defending ACC champion Katharina Poppmeier could only manage an 80. Soliman and junior Jamie Koizumi shot 79.
"The problem is that it's okay for people to shoot high numbers," Brooks said. "You just don't need them all on the same day. It's unfortunate when your seniors and your leaders happen to have their bad day together. It ran us too high that first day. We came back, but its not enough after the hole we dug."
Particularly disappointed with her play was Poppmeier. She said on Sunday that she had prepared better for this tournament than for any other event this year. But rounds of 79 and 76 after her opening 80 left her tied for 12th. Two birdies in her last three holes had her looking forward to the NCAA East Regional with confidence but also left her wondering why her practice didn't pay off with better scoring in Tallahasse.
"I don't want to say that the work on my game was in vain or didn't pay off," Poppmeier said. "I have to ask myself, `Did I put too much pressure on myself?' I don't really think so. I just wanted to play well, and I didn't."
Instead, it was Koizumi--who backed up her opening 79 with solid rounds of 76 and 77 to finish 9th--and Allison who found their games this weekend. Allison said she used mental concentration rather than preparation to come up with her highest finish this spring. A short talk with Brooks before her round on Sunday helped her find the intensity she had been missing in her game.
"I realized I'd kind of been slacking," Allison said. "There was no spark. I was just kind of playing, and a lot of times I hadn't really thought, Oh, I'd like to win this.' I had no real goals. Today I said,I'm just going to stay real focused and go for a good score.'
"That was what I needed. I got focused a little bit last night, and then [Brooks] spoke to me this morning. After that, I just wanted to run right out to the course."
The same could be said for the entire team--after the tournament. Team members said they were looking forward to sharpening their games before the NCAA East Regional starting May 11. For his part, Brooks is also looking forward to the event for several reasons.
"I think Alicia rediscovered something in that last round in her intensity level and her ball striking," Brooks said. "She just found the fire. I think we learned a little bit about Alicia in this tournament. I also think [Koizumi], who has developed a great swing, is getting back to playing golf--to scoring.
"Those two things are really valuable going into regionals. On top of that, I think I can always count on Poppmeier and Soliman. They're going to be back. You can count on that."
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