Most women's golf teams would be quite pleased with a third-place finish at one of the season's most competitive events, but not Duke.
Leading the Mercedes-Benz Collegiate Championship after the completion of the first round Friday, the Blue Devils were unable to hold onto their advantage over the weekend. Duke finished the tournament in third place with a composite score of 910, eight strokes behind eventual tournament winner Purdue. Having yet to win an event since the start of the fall season, the Blue Devils believe they need to demonstrate much improvement over the coming weeks to return to the dominance that afforded them their No. 1 preseason ranking.
"We are not doing as well as I thought we would," sophomore Leigh Anne Hardin said. "We are not used to seeing the team not getting first or second."
Contrastingly, in the individual competition, Hardin was able to finish in the top two, firing a first-round 67--her best score since entering collegiate golf--followed by rounds of 77 and 76 to finish the tournament. Her overall score of 220 placed her only three shots back of Purdue's Kari Damron, who was able to hold off a number of the nation's best golfers.
Despite leading her team in the absence of injured defending NCAA champ Candy Hannemann and frequent pace-setter Virada Nirapathpongporn, Hardin was slightly disappointed with her second-place finish. After the final round, she admitted that nerves might have played a part in her inability to follow up her magnificent opening round with more spectacular golf.
"My final round was going well until I made three straight bogeys on the back nine," Hardin said. "I don't know whether it was nerves from not being in a position to win in a while or just a mental breakdown. It's not like me to have three straight bogeys, but I pulled myself together and parred the last few holes.
"I felt like I played well all week. I made stupid mistakes on the second day which included double and triple bogey. Without those two holes, I would have shot even par."
Inconsistency also plagued Nirapathpongporn's tournament, as the Bangkok, Thailand native was unable to seriously compete for medalist honors because of her inability to break par. The sophomore fired rounds of 73-75-75 for a total score of 223, three back of Hardin and six behind Damron.
Despite the fact that she was unable to challenge for the individual title, Nirapathpongporn was happy with the progress she made in the final round, where she finally learned to hit into the howling winds that surrounded the Gettsyvue Polo, Golf, and Country Club.
"I thought 75 was a decent score with the conditions the way they were," Nirapathpongporn said. "I shot over par on the last few holes of the second and third, which hurt my score, but I was glad that I stayed confident through it all."
Confidence will be a key in Duke's upcoming tournament in Auburn, Ala., where it competes in next weekend's Auburn Tiger-Derby Invitational. In that tournament, the Blue Devils will aim for their first victory of the season, one which they believe is long overdue.
"We are really fired up to have a great last fall tournament at Auburn," Hardin said. "And we think we have a good chance of winning it.
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