The Duke women’s golf team successfully defended its Tar Heel Invitational title this weekend without even realizing it.
“The win last year had nothing to do with this year’s tournament,” said head coach Dan Brooks, whose team has now won the event eight consecutive times. “In fact, I didn’t even remember about it until I was reminded.”
The Blue Devils won the 2004 Tar Heel Invitational by nine strokes, a small margin compared to the school record 49-stroke victory a year ago. No competitor ever threatened Duke’s lead, though, as it led by 13 after the second round.
Junior Liz Janangelo won the individual title last year but could not repeat the feat this weekend. She finished third at two under par, one stroke behind teammate sophomore Brittany Lang, who came in second. Auburn’s Maria Martinez won the tournament at four under with three rounds of even par or lower.
Duke’s victory is even more impressive because the team was not completely healthy. Most of the Blue Devils were suffering from flu-like symptoms for at least some part of the weekend, and freshman Jennifer Pandolfi’s sore back hampered her in the opening round.
“We had a good tournament, especially with all this sickness going on,” Brooks said. “I’m most proud of our players who played sick. It’s not easy to be out there in the sun for five hours when you don’t feel well.”
The top-ranked Blue Devils have won all three of their fall tournaments and have two more outings before the winter hiatus. With two more wins, Duke could match its perfect fall of 2003.
“It feels great to be three-for-three so far this season, especially considering the doubts a lot of people had for us,” Janangelo said. “We are playing together as a team and are having a great time together.”
Pandolfi, the team’s lone freshman, continued to show improvement and confidence. Although she struggled in her first round, partially because of a sore back, her solid second and third rounds counted toward the team score. Pandolfi’s final-round 71 was her first collegiate round under par, and she finished tied for ninth, logging her first career top-10 finish.
“We can count on [Jennifer] in any tournament,” Brooks said. “She has plenty of experience playing in juniors and so this comes naturally to her. We can really depend on her.”
Sophomore Anna Grzebien had an excellent weekend as well, entering the final round in fourth place. She struggled Sunday with a 77 and fell to a tie for seventh. Senior Niloufar Aazam-Zanganeh had a slightly disappointing weekend but still managed to finish in a tie for 16th after a strong opening round Friday.
“We didn’t perform as well as last year but we still got the win,” Lang said.
Greg Beaton contributed to this story.
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