As the women’s golf team did in three of its five tournaments during the fall, Duke trails the leader heading into the last day of play. In each of those three events, the Blue Devils outplayed their opponents in the final round and won all of them.
Duke started play Tuesday four strokes behind UCLA but erased the deficit and is now tied with UCLA at 25-over-par. Pepperdine played the best round of the day, shooting 12-over-par to emerge with a one-stroke lead over the Blue Devils and the Bruins after 36 holes.
Brittany Lang followed a three-under-par round Monday with a solid one-over performance Tuesday and leads the field by five strokes. The sophomore would be even further ahead were it not for consecutive double bogeys on the 13th and 14th.
“Brittany has struck the ball very well,” head coach Dan Brooks said. “These greens are much faster than back east and she has had some trouble putting, but it shows a lot about her game that she can dominate the competition while struggling on the greens.”
Top-ranked Duke was the favorite entering the tournament even though the teams are playing at the Palos Verdes Golf Club, a course familiar to many of the Blue Devils’ competitors but not to Brooks’ squad.
But with reigning Player of the Year Liz Janangelo off the course because of pneumonia, the Blue Devils were left with just four players and much less room for error.
With the team unable to drop its lowest score in each round, losing Janangelo may have been extremely costly, but through 36 holes none of Duke’s players have faltered enough to take the Blue Devils out of contention. Entering today’s final round, the Blue Devils are in position to pick up their sixth consecutive tournament victory and first of the spring season.
“We’ve got some real competitors on this team,” Brooks said. “Even with Liz out, they’ve been very positive and still play to win.”
In Tuesday’s round, Niloufar Aazam-Zanganeh turned in her second-straight two-over round as she continues to play consistent golf. The senior carded only two bogeys Tuesday and sits in fourth with three other golfers.
“Nilou has been playing great,” Brooks said of the senior who has struggled with injuries through her Duke career. “She’s playing in the No. 1 spot after some great play back at Duke and has done a great job keeping her composure while playing with such high expectations.”
The Blue Devils two other competitors, sophomore Anna Grzebien and freshman Jennifer Pandolfi, turned in rounds of five-over and eight-over, respectively. Pandolfi started her round shooting eight-over on the first 10 holes, but closed out her round with six pars, a birdie and a bogey.
“Jennifer was pressing a little bit too much early on the day,” Brooks said. “I spoke with her and told her that the team was still in good position and after that she calmed down a little bit and played very well down the back nine.”
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