After a perfect fall season, the No. 1 Blue Devils have opened the spring with consecutive losses. The third-place finish at the Lady Gator Golf Invitational marks the first time since 2002 Duke has failed to win back-to-back tournaments.
“We play to win,” head coach Dan Brooks said. “But we are human beings, and we cannot win every time.”
The Blue Devils trailed by 11 strokes heading into the final round of play Sunday at the University of Florida Golf Course. Led by Brittany Lang and Liz Janangelo, Duke carded a second-best 302 but failed to come close to Wake Forest. The Demon Deacons shot a 292 and won the tournament by 19 strokes.
“I don’t feel bad about how we played golf,” Brooks said. “Wake Forest just played really well, and I’m actually very happy to say that because recently the ACC has been so weak.”
Although some Blue Devils struggled, Lang and Janangelo both finished in the top 10 individually.
Lang fired a two-over-par 72 Sunday to move out of a seventh-place tie with Janangelo and into fifth place. The sophomore played her most consistent round Sunday, carding four bogies and a pair of birdies. Lang won last month’s Northrop Grumman Regional Challenge for her fourth individual crown since arriving at Duke and has now finished in the top five in four tournaments this year.
Janangelo missed the last tournament and practice time because of pneumonia but showed no ill effects from the time off as she finished sixth.
The reigning NCAA Player of the Year struggled in windy conditions Saturday, turning in a seven-over performance, but she rebounded in the final round, parring 16 holes and finishing three-over on the 5,927-yard course.
“It was great to have Liz back,” Brooks said. “It was difficult just playing with four players, but more importantly, she’s a vital part of our team’s chemistry.”
Duke’s other two golfers, Niloufar Aazam-Zanganeh and Anna Grzebien both finished out of the top 25 and had difficulty adapting to the long course. Aazam-Zanganeh played her way to the top spot in the lineup during winter training and finished 12th at the Northrop Grumman Regional Challenge. But the senior failed to get on track in Florida, as she notched only three birdies in as many rounds and finished 22 over par.
“I think the whole team was just trying a little too hard,” Brooks said. “It was a very challenging course for both the long game and the short game, and we just got frustrated.”
The Blue Devils will not have to wait long to try to end their uncharacteristic losing skid. Duke will travel to Austin, Texas, next weekend to search for its first spring tournament victory at the Betsy Rawls Longhorn Invitational.
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