Playing short-handed again, the No.1 Blue Devils blew out the competition at the Bryan National Collegiate to capture their fifth consecutive title at the Browns Summitt, N.C. course.
Sophomore Brittany Lang entered the final round tied for fourth place but handled the windy conditions and beat out Golda Johansson of Tennessee for the individual crown. Lang, the 2004 ACC Rookie of the Year, finished even par for the tournament. The victory marks her second of the season and fifth overall.
“Brittany did nothing spectacular,” Brooks said. “She just played tough and didn’t get bothered when she missed greens.”
Duke played without a fifth golfer earlier in the spring at the Northrop Grumman Regional Challenge and finished third. This time, the Blue Devils offset senior Niloufar Aazam-Zanganeh’s wrist tendonitis with all four golfers finishing in the top 16. Their efforts topped second-place Tennessee by 10 strokes.
The margin is the largest for Duke this season, which completed its regular season with seven tournament wins and two third-place finishes.
“I’m very proud of my team,” head coach Dan Brooks said. “They proved they can play under pressure and difficult conditions.”
Duke entered Sunday leading by seven strokes, its largest final-round lead lead since winning the Tar Heel Invitational in early October. Battling high winds, the Blue Devils notched their tournament’s worst round with a 16-over-par performance, which was still the best score of the game.
Tennessee, who moved into second place Saturday, failed to maintain its momentum and lost three more strokes to Duke.
“The wind was blowing 30 miles per hour at times and was seldom less than 20,” Brooks said. “We simply played good enough to win in the rough conditions and kept our composure knowing it was going to be difficult.”
Junior Liz Janangelo led the Blue Devils to a first place tie with Georgia after the first round of play when she notched a tournament-best round of five-under-par 67. Battling sporadic downpours on Saturday, Duke pulled away from the competition, as the Bulldogs shot 12 strokes higher than the Blue Devils and dropped into third.
Janangelo’s opening day performance put her in first place. The reigning NCAA Player of the Year continued her strong play into the weekend and finished in fifth place.
Freshman Jennifer Pandolfi also spent some time atop the leaderboard. She has struggled at points during the season but fired a two-under par 70 Saturday, ending the day in second. She even occupied first place Sunday before two late bogeys knocked her out of the lead. Pandolfi turned in a five-over 75 in the final round’s heavy winds and finished in a career-best third place.
“I’m really excited for Jenny,” Brooks said. “She’s been dedicated all season and to see her crank up her game and finish so high is great.”
Anna Grzebian, fresh off a second place finish in the team’s last tournament, was the only Duke player not to spend time atop the leaderboard or card an under-par round. The sophomore, however, played consistently good golf all weekend and finished 16th place overall, only 12 shots off the pace set by Lang.
Aazam-Zanganeh’s wrist tendonitis kept her out of all three rounds of the tournament. Her injury is not severe and is expected to return to action for the ACC Championships in Charlotte April 15, Brooks said.
With the regular season now complete, Duke heads into the postseason seeking its 10th consecutive ACC Championship and third overall national title.
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