The Zoysia grass on the greens of the Peninsula Golf Club slowed Duke's putts and made finishing holes difficult at the Wildcat Invitational Sunday through Tuesday in Sonora, Mexico.
Maybe, then, it was no coincidence that the Blue Devils' best shot came when they avoided the green altogether.
From 130 yards away with an 8-iron in hand, sophomore Kim Donovan didn't let the breathtaking views of the Sea of Cortes distract her from watching her ball trickle into the hole. It was Donovan's first hole-in-one of her career.
"It was a wonderful feeling," Donovan said. "I've hit the pin before [but never had it go in]. It was just incredible watching it go into the hole because some people don't actually see their shot go in if they have a hole-in-one. It was great that it was at a hole where I could actually watch it go in, especially for my first."
For Duke, though, the finish wasn't quite as picture-perfect. The Blue Devils shot a combined 905 over three rounds to finish seventh in the tournament.
Still, Donovan still had reason to be excited after her accomplishment.
"[It was a] pure golf shot, it was sweet," assistant coach Jan Dowling added.
At the end of the tournament, officials at the course presented Donovan with a cake in honor of her feat.
Senior Amanda Blumenherst, despite winning the individual honors at this tournament the last two years, struggled early. Blumenherst shot 76 Sunday and followed it with a 77 the next day. Despite early struggles, however, neither her coaches nor her teammates doubted that Blumenherst would recover quickly.
"She's a three-time national player of the year," Dowling said. "She goes out and plays every tournament like she's going to win it, and she plays each round trying to shoot the lowest score that she can."
Blumenherst finished the tournament with her best round, a 69, to bring her total to 222, good for 18th.
Senior Jennie Lee and juniors Donovan and Yu Young Lee finished with scores of 224, 227 and 235, respectively.
The Wildcat Invitational forced the Blue Devils to match up against the toughest field they have faced so far in this early part of the season.
The challenge came at a particularly diffiult time with the team still trying to be at full strength. Junior Alison Whitaker was forced to withdraw from play during the third round due to a lingering back injury, even though she was hitting the ball well in the first two rounds.
"We're just going to continue to work on our short game," Dowling said. "[We will look to] keep improving, keep getting better and work toward the end of the year, which is really what it's all about."
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