Four new Blue Devils and three returning team leaders give Duke strong prospects for the 2009-10 season, even after graduating All-Americans Amanda Blumenherst and Jennie Lee. Lindy Duncan, who made it to the final 16 of the US Amateur this August, joins Courtney Ellenbogen and Stacey Kim in a freshman class that will form half of the team's six-player roster. On the coaching staff, Emily Bastel replaces Jan Dowling as assistant coach after Dowling's move to the head coaching position at the University of Florida.
"I feel like we have experienced people who came onto the team as freshmen," head coach Dan Brooks said. "They are going to play a big role, and I have every expectation that they'll handle it well. We've got three good leaders on the team, Kim Donovan, Yu Young Lee and Alison Whitaker, who've already stepped up and have been contributing to the lives of these freshmen already, trying to get them acclimated and helping out, so I have no question about our leaders....It's a long season, we don't play Nationals until May, so we've got a lot of time on our hands."
Whitaker, a senior, said she looks forward to working with the freshmen, and hopes to help them make a seamless transition into college academics as well as athletics.
"We're starting off a little earlier this year," Whitaker said. "Usually we start the season off with the Fall Preview itself...It's a little different this time. The national match play competition is actually up first, and it's a little earlier than usual, so the girls are only going to have a week and a half of classes before they are leaving for their first tournament."
Brooks is confident in the freshmen's ability to handle hard work, though.
Duke freshmen have had national success before: Blumenherst won National Player of the Year honors in her first year under Brooks.
"All three [freshmen] have been out here," said Brooks. "It seems like every minute they aren't busy with orientation they've been out here practicing or playing. That's a very good sign to start off with."
Brooks also looks forward to working with Bastel on the coaching staff.
Bastel played three full years on the LPGA Tour and also finished at the top of the Futures Tour early in her career. Whitaker is enthusiastic about working with and learning from Bastel, whose experience on the pro circuit should prove helpful to a young team.
"I think she is going to be great," said Whitaker. "She's got such a good reputation as a golfer, as a really hard worker and a brilliant player....She'll bring a lot of intensity and a lot of playing wisdom to the team that will come to us on a level that we can all appreciate and learn from. I'm looking forward to hearing what she has to say, and looking forward to meeting her as a person as well."
The NCAA Championship won't be played until May, but the Blue Devils' season starts right away with the NCGA National Golf Championship in Daytona Beach, Fla. from Sept. 6 to 8. Whitaker's current goal is to improve her short game, especially her putting skills, after her experience this summer playing in the Japanese LPGA.
"I'll be working on it over the next couple of months, and hopefully I'll be sharpshooting by the time Nationals comes around in eight months or so," Whitaker said.
The Blue Devils already have five national titles in program history, and even without Blumenherst and Lee, they'll be shooting for another in 2009-2010.
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