Duke women’s golf struggled to a 10th-place finish at the Windy City Collegiate Classic in Wilmette, Ill., after facing a difficult course and gusts — true to the tournament’s name — on the last day of play.
The preseason-ranked No. 15 Blue Devils handled challenging conditions in an early-season skills test Monday and Tuesday. The two-day competition was held at the par-72 Westmoreland Country Club golf course for the first time in three years.
“We ran into a tough course, and I thought our effort was good. I thought everybody kept great attitudes,” head coach Dan Brooks said.
Duke struggled more with each progressive round of play. Although the Blue Devils finished the first day at 17-over, having shot +6 and +11 in rounds one and two, respectively, they hit 20-over in round three to close the competition at +37.
Weather conditions on the first day were “very good,” but winds picked up and challenged the field on day two. Ten of the 15 teams carded their highest score in the third round.
Junior Andie Smith led Duke with an 8-over finish (T-18). Her strongest play came in round one, hitting two birdies and three bogeys. She was closely followed by freshmen Anna Cañado Espinal and Carla De Troia, who each left Wilmette at +9 (T-22). Cañado Espinal and De Troia both shined in round two — their individual best rounds — but faced difficulties on the second day.
“Everybody had their shining moments in this tournament … [but] we’ve got to get better across the board,” Brooks said.
Senior Rylie Heflin failed to replicate ANNIKA Intercollegiate results and consistency as she individually shot 78, 80 and 83 for a total of 241 across the two days of play.
In spite of a 1-under first round start, sophomore Katie Li also struggled, hitting +9 and +4 in her respective second and third rounds. Li’s 18-hole, 1-under score was the lowest by any Blue Devil at the competition.
However, Brooks cautioned against comparing the two tournament outcomes due to differences between courses.
“I think the scores aren’t indicative of some of the quality play that we had. I think each player would tell you that they played a lot of good holes … sometimes you just have a bad tournament,” he said.
The Westmoreland course made for difficult play across the board. All teams finished above par, with first-place Arizona State shooting +11 over the two days. The difficulty marks a stark contrast to Duke’s season opener, where the first-place team hit 31-under. At last year’s Windy City tournament, 11 of 15 teams scored at or below par.
“There’s no part of the game that this course didn’t challenge fully,” Brooks said. “We saw it [three] years ago, it’s a challenging course, it’s going to challenge every part of your game.”
The competition included many familiar faces. South Carolina placed second behind the Sun Devils, hitting 17-over. Duke saw both teams — in addition to Oregon, Wake Forest, UCLA and Purdue — at its previous tournament.
Moving forward, the Blue Devils plan to individually assess their skills and continue refining their games.
“We don’t have a bone in any of our bodies that was remotely satisfied with this, and that can be a great time to learn,” Brooks said. “Each of these players is going to consider their games, consider what just happened, and go to work.”
Next up for Duke is the Oct. 11-13 Ruth’s Chris Tar Heel Invitational, just down the road in Chapel Hill, N.C.
“We are just going to do what we do every day, just keep working at it, and the season is long. We’re just getting started,” Brooks said.
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Ryan Kilgallen is a Trinity sophomore and an associate news editor for the news department.