Over the course of a windy weekend down in Chattanooga, Tenn., one Blue Devil in particular opened the eyes of many. Even while playing on the Honors Course, which is no easy feat, freshman Anna Cañado Espinal made it look effortless as she posted a score of 1-over par throughout the three rounds. Espinal’s magnificent performance led to her first collegiate title and propelled No. 22 Duke to place fifth overall.
“We didn't finish where we would have liked to have finished. So from that standpoint, we have a ways to go. But from individual standpoints, I had some good feelings about the tournament, and certainly the effort and the attitudes were fantastic,” head coach Dan Brooks said.
The effort the Blue Devils displayed was certainly commendable especially given strong wind gusts present throughout the tournament. This caused the teams to play 36 holes Saturday given the inclement weather that was projected for Sunday. But after the first round of golf played on Friday, Duke was tied overall for fourth place with Florida and was also tied for first place in birdies, having recorded a total of 15.
Following a great first round Friday, the Blue Devils took a moment to find their groove in the second round. Eventually, they executed well leading to a strong third-round performance by many Duke players. Coming off a score of 68 in the first round, Espinal recorded a score of 76 in the second round, accumulating a handful of bogeys but also several impressive birdies. Both the freshman Carla De Troia and junior Andie Smith recorded a score of 3-over-par 75 during the second round of action.
In the third round, Espinal was on fire, amassing four birdies after only playing 12 holes helping her to win her first collegiate title by a margin of two strokes.
“I'm so excited for her [and] proud of her. She played the honors course, which is a challenging course, the first time she'd seen it,” Brooks said. “She's a freshman, and for her to come out with the individual title, in that situation with the weather, it takes a lot of maturity to win a tournament as a freshman, so I'm very proud of her.”
But Espinal was not the only freshman who put up a strong performance. De Troia tied her career-best 18-hole score in the third round to register a 69 and career high of six birdies.
“Carla hadn't played really well before that 69 [but] shoot[ing] a 69 was only one shot away from the previous course record,” Brooks said. “It's one thing to have a great day, but she had not really played well or up to her abilities the rounds before and then to come in and shoot that 69 is very impressive.”
Smith was able to collect birdies on holes No. 11 and No. 11, a bogey on 12, a birdie on 14 and a bogey on 15. The Hobe Sound, Fla., native parred eight of her nine final holes to finish with a 1-under 71, tying for 14th place.
Sophomore Katie Li also opened the closing round by sinking a 15-foot birdie and continued to play the next 14 holes overall at an even par and eventually finished with a score of 76.
Heading into the postseason and reflecting on team dynamics, the team is in a great position.
“Team dynamics are fantastic. We have a lot of great stuff going on. We have a lot of maturity and a lot of great humor, and that's a good combination on a team,” Brooks said.
While team dynamics are as strong as ever, some players recently showed exceptional dedication to the team. Both Li and Smith earned a spot at the Augusta National Women’s Amateur Tournament giving them the option to not play in the Chattanooga Classic.
“You've got to be careful about over burdening people with rounds of competitive golf,” Brooks said. “So I said you don't need to go to Chattanooga, and they both volunteer to play. [It’s] very impressive that they opted to do that for the team.”
The Blue Devils will look to continue this strong team culture and successful individual results into the ACC Championships April 16-19.
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