During the spring season, The Chronicle is polling its readers every week via its Sportswrap newsletter to highlight one Blue Devil athlete’s outstanding performance. This week, the spotlight is on Anna Cañado Espinal of Duke women’s golf.
Espinal’s magnificent performance led to her first collegiate title and propelled No. 22 Duke to place fifth overall.
The Blue Devils competed against three top-15 teams in consecutive rounds of match play, leaving Aiken, S.C., with one win and two losses.
With only two points separating them from the first-placed Baylor Bears, the scorching hot Blue Devils once again performed impressively in the PDI Intercollegiate in Orlando, finishing second out of 17 total teams. The team, led by head coach Dan Brooks, is proving yet again why Duke fans should be excited about the 2025 campaign as they look to win their first national championship since 2019.
In their 51st season, the 18th-ranked Blue Devils have entered with a refreshed roster that is loaded with potential. Three new faces joined the team, as three college veterans turned their tassels since Duke began its last postseason run.
In a surprise come-from-behind finish, Duke women’s golf claimed first place at the Ruth’s Chris Tar Heel Invitational for the first time since 2018. The momentum from the win, led by individual first-place finisher Andie Smith, helped the team end their fall campaign with a strong finish.
Duke fired off two solid rounds before stumbling on the last day of the par-72 Landfall Tradition, finishing second in Wilmington, N.C.
During the fall season, The Chronicle is polling its readers every week via its Sportswrap newsletter to highlight one Blue Devil athlete’s outstanding performance. This week’s spotlight goes to Andie Smith of Duke women's golf.
The Blue Devils got hot and went low by the end of the Ruth’s Chris Tar Heel Invitational in Chapel Hill. Junior Andie Smith led the charge — breaking records and guiding Duke with consistent below-par play — as the team claimed first overall from behind.
The preseason-ranked No. 15 Blue Devils handled challenging conditions in an early-season skills test. Duke women’s golf struggled to a 10th-place finish at the Windy City Collegiate Classic in Wilmette, Ill.
The team opened its 51st season finishing tied for fifth at the ANNIKA Intercollegiate in Lake Elmo, Minn. The Blue Devils displayed relative consistency over the three days of competition, finishing at +2 overall on the par-72 course.
Strong winds challenged Duke in early spring but the team quickly adapted. The Blue Devils concluded their season with a 14th-place finish at the NCAA Championship.
In honor of Duke’s Centennial, the Blue Zone’s new Blast from the Past series highlights pivotal figures and events in Duke sports history. Next, we look at the stars that helped build Duke women's golf.
Duke finished the first three days in the top 15 and accordingly advanced to compete in a fourth round of stroke play. However, match play slipped out of reach as the Blue Devils failed to finish in the top eight after the additional day of competition.
With a second place finish at the NCAA Regional in Cle Elum, Wash., the Blue Devils have punched their ticket and are on track for the NCAA Championship. Duke jumped out fast among a 12-team field including top-ranked Stanford and ACC competitors Virginia and Virginia Tech.
The fifth-place Blue Devils left the ACC Championship, hosted in Wilmington, N.C., over the weekend, just one stroke behind North Carolina, the fourth-place finisher and match play qualifier with the highest score.
Duke came in second at the Old Barnwell Match Play in Aiken, S.C., this week after defeating Florida State and Mississippi State and tying South Carolina over three rounds of match play. The Gamecocks claimed the top spot in a tiebreaker based on total holes won over the round against the Blue Devils.
The team wrapped up the final day with a record-breaking score of 30-under-par, 834, and had three golfers among the top ten individuals, including freshman Katie Li who claimed the first overall spot.
Duke struggled with consistency across three rounds, facing challenging winds on the latter two, but had its share of positive showings and moments nonetheless.
The team traveled to Melbourne, Fla., for three days of competition — with one day off in the middle due to inclement weather — against top programs like LSU, Florida and Wake Forest. Duke’s 13th-place finish marked a tie with Alabama and placed the Blue Devils towards the bottom of the 17-team field.
