WRAL Sports Fan

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WGOLF: Duke To Compete For 13th Straight ACC Title

Apr 16, 2008

DURHAM, N.C. – Head Coach Dan Brooks and the Duke women’s golf team will head to Daytona Beach, Fla., this weekend to compete in the 20th annual ACC Championship. The championship will take place from April 18-20 at the Par 72, 6,315-Yard LPGA International Legends Course.

The Blue Devils are the 12-time defending ACC Champions and a Duke golfer has been the ACC Individual Champion in eight of the past nine years. Overall, the Blue Devils have won 15 ACC titles with the next closest team being Wake Forest with three. Brooks has led Duke to 14 of the 15 championships over his 23 seasons.

Duke is currently ranked second nationally in the Golf World/NGCA Division I Coaches’ Poll, which was released on April 9. The Blue Devils are second behind UCLA by only three points, while Southern California, Arizona State, Florida, Purdue, Georgia, Auburn, Oklahoma State and Arkansas rounded out the top 10. Other ACC schools listed in the top-25 are Wake Forest (14) and Virginia (23).

In the Golfweek/Sagarin Performance Index, Duke is listed tied for first along with UCLA. Other ACC schools in the ranking include Wake Forest (14) and Virginia (22). Duke boasts four golfers listed in the top-60 nationally-- Amanda Blumenherst (1) and Jennie Lee (16), Alison Whitaker (31), Jennifer Pandolfi is (54).

Blumenherst, a native of Scottsdale, Ariz., will be vying for her third straight ACC individual crown, which would be a first in league history. On the season, Blumenherst has totaled a 70.67 stroke average to go along with three victories and eight top-five finishes. She is coming off placing 30th at the LPGA Kraft Nabisco Championship from April 3-6 with rounds of 73, 73, 73 and 74, which generated low-amateur honors. The reigning two-time National Player of the Year, Blumenherst owns 10 career wins and 27 top 10 finishes, which rank second on Duke’s career charts. Her 59 rounds of even or under par is a new school record in only three years of action.

A junior from Henderson, Nev., Lee enters the ACC Championship ranked 16th nationally and is a two-time All-ACC selection. On the season, she has totaled a 73.86 stroke average as well as three top 10 and five top 20 finishes. Lee is coming off a third place finish in the 2007 ACC Championship with rounds of 71, 71 and 75 for a total of 217. As a freshman, Lee was the runner-up at the NCAA Championship, after posting an even-par ledger of 288 through four rounds.

One of two Blue Devils to win a collegiate tournament this spring, Whitaker enters the weekend ranked 33rd nationally. A product of Melbourne, Australia, Whitaker is one of two Blue Devils to have won an individual title in 2007-08. Whitaker totaled a career-best tournament over the weekend of March 9-11 at the UCF Challenge as she totaled rounds of 65, 71 and 72 to post an eight-under-par, 208. The victory marked her first collegiate win and also gave her an invitation to play in the Ginn Tribute sponsored by Annika, which will be played from May 26 through June 1 in Charleston, S.C.

Whitaker has totaled a 74.58 stroke average on the season and registered two top-five finishes. Last season, she finished tied for 11th at the ACC Championship.

Pandolfi, a three-time All-ACC selection and Duke’s lone senior, is looking to conclude her career with a fourth ACC Championship. On the season, she has compiled a 75.29 stroke average and two top 20 finishes. Pandolfi has registered three top 13 finishes in three ACC Championship appearances. As a freshman and sophomore, she was no lower than tied for eighth.

Freshman Kim Donovan will make her first appearance in the ACC Championship, after posting a 76.54 stroke average in eight tournaments this season.

Last season, the Blue Devils won their 12th ACC title winning by 35 strokes over Wake Forest. Duke posted rounds of 287, 284 and 302 to finish with a three-day total of 873. Overall, Duke has won the ACC Championship in 1984, ‘85, ‘93, ‘96, ‘97, ‘98, ‘99, 2000, ‘01, ‘02, ‘03, ‘04, ‘05, ‘06 and ‘07.

Ten different Blue Devils have claimed individual honors at the ACC Championship— Mary Anne Widman (1984), Evelyn Orley (1985), Kathi Poppmeier (1994), Jenny Chuasiriporn (1996 & 1997), Beth Bauer (1999), Maria Garcia-Estrada (2000), Nirapathpongporn (2001), Candy Hannemann (2002), Brittany Lang (2004 & 2005) and Amanda Blumenherst (2006 and 2007).

Brooks is in his 24th season with the Blue Devils. He is an 11-time ACC Coach of the Year selection and has led Duke to 77 event titles, five NCAA Championships, 10 ACC Championships and 44 individual medalist honors, over the last 10 years. In his 24 years, Brooks has registered an NCAA-record 106 victories.