Courtesy of goduke.com
CHARLOTTE, N.C. - The top-ranked Duke women’s golf team claimed its 10th straight Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) Championship on Sunday in record fashion as the Blue Devils won by an ACC-record 47 strokes at the 6,318-Yard, Par 72 Carmel Country Club in Charlotte, N.C. The title is the 13th overall and 12th under the direction of Head Coach Dan Brooks.
‘It feels great to get the win,’ said Brooks. ‘It was nice to widen the margin today and that is probably because everyone was trying to win the individual title. The win is good but we are looking to prepare ourselves for the NCAA Championship and want to have teams nipping at our heels. But to win our 10th title feels good.’
ACC Champions
The Blue Devils shot a four-over-par score of 292 on the final day and finished with a three-day total of 886, which was ahead of Wake Forest (933), N.C. State (944), Virginia (944), Miami (946), Florida State (949), North Carolina (963) and Maryland (989) round out the teams. Duke’s 47-stroke victory broke the previous ACC-record of 34-stroke victory in 2000 at the Salem Glen Golf Club in Clemmons, N.C. The margin of victory is also a new overall school record for Duke.
Duke sophomore Brittany Lang claimed her second straight individual ACC Championship as she registered a final round 70 on her way to finishing with a 54-hole total of 219. Lang, a product of McKinney, Texas, becomes only the second golfer in ACC history to notch back-to-back ACC Individual titles. The only other golfer was Jenny Chuasiriporn in 1996 and `97. A Duke golfer has won the ACC Individual title now a record 11 times and six out of the last seven years.
‘The win feels good,’ said Lang. ‘The team played well as we battled tough course conditions the first two days. We stayed with it and played well. Today I played well and made a lot of good par saves. I didn’t putt very well, but I had a lot of good up and downs.’
On the final day, Lang collected three birdies, three sand saves and only one bogey, which came on the par-five hole 18. Overall in three days, Lang notched eight birdies, only six bogeys, one double-bogey and one triple-bogey in 54 holes. Over the final 45 holes of play, Lang played the course at even par and the victory is the sixth of her career, which is tied for third on Duke’s all-time wins list.
‘Brittany looked solid out there today and I was very happy with her swing,’ said Brooks. ‘She hit some great shots and was sticking it all over the course. She had a very tough bunker shot on the 16th hole to save par that was key.’
Overall, Duke finished with four golfers in the top four of the individual standings as Lang was first, Anna Grzebien was second, Liz Janangelo third and Niloufar Aazam-Zanganeh had the best finish of her career in an ACC Championship at fourth.
