Courtesy of goduke.com
Top-ranked Duke finished with a 54-hole total of 869, to capture its fourth consecutive title at the seventh annual Bryan National Collegiate, played at the par 72, 6,074-yard Bryan Park Champions Course. The Blue Devils have now won eight tournaments this season.
Duke, who their fifth Bryan National crown in the tournament’s seven year history, held on for a 14-shot victory over Wake Forest. Vanderbilt was third at 887, followed by Oklahoma State (890) and Auburn in fifth at 891.
Duke’s Elizabeth Janangelo (74-70-70) captured medalist honors by two shots over May Wood (72-68-76) from Vanderbilt. Brittany Lang (Duke) and Karin Sjodin (Oklahoma State) tied for third at 217. Ohio State’s Allison Hanna (71-75-72) and Duke’s Leigh Anne Hardin (74-70-74) tied for fifth at 218.
Janangelo birdied four out of her final holes to pull out the two-stroke win. The victory for Janangelo is her fourth overall and second outright tournament win this season, but the first this spring. A West Hartford, Conn., product, Janangelo now owns seven top-five finishes in seven tournaments played this season.
‘I am playing with a lot of confidence right now,’ said Janangelo. ‘Playing last week at the Kraft Nabisco Championship was great and helped get me more prepared for this weekend. Last week, it was very windy and my extra practice on the range with my caddie helped me with the conditions we were faced with at the Bryan National.’
After leading through two rounds of play, Lang finished off her tournament with a 77 on Sunday. Hardin carded Duke’s second-best round of the day with a 74 and posted her highest finish of the spring at tied for fifth.
Senior Virada Nirapathpongporn finished tied for 11th with rounds of 70-73-77 for a three-day total of 220 and Anna Grzebien was tied for 47th with a 75-77-80=232.
‘Liz was very fun to watch today,’ said Duke Head Coach Dan Brooks. ‘When she gets feeling good and is in the zone, it is very exciting. Her run at the end of birding four of her final five holes was key as Wake Forest pulled within five strokes at one point today.’
‘I am very excited about the win today,’ said Brooks. ‘I can see that the teams are playing better and we need to keep raising the level of our games also. We will have two weeks to improve before playing in the ACC Championship and I know this team will work hard to get ready for the postseason.’
The tournament was co-hosted by the University of North Carolina at Greensboro and Wake Forest University. Duke will next travel to the ACC Championship on April 16-18 in Clemmons, N.C., where the Blue Devils are the eight-time defending champions.
