DURHAM, N.C. – The 2015-16 Duke women's golf team is set to open the spring season this weekend as the Blue Devils travel to Palos Verdes, Calif., for the Northrop Grumman Regional Challenge from Feb. 7-9 at the 6,017-yard, par 71 Palos Verdes Golf Club.
The second-ranked Blue Devils will face a very challenging field featuring 10 teams ranked in the Golfweek listings, including five top-10 ranked squads. In the field along with Duke are Alabama, Arizona, Arizona State, Baylor, Oklahoma State, Florida, Michigan State, North Carolina, Wake Forest, Pepperdine, UCLA, UNLV, USC, Washington and Ohio State.
“The team has done a great job handling the snow, rain, and cold,” said Duke head coach
Dan Brooks. “We took one short trip to get out of the snow -- and that was just to Raleigh. The rest of our training has been right here at Duke. We've packed a lot of golf into the days that have allowed us to practice, particularly the last week or so. We're ready to get our season started.”
The tournament will feature 18 holes played each day for a total of 54 holes over three days of action.
Duke will travel with a lineup that features two National Players of the Year with
Leona Maguire and
Celine Boutier, the reigning WGCA selections. Along with Maguire and Boutier, the Blue Devils will have junior
Sandy Choi, sophomore
Gurbani Singh and freshman
Virginia Elena Carta. Sophomore
Lisa Maguire will play as an individual.
Heading into the spring campaign,
Leona Maguire is ranked No. 2, Boutier is No. 23, Carta is No. 50 and Choi is No. 75 in the Golfweek Individual rankings.
In three stroke play tournaments in the fall, Duke won the Landfall Tradition and the Tar Heel Invitational, while placing fourth at the Annika Invitational. The Blue Devils advanced to the championship of the East Lake Cup, before falling to Southern California.
Over Brooks' 31 years at Duke, he has guided the Blue Devils to six NCAA Championships and a NCAA Division I record 124 victories.
Fans can follow the action via live scoring at www.GolfStat.com.
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