Duke women’s golf closed out its spring campaign in Norman, Okla. Unfortunately for the Blue Devils, the final chapter of the season lacked a happy ending.
No. 5-seed Duke placed 11th at the NCAA Norman Regional, falling six places short of an NCAA Championship cut. The 2025 result marks only the fourth time in over 30 years that the Blue Devils have failed to reach the national tournament. The team’s 11th-place finish is the worst by Duke women’s golf in an NCAA regional since 1997.
“Effort was great, attitudes were great, we just never really got our momentum going,” said head coach Dan Brooks. “I don’t know how to explain why that happened, it’s just what happened.”
Across the 12-team field, only five programs would punch tickets to Carlsbad, Calif., and through 18 holes, the Blue Devils were second to last. The team had recorded a 15-over score, 303, and fell 12 strokes behind the fifth-place spot.
To reach the national championship, Duke’s story would require a critical turning point. The Blue Devils needed a 36-hole performance that could propel them six places or higher.
That comeback never came.
Brooks noted that play “seemed to snowball” for the team as it struggled to reverse backwards momentum. The Blue Devils carded +12 and +11 scores in rounds two and three, respectively.
The competition mirrored results from the ACC Tournament. Yet in Greensboro, N.C., the team had mounted some semblance of a final-round surge. Duke recorded an even-par third round at that competition to boost the team four places — from second-to-last up to 10th.
“We didn’t have a good tournament there, but we had some things that indicated the turnaround,” Brooks said.
The Blue Devils fell to last place in their regional after the second round, then tied with No. 10-seed Denver. A 20-bogey performance across the middle 18 holes, plus several double or triple bogeys, led to Duke recording the second-highest score of the round.
To close the competition, the Blue Devils advanced one spot in round three, back to 11th place. They hit another 20 bogeys and a mere six birdies.
“I just felt like we had some good things happen this spring … even late in the spring, with some shining moments here and there,” Brooks said. “I had a lot of belief that this tournament was going to be different from the conference tournament. There was similarity, more than difference.”
Brooks emphasized one shining moment from the NCAA Norman Regional — junior Andie Smith’s performance. Smith shot 2-over (T-17), scoring 73-72-73 over three rounds of “pretty darn good golf.” He noted that Smith has “got to feel good” about her individual top-20 showing. She left Norman only five strokes behind the national tournament individual qualifier, Furman’s Audrey Ryu.
Sophomore Katie Li and senior Rylie Heflin recorded respective 9-over (T-45) and 18-over (61) showings at the NCAA Regional. Freshmen Anna Cañado Espinal and Carla De Troia both tied for 59th place, hitting 16-over.
Teams played 36 holes Monday in anticipation of inclement weather reaching Oklahoma. The Blue Devils did not begin their final round until Tuesday at 4:30 p.m., and they finished the competition Wednesday morning after tournament organizers suspended play due to darkness.
The tournament’s outcome surprised Brooks who, like others, anticipated another national championship appearance for Duke.
“My mind has been on [Omni] La Costa. I’ve been thinking about that golf course and what we will need to perform well … but that’s how I always think, frankly,” he said.
Brooks suggested that he and associate head coach Jon Whithaus were exploring how to help the Blue Devils prepare better next fall. Yet, Brooks also indicated he was not sure about any specific changes to current training methods.
“If there was something better than what we do, I would be doing it already,” he said.
The Blue Devils will turn the page as the team prepares for its 2025-26 season. The next chapter will begin Sept. 7 in Lake Elmo, Minn., at the ANNIKA Intercollegiate.
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Ryan Kilgallen is a Trinity sophomore and a senior editor of The Chronicle’s 121st volume.