May 26, 2000

SUNRIVER, OREGON - - After three rounds of play at the NCAA Championships, the Duke University women's golf team, ranked No. 1 nationally, sits at 898 (+34) for seventh place. The Blue Devils improved three shots from Thursday's 299, after firing an eight-over-par 296 today.

Arizona continued its outstanding play as the Wildcats shot seven-under-par today and now is one-over-par (865) for the championship. Freshman Julia Kraschinski and senior Jenna Daniels now share the individual lead at six-under-par (210), after Daniels shot a 68 and Kraschinski a 70 this morning.

The top 10 is led by Arizona as the Wildcats are ahead by 28 strokes over Southern California (893), Oregon (895), Texas (895), Georgia (895), Stanford (896), Duke (898), Auburn (904) and Tennessee (905) round out the top nine. It looks like it will be a battle for second place on Saturday with six teams seperated by only five strokes.

Day three was highlighted by the play of Blue Devil sophomore Candy Hannemann. She went out and shot 37 on the front nine and finished with a 35 on the back for an even-par 72 on the day. As a freshman, Hannemann finished second at the NCAA Championships with a three-under-par (213). She is now at 228 (+12) after three days.

Freshman Kristina Engstrom led Duke on Friday with five birdies and finished with a 74. She was five-over-par on two holes during her first nine holes, but rebounded to shoot Duke's second best score today. Kalen Anderson began her third round four-over-par after the first five holes, but came back with two birdies and only one bogey in her final 13 holes. Anderson shot a 75 and is now 222 (+6), which is 13th individually.

Beth Bauer, ranked No. 2 nationally, finished the day with a 75 and is currently in sixth place individually with a 219 (+3). She played well but just couldn't get her putter working the way she wanted. A double-bogey on her ninth hole (No. 18 officially) hurt her third round. Freshman Maria Garcia-Estrada finished the day with a 76, which included a double-bogey on the final hole.

The Blue Devils will tee off at 10:00 AM for the final round in the following order: Garcia-Estrada, Engstrom, Hannemann, Anderson, and Bauer. Duke will be playing with Auburn and Tennesse off the 10th tee. The play will be televised on ESPN2, but it will be tape delayed airing on Sunday from 7:00-9:00 AM (PT) so fans watching from Durham, N.C. can watch it at 10:00 AM-12:00 PM (ET).

The championships are 72 holes played at the Crosswater golf course. All times listed are Pacific.

Duke Individuals (First Round/Second Round/Total/Plus or minus par)
Beth Bauer 72-71-75=218 (+2, 6th)
Kalen Anderson 74-73-75=222 (+6, 13th)
Candy Hannemann 78-78-72=228 (+12)
Maria Garcia-Estrada 79-78-76=233 (+17)
Kristina Engstrom 81-77-74=232 (+16)

Results after round three
1.Arizona 299-285-281=865
2.Southern California 305-291-297=893
3.Texas 296-308-291=604
3.Oregon 295-303-297=895
3.Georgia 296-303-296=895
6.Stanford 301-298-297=896
7.Duke 303-299-296=898
8.Auburn 302-302-300=904
9.Tennessee 301-298-306=905

Quoting Duke Head Coach Dan Brooks
"Well, I am still proud of my teams efforts. I am really impressed by Arizona to go seven-under today is impressive. This is more of a thing where I am really impressed by Arizona and not discouraged by my team and what they have done. We can definitely shoot lower than what we shot, but the numbers come and go and that is something that you cannot control. I haven't been disappointed at all with the team."

"There are a lot of great things that have happened to our team today. Candy shot even par and had some struggle this spring. So that is a great round of golf on a windy day. Our worst round today was a 76. I think it is disappointing to have lost a few more strokes. We were talking about gaining some back and we lost some more. I think that had probably the heaviest impact on our team."

"If you get so simplistic that all you see is the numbers and how you compare to other teams this game will chew you up and spit you out. You have to look way, way beyond that. When I look beyond numbers and all the other things going on, I have a really good feeling. I don't feel that bad. The one thing that doesn't feel good is the deficit we have between Arizona and us, but there are a lot of other good things that make me feel good."

On Beth Bauer's play
"Beth had her bad hole there [No.18]. Beth is feeling bad because that putter is not really showing us what kind of rounds she is playing. She is playing great rounds of golf and her putter is not letting those scores go down. That is really hard to carry around with you."

Quoting Duke's Beth Bauer
Was it a struggle out there today?
"No, I wouldn't say it was a struggle for me. I played probably 17 great holes that I thought. I had one bad shot that cost me a double on 18. Besides that I hit the ball really good and didn't make any puts once again and really get anything out of my round. So it was, I guess, mentally tiring, but I definitely didn't struggle I think."

What are your thoughts heading into tomorrow?
"Well, I am going to go practice for a little bit, but I am just going to come out with this new attitude. I felt really confident this morning and I am going to be ready to go tomorrow. I am going to give it my best and be a little more aggressive and try to put a low number in there."