May 26, 2001

HOWEY-IN-THE-HILLS, FLA. -- The National Golf Coaches Association (NGCA) held its annual banquet on Friday evening after the completion of the 2001 NCAA women's golf championships at the Mission Inn Resort with head coach Dan Brooks, junior Candy Hannemann, and freshman Virada Nirapathpongporn taking home top honors.

Brooks was selected NGCA National Coach of the Year after guiding the Blue Devils to a school-record nine tournament victories and a second place finish at the NCAA Championships. It marks the second time Brooks has received this honor as he was last selected in 1999 after guiding the Blue Devils to eight tournament victories, including the school's first NCAA Championship.

Hannemann (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil) and Nirapathpongporn (Bangkok, Thailand) each were selected NGCA first team All-America for the first time in their career. Hannemann, the 2001 ACC Player of the Year, is coming off winning the NCAA Individual title on Friday and during the season she tallied six other top five finishes.

Nirapathpongporn, the 2001 ACC Rookie of the Year, notched three victories in her first year at Duke. She won the NCAA East Regional, ACC Championship, and the Mercedes-Benz Collegiate, while posting 10 top 20 finishes in 11 tournaments. Nirapathpongporn was also named a nominee from the East Region for National Rookie of the Year.

For the third year in a row, senior Kalen Anderson was selected to the NGCA All-America Scholar team.

The Blue Devils will lose Anderson to graduation, but will return five members for the 2001-02 season. All five members which return have been selected All-ACC in their career.