WILLIAMSBURG, VA.—When they arrived at Golden Horseshoe’s Gold course this past weekend, Minnesota’s Bronson La’Cassie and the rest of the Golden Gophers discovered a nice surprise.

“We were expecting the rough to be Bermuda,” the 24-year-old Australian (right) said. “We didn’t know they had overseeded. It looked a little more like home. We all smiled a little bit because of it.”

Mind you, La’Cassie hasn’t had to worry about what kind of grass lurks around the 6,803-yard, par-70 course for most of the past two days of the 110th NCAA Championship. The senior All-American has been spending most of his time hitting fairways and greens, posting a bogey-free second-round 65 Thurssay to take the individual lead at eight-under 132.

“I just played smart, nothing special,” said La’Cassie who missed only three greens on the day after missing just four the previous day. “I feel like I’m getting off the tee well, which is what you have to do around here.”

Through 36 holes, La’Cassie is three strokes ahead of Vanderbilt’s Jon Curran, who shot a second-round 64, and three shots up on a foursome of golfers, first-round leader Rob Grube of Stanford (71), Coastal Carolina’s Dustin Johnson (68), UAB’s Zach Sucher (67) and Georgia Tech’s Cameron Tringale (68).

While La’Cassie passed Grube in the medalist race, nobody could jump the second-ranked Cardinal teamwise. The California school broke par for a second-straight day, shooting a two-under 278 to move to seven-under 553 overall, a shot ahead of the Golden Gophers. Counting for the Cardinal were Grube, Joseph Bramlett (68), Zack Miller (69) and Matt Savage (70).

The Gophers shot a second-round four-under 276, overcoming a double bogey by Ben Pisani, who shot a 72, and a triple bogey by Clayton Rask, who shot a 73, on the 10th hole, their first of day.

Five back of Stanford in third place is Coastal Carolina, the only other team under par through 36 holes. Fourth is East Tennesssee State (seven back) and fifth is Charlotte (nine back).

Nine teams are within 13 shots of Stanford, including No. 7 UCLA (second-round 280, 10 back) and No. 4 Oklahoma State (279, 13 back). Eighteen shots off the pace sits top-ranked Georgia, who couldn’t get get things clicking en route to a nine-over 289.

“The golf course isn’t playing that hard,” said Bulldog coach Chris Haack. “The guys just aren’t managing their games very well. We’re missing greens with wedges. We can’t do that stuff.

La’Cassie, last year’s Western Amateur champion, has let brains beat brawn over the first 36 holes. He only hit five drivers during each round, keeping the club in the bag so that he won’t find the rough. So far the plan is working.

“He’s our senior leader, and he sets the tone for us,” said Minnesota coach Brad James. “His expectations are high, and they should be.”

TAP-INS
* It’s all of 188 yards long, with an elevated tee making it play even shorter. Yet the par-3 12th has been one of the trickiest holes at Golden Horseshoe through two rounds.

During Wednesday’s first round, No. 12 actually ranked the most difficult hole on the course, with a 3.58 stroke average. Today it played on to a 3.37 average, making it the third most difficult yet it still quickly derailed several rounds.

Case in point: Coastal Carolina’s Dustin Johnson, who was six under on his round and nine under for the tournament when he made a double bogey on the hole after his 8-iron tee shot spun back off the green into the water. A bogey on the 13th and a triple bogey on the 14th dropped him all the way back to even par on the day before he birdied Nos. 16 and 18 to finish with a 68 and a five-under 135.

“The trees behind the green block out some of the wind near the green but when the ball gets in the air the wind kicks in,” Johnson said, who bogeyed the hole in the first round.

“It’s just hard to pick the right club, you’re so high in the air,” noted Georgia Tech coach Bruce Heppler. “You’re got to hit a perfect shot. And if you don’t, the up and down from around the green can be brutal.”

No wonder on the hole’s description in the course yardage book reads: “You will feel an incomparable exhilaration if you get your par on this hole.”

* BYU’s Daniel Summerhays continued to show that low numbers are very possible on the Gold course. After posting a final-round 60 here last fall during the Ping/Golfweek Preview, the junior shot a seven-under 63 today. Summerhays birdied four of his final five holes. After an opening round 74, Summerhays’ 63 jumped him from T-104 to T-8 at three-under 137.

* After shooting a eight-over 288 on Day 1, Georgia Tech bounced back with five-under 275 to post the low score of the second round. Leading the was freshman Chesson Hadley, who shot a three-under 67 despite starting the round with a bogey and double bogey on the first two holes.

WILLIAMSBURG, VA.—What a difference nine months makes. When they started the 2006-07 men’s season last September, the players on the Stanford men’s team under third-year coach Conrad Ray had a fairly simple goal: Win a tournament.

Any tournament.

Having accomplished that mission six times now during a break-out year that saw the Cardinal not only get their first team title in seven years but climb to the top of the national rankings for the first time since the mid-1990s, does a national championship really sound all the preposterous?

With a five-under 275 at Golden Horseshoe GC’s Gold course Wednesday, Stanford is one step closer to accomplishing that goal, as the team sits atop the leader board, two strokes ahead of Coastal Carolina and three up on Florida, after the first day of the 110th NCAA Championship.

“We had a horse out there today,” Ray said afterward, referring to Rob Grube. The junior from outside of Chicago (above) shot a bogey-free six-under 64 to take the individual lead by two strokes over Florida freshman Tim McKenney. “When you can post a low number like that, it makes a big difference."

Conditions were ideal for low rounds (no wind, temperatures in the 80s), with 28 players out of 156 breaking par. Still, the 6,803-yard, par-70 Robert Trent Jones Sr. layout held its own. Thick rough made hitting fairways a premium.

“I’ve got a team of pretty good ball strikers, and we do better on courses where par is a good score,” said Ray, who squad counted a 69 from Daniel Lim, 70 from Zack Miller and 72 from Matt Savage.

Grube sacrificed length for accuracy, hitting three 3-woods, three 5-woods and a 4-iron off various tees. Five of his six birdies came on the front side, as he turned in 30.

A visit with his instructor, Jim McLean, May 24 in Palm Springs, Calif., allowed Grube to fine-tune his mechanics as well as helped in his decision to take out a 3-iron from his back and put in an extra wedge for tricky shots around the greens.

After claiming six victories in the first 11 starts, Stanford had struggle of late, finishing a disappointing fourth at the Pac-10 Championship and seventh at the West Regional, its two worst performances of the year. In Ray’s mind, however, the so-so showings might have been blessings in disguise.

“With such a hot start [this season] we were going to hit a bump in the road,” Ray said. “I think it might have helped us to know we still need to get after it. I think these guys are hungry to play well.”

Several other schools expected to contend this week remain in the hunt after Day 1. Top-ranked Georgia, led by Chris Kirk’s 68, finished at two-over 282 to grab eighth place. UCLA might like to replay the par-3 12th hole, after shooting six over as a team on it, but otherwise was OK with its three-over 283 and share of ninth. Alabama and Tulsa shot four-over 284s, while defending champion Oklahoma State, with Pablo Martin posting a 70, finished at seven-over 287.

Individually, McKenney’s success came from a hot flat stick, as he needed just 25 putts for his 66, a career best. “Everything I looked at poured in,” he said.

Behind Grube and McKenney was a foursome of players at three-under 67, Coastal Carolina’s Dustin Johnson, Minnesota’s Bronson La’Cassie, Florida State’s Matt Savage and Georgia Tech’s Cameron Tringale.

For full team scores, click here.
For full individual scores, click here.

TAP INS

He hit only four fairways and struggled to a five-over 75, leaving him tied for 126th, but Penn’s Chance Pipitone was one of the most sought out players among the media covering nationals. The freshman from Houston is the first Quaker to play in the NCAA Championship since 1964 is believed to be the first Ivy League golfer to compete in the event since the 1980s.

Pipitone qualified as an individual when he shot a 14-under 202 at the West Regional two weeks ago. “I don’t think many people thought an Ivy Leaguer would do well,” said Pipitone, ranked outside the top 900 players in the country before advancing to nationals. “I love proving them wrong.”

“He’s a testimony to the fact that Ivy League golf is alive and well,” noted Penn coach Rob Powelson. “I think my other seven coaches and players are rooting Chance on. It really means a lot to our program. All our guys are non-scholarship. It’s a milestone accomplishment.”

Piptone noted that there were some ups and downs on the course during his first year in college. He started the season still recovering from a broken ankle that sidelined him all last summer. During the year he posted a 74.9 average, with one round in the 90s and four in the 60s.

“I hope this shows recruits,” Pipitone said. “You can get both school and golf.”

Meanwhile, he will get a larger rooting section in the coming days; the rest of the Penn golf team is coming in to cheer their teammate on at the end of the week.

WILLIAMSBURG, VA.—As I walked around Golden Horseshoe’s Gold course this afternoon, catching up with several coaches and players getting in a final practice round before the start of the 110th NCAA Championship tomorrow, I asked pretty much everyone the same question, one I’d been mulling myself for much of my ride from Connecticut to the commonwealth: Are we going to see another 60 here this week?

BYU’s Daniel Summerhays is in the field, playing as an individual, and the memory of his NCAA-record tieing round here last October during the Ping/Golfweek Preview (12 birdies, including a stretch of seven in a row; two bogeys; a missed 25-footer on the last hole for a 59) is still fresh in the minds of some. While the standard response to my query almost always began with “You never say never” most people think the scores won’t be as shockingly low as the one the Cougar junior posted (or the 63 Florida’s Billy Horschel shot to claim medalist honors).

What the 30 teams and six individuals will be facing here this week, aside from some warm, humid conditions, is a old-style course (apropos considering we are in the heart of Colonial Williamsburg). Many players will be forced to leave their drivers in their bags on several par 4s. Unlike the fall, there is actually rough to be played out of this time around, and narrow fairways are going to make shot-making a premium.

In many ways, the 6,803-yard, par-70 Robert Trent Jones Sr. track reminds me of when the NCAA Championship was played on the other side of the state in 2004 at The Homestead in Hot Springs, Va. Golfers who suffer from claustrophobia aren’t going to have a lot of fun the next four days. Neither are bomb-and-gouge players who will be hand-cuffed by the course setup.

So what does that mean for the likely outcome this week? Well, more teams will be in the hunt than would be the case at a big ballpark like Caves Valley; a difficult course tends to separate teams more so than a layout such as the Gold course. The winning team score likely will be under par as the greens are soft and receptive (Florida shot a six-under 834 to win the Preview by four strokes over Oklahoma State). If conditions don’t change drastically, I’m guessing the individual winner will be double-digits under par as well (Horschel finished at seven-under 203).

And just who will these winners be? The easy team choice would be Georgia, particular after the results from regionals two weekends ago. The Bulldogs won their fifth title of the season at the East Regional and proved their surprising sixth place finish at the SEC Championship was indeed a fluke. Chris Haack’s squad has three first-team All-American candidates in seniors Chris Kirk and Brendon Todd, and sophomore Brian Harman. Lets keep them on the table for a second while looking at some other possibles.

On paper, defending champion Oklahoma State looks like a serious contender, but the Cowboys' showing at Rich Harvest Farms in the Central Regional was shocking; specifically Pablo Martin’s T-105 finish. Looks from afar like he’s a little to focused on his future pro career, which begins after this week. I trust coach Mike McGraw has the guys focused, but if he doesn’t have Martin’s head back on straight, being the first team to repeat since Houston in 1984-85 will be unlikely.

Alabama and Stanford were both ranked No. 1 in the Golf World/Nike Golf coaches’ poll at one time this season and both are realistic picks too. It’s just for some reason I get the feeling being in the spotlight for the first time this year might be a little much for them to be expected to come through. Florida, too, was atop the rankings and victorious here at the Preview, but the momentum the Gators had this fall seems to have disappeared.

Lamar finished T-7 at the Preview and is a good sleeper pick, but is still too risky to actually take. The better “dark horse” is Tulsa, a team with a lot of experience and with five players who can go low. It still amazes me that each of the Golden Hurricane have a individual victory this season.

Two more to throw in the ring are the West Coast duo of UCLA and USC. I like both teams a lot this week as they have players who can go low and guys who have gotten used to making the trip cross country this season.

So here’s the way I see it … I like Georgia, Tulsa, UCLA and USC to be in the hunt heading into the final day. USC slips because their two young stars, Jamie Lovemark and Rory Hie wind up being too confined by the tight course. Tulsa makes a early move, but goes quiet as the day rolls on. It comes down to the Bulldogs and Bruins and in the end, I see O.D. Vincent’s boys pulling off a mild upset. I think UCLA's Erik Flores, Kevin Chappell and Lucas Lee can handle pressure well and ultimate hold more than their own Saturday afternoon.

Individually, where is a dart board when you need it? Seriously there are two dozen guys I could name as front runners and likely convince you I’m right. Again, I think the bomber-type player gets a little constrained here, so I like Harman at Georgia to beat out Horschel by two shots. Winning score: 14 under.

RESTON, VA.—I’m en route to Williamsburg, Va., site of the men’s NCAA Championship this week, but wanted to take some time and return to what happened last week in Daytona Beach, Fla., where we saw a little piece of history at the women’s NCAA Championship with Duke capturing its third straight national title. What impresses me most about the Blue Devils is their no-nonsense approach to the game.

Winds blowing 20-plus miles an hour? Who cares!

Rain coming in fits and spurts? What do you think raingear is for!!

“When we saw the conditions were going to be challenging, we were like ‘bring it on,’” noted sophomore Amanda Blumenherst, now a two-time national player of the year, amidst the post-tournament celebrating at LPGA International. “The worse it is the better we feel like we’re going to do because we just don’t let it get to us. Everybody is going to have to deal with it.”

Sounds simple, doesn’t it? Yet too many teams were freaked out by the gusts that howled all week. Arizona State coach Melissa Luellen might not admit to it, but I think that’s what got to the top-ranked Sun Devils, who suffered eight penalty strokes in the first round because of lost balls.

The bottom line is the Duke Blue Devils are ready to play each and every tournament. Dan Brooks can be a tough interview at times because of how frequently he talks about “the process” and “staying in the present.” However, his teams never complain about the hand they're dealt; they just play it. Until other schools figure this out and stop feeling sorry for themselves when conditions aren't perfect, we’re going to continue to see Duke walking off with hardware for years to come.

Meanwhile, here are some other random thoughts from women’s nationals:

1) If there’s been a more clutch round in women’s golf in the last few years than the six-under 66 Arkansas’ Stacy Lewis posted in the final round to win medalist honors, than I can’t think of it. Doing a little research back in the Wilton office yesterday, I found that it was the lowest final round from the NCAA individual winner since Vicki Goetze shot a 65 for Georgia to claim the title in 1992.

In trying to cover both the team and individual races on Friday, I decided to follow the final pairing of Blumenherst, UCLA’s Tiffany Joh and Purdue’s Christel Boeljon, the 54-hole leader by five shots. About the sixth hole, I check the Internet feed on my cell phone to look at Golfstat and see if anyone was making a move on the leaders. Sure enough, there was Lewis, having made two birdies on the front side, with another on the 10th hole. Five minutes later, I refresh the screen to see her make one on No. 11. Ten minutes later, refresh, another Lewis birdie. This went on until the 22-year-old junior from The Woodlands, Texas (above) had made five in a row and now had taken the lead.

Right then, I knew I had to jump to her group and at least see her finish her round as she teed off more than 1½ hours ahead of the pairing I was following. I got to Lewis on the 18th where she double crossed her 4-iron approach shot on the difficult, dogleg-left par-4 hole. She twisted around almost in agony but her ball wound up in a pretty good spot just left of the green. She then proceed to chip the ball 20 feet past the hole, only to make an incredible par-saving putt.

Lewis was in the awkward spot of being three up on Boeljon but having to wait for the Boilermaker sophomore to complete her final six holes and talk to the media about a “possible” win. Just as Lewis finished, however, the rains really came down, making it a virtual certainly the woman only five years removed from major surgery to correct scoliosis was about to win college golf’s biggest event.

Lewis is a great story—read this week's Golf World for full details—but her round was even greater.

2) There was plenty of chatter about what happened at Georgia with Todd McCorkle. Most coaches felt that while the conduct of the former Bulldogs coach were sad and unprofessional, that to paint McCorkle as a evil person wasn’t right either.

“I’ll go on the record as saying I think Todd is good at what he does and he’s not a monster,” said Arkansas coach Kelley Hester, who also serves as the president of the National Golf Coaches Association and was a former player at Georgia under previous coach Beans Kelly. “He just made some poor judgments.”

Hester noted, however, that what happened at Georgia should be looked at closely by all coaches. “I think it’s a wake up call to all of us that we should always be aware of what we say and how we act and who we say things around,” Hester said. “Just try to be good examples.”

3) It’s going to be one crazy summer, with all the top-level coaching jobs that are up for grabs. In addition to Georgia’s post, Texas, Texas A&M and New Mexico are all hiring. Hester admitted to an interest in the Georgia job, having played her college golf in Athens and grown up in the Peach State. With a new baby born this spring, her family still in Georgia and her husband’s family in Georgia, no wonder she said she’ll put her name in the ring. (Don’t be surprised too if former Bulldog Laura Henderson, Oklahoma State’s women’s coach, also gets in the running).

Of course, if Hester or Henderson got the job, another plum position opens up. As I mentioned in this week’s magazine, let the musical chairs begin.

4) UCLA sophomore Tiffany Joh, thanks for the kind words about the blog. Glad to know I’ve got a faithful reader.

4a) Congrats, too, to the third-place Bruins for turning around a season that looked like it was going nowhere fast last February.

5) If you ever get to Daytona Beach, aside from going to watch a sunrise over the Atlantic, you need to check out Daytona International Speedway. I went there the morning of the third round and took the bus tour inside the track. The thing you don’t appreciate on TV when watching a race there is just how big the place is. I went to school at Michigan, so I know from big sports stadiums, but a 2½-mile track is really gigantic. Meanwhile, to actually hear how loud some of the cars are (a few were on the track, giving those who had a true need for speed a chance to ride along for three laps at 170 miles per hour) was pretty amazing. I’m not sure I’m a new NASCAR fan, but I definitely have a new perspective on the sport.

6) Love bugs. All I’m going to say is they’re a lot more buggy than lovely.

7) Purdue’s Christel Boeljon looked like she’d been hit by a bus after posting a final-round 76 to lose her lead and finish tied for second behind Lewis, but I think this isn’t the last we’ll hear from the Dutch native.

8) Got to give some credit to my counterparts at Golfweek for their live Internet feed of the 18th hole the last two days. Lance, Asher and the rest of the crew, hope you’re recharged for Golden Horseshoe this week.

8a) Got to criticize my counterparts at Golfweek for their insistence that the tournament had ended after Duke took the lead in the second round. Sure, those bombastic thoughts look good now because the Blue Devils indeed claimed the brass ring, but a single-digit lead, even for the now back-to-back-to-back champions isn’t as much a foregone conclusion as you made it out to be. Sadly, young Purdue and UCLA teams didn’t apply much pressure to make it a real test.

9) If there’s any team that should be saying what might have been in Daytona Beach, it might have been Pepperdine. Having to play without Jayvie Agojo the first round after she suffered from a bout of tonsillitis the Waves, ranked No. 4 in the final Golf World/NGCA coaches' poll, still shot a 306 to end the day T-14. They then shot rounds of 299-300-297 to finish seventh with Agojo posting 74-76-78. It was Pepperdine's seventh top-10 finish at nationals in eight years.

10) For all Dan Brooks' process talk I mentioned before there’s one thing he said this past week that makes a lot of sense and I think more coaches should take to heart. Brooks is big on suggesting that players react in pressure situations based on habits they’ve built over time. No emotional, passionate, jaw-rattling speech, then, is necessarily going to get players to reach a higher level at nationals. Only hard work developing the right habits during the season, Brooks notes, can really help win a title. So his job during the week of the NCAA Championship isn't much other than to watch his players and hope that the habits he’s seen them form during the year will be followed by his players.

I sincerely believe you can over-coach at the national championship. Brooks will never be caught doing that. Maybe that’s why he has five rings to his credit now.

DAYTONA BEACH, FLA.—Searching to find something riskier than betting against Duke in the third round of the NCAA Women’s Championship, I went across the street from my hotel this morning to the Daytona International Speedway. There, I learned, you can be a passenger in a real stock car and travel three laps around the 2½-mile track at speeds of 170 miles an hour, all for the tidy sum of $143. Upon further consideration, though, I decided against fulfilling any need for speed out of practicality; I’m not sure just what my company’s workman’s comp policy will cover.

Interestingly enough, though, unlike the last two years when the Blue Devils claimed back-to-back national championships by posting dominating third-round scores, Duke didn’t actually make its usual break-neck pass in turn three Thursday afternoon at LPGA International’s Legends course. At one point, the team’s lead over Purdue was as few as five shots before sophomore All-Americans Amanda Blumenherst and Jennie Lee birdied the tricky 17th hole and the Blue Devils ended the day with a five-over 293 to finish at 16-over 880 for 54 holes, eight shots clear of the Boilermakers.

“We’re excited about tomorrow, and it is clear that Purdue and [third-place] UCLA are not going away,” said Duke coach Dan Brooks, whose squad was paced with even-par 72s from Anna Grezbien and Lee (right). “They are here to win this thing.”

Indeed, there should be some actually final-day drama here Friday. Thank Purdue for that after the Boilermakers posted a day-low three-over 291 in extremely gusty conditions. Leading the charge was the woman atop the individual standings, sophomore Christel Boeljon, who posted a second-straight 69.

“When you get a golf course that is playing this demanding,” noted Purdue coach Devon Brouse, “and you get one player that gets it rolling out there, it makes a big difference in your team score.”

UCLA, in second place entering the day, shot a 11-over 299 to fall to third overall, 13 shots off the lead. Georgia (300) climbed from sixth to fourth place, 22 back of Duke, with Vanderbilt (298) and Stanford (304) tied for fifth, 23 shots behind. (For full team results, click here for link to Golfstat.)

Purdue is contending for a national title a year later than expected. The 2005-06 Boilermakers were the talk of the college golf, coming from seemingly nowhere and winning six team titles. Some believed they were poised to be the first northern school to claim the NCAA crown, only to watch them fall flat on their faces at OSU’s Scarlet Course last May, finishing ninth.

Twelve months later and with four of the five starters from a year ago back, Brouse’s squad has weathered a more inconsistent 2006-07 season.

The same, too, can be said for Boeljon, who made six birdies Thursday to finish at six-under 210 after 54 holes, five strokes clear of USC’s Paola Moreno. “Lately I’ve been playing good, but just having been [scoring],” Boeljon said. “this week it just seems to be falling into place.”

While winning once her freshman season, Boeljon (right) had to “settle” for just six top-10 finishes this past year, coming in runner-up at the Lady Buckeye Invitational and the Big Ten Championship while posting a 73.88 average. Much of the season, though, was played in the shadow of teammate Maria Hernandez, who won three times and earned conference player-of-the-year honors.

If the 20-plus MPH winds that have blanketed the course the past three days return again for Friday, as forecasted, Boeljon will likely have to stumble for those trailing her to have a chance at medalist honors. After Moreno is Arkansas’ Stacy Lewis (third-round 74) in third place at even-par 216, followed by TCU’s Catherine Matranga (74), Vanderbilt’s Jacqui Concolino (73) and Blumenherst (74). (For individual scores, click here to link to Golfstat.)

“Certain holes you cannot be too aggressive on,” Lewis said. “You have to be patient. Sometimes you will guess right [with the wind] and sometimes you will guess wrong.”

As for catching Duke, Brouse says the first thing his team will need to do is not worry about Duke and only worry about their own game.

“We don’t really control Duke,” he said. “We just have to try and play well tomorrow and see what happens. They’re going to control their own destiny.”

TAP INS
See the third-round 74 next to Duke’s Amanda Blumenherst name and it doesn’t do justice to how solid a round it was. Last year’s national player of the year played the front nine in one-over 37, going par-birdie-triple bogey-birdie-par-double bogey-birdie-par-birdie. Bogeys on the 12th and 15th holes had her on pace to equal her second highest round of the year, but a 20-foot birdie on the 17th helped her finish with a 74 and remain in striking distance of Christel Boeljon for medalist honors.

“It was definitely a roller coaster,” Blumenherst said. “I just hit funny shots that really cost me, but I fought back. Putts really weren’t falling, but I made a few birdies. So it turned out a lot better than it could have.”

** Georgia sophomore Taylor Leon, who has announced that she’ll turn pro after nationals, is in line to wrap up the most statistically successful season in Bulldog women’s golf history. Leon needs to shoot 85 or lower to break the school’s season stroke average record, 72.91, set by Angela Jerman in 2002.

DAYTONA BEACH, FLA.—Stop me if you’ve heard this before … Duke is leading at the NCAA Women’s Championship.

While the past two years the Blue Devils stormed out to the front in the third round en route to claiming back-to-back national titles, this time around at LPGA International’s Legends course they’ve made their move atop the leader board a day early. A one-under 287 gave the Dukies an 11-over 587 total for 36 holes, seven strokes clear of second-place UCLA.

Like the first round, gusty winds swirled along the Florida coast Wednesday, making red numbers a rarity. The difference for the Blue Devils from Day 1, where they finished in fifth, to Day 2 was as simple as a few more putts falling. Freshman Alison Whitaker rolled in three birdies from 30-plus feet while shooting an even-par 72 (compared to a 77 the previous day). Senior Anna Grzebien saw balls that lipped out during her opening-round 80 drop for a two-under 70.

“I think it’s just a matter of knowing that what you are doing is enough, so you don’t go try and do anything different,” said Duke coach Dan Brooks. “We didn’t do anything different. We knew what we were doing was enough. We knew we’ve been preparing.”

“We just met up after we had finished [the first round] and we looked at it as we didn’t play our game and we were only a few off the lead,” added Grezbien, the 2005 NCAA individual champion. “Coach is very good at not pressing too early. It wasn’t any big motivational thing. It was just everyone kind of knew what they had to do.”

With the first sub-par round of the tournament, Duke built a 10-shot lead over third-place Purdue (294) and a 12-shot advantage over fourth-place Stanford (300). First-round leader Southern California shot an 18-over 306 to fall to fifth place, 14 shots off the pace. (For team scores, click here to link to Golfstat.)

Apparently not feeling all that healthy isn’t that detrimental for players vieing for medalist honors. Purdue’s Christel Boeljon says she’s been battling the flu for the past few days, yet the sophomore from the Netherlands shot a three-under 69 in the afternoon, the day’s low round, to take the 36-hole individual lead at three-under 141.

Starting on the 10th hole, Boeljon (right) turned in 35. A bogey-birdie-bogey stretch got her back to even par before stepping on the sixth tee. She then proceeded to make birdies on the next three holes to grab a one-shot advantage over Arkansas junior Stacy Lewis, who shot a second straight 71. Two shots back are a threesome of players—Duke’s Amanda Blumenherst (second-round 73), UCLA’s Tiffany Joh (70) and TCU’s Catherine Matranga (71). (For individual scores, click here to link to Golfstat.)

“I was hoping it wouldn’t affect me too much,” said Boeljon regarding feeling under the weather. “Today I missed only two greens. That’s certain helped considering the conditions out here.

“As the season went on I’ve just felt stronger and stronger,” added Boeljon, who posted four top-10 finishes this spring, including runner-up showings at the Lady Buckeye and Big Ten Championship. “I’ve gotten more confidence.”

UC-Irvine’s Selanee Henderson, the first-day individual leader who battled strep throat the previous week, couldn’t repeat her day 1 performance, shooting an 80 to fall to a tie for 14th.

Entering Thursday’s play, then, the question is this: has Duke run out of third-round magic or was their second-round move a sign of things to come?

TAP-INS
After making a birdie on the first hole Wednesday morning, Arizona State freshman Anna Nordqvist noticed she had failed to take a training aid she’d used to warm up with out of her golf bag. The Swede (right) removed the device, which had a grip and shaft like a conventional club but at the end was an adjustable metal block, figuring she might get assessed a penalty for having it on the opening hole. She then proceeded to birdie the second, eighth and 11th holes to get to four under on the day and one under for the event before making a double bogey on the 18th.

Then the real fun began.

Rules officials were considering giving Nordqvist a two-shot penalty for having too many clubs in her bag, but ASU coach Melissa Luellen contended that the block at the end of the device did not meet the standards for a club face and thus it was not by definition a “golf club.” After a few phone calls to USGA headquarters in New Jersey, it was determined that Luellen was correct and thus Nordqvist’s two-under 70 stood, putting the player-of-the-year candidate at one-over 145 after 36 holes, four shots behind leader Christel Boeljon of Purdue in a tie for eighth place.

“I wasn’t sure what would happen,” Nordqvist said. “Even though I thought I might get a penalty shot, I tried to play my best.”

Interesting, Luellen said that USGA officials told her the aid would have been considered a club had the adjustable block been turned in a different direction. Instead of a two-shot penalty, though, Nordqvist would have been disqualified because technically the club would have been non-conforming and in her bag.

** Having sat out the first round after suffering from a bout of tonsillitis, Pepperdine sophomore Jayvie Agojo returned to play Wednesday and made an immediate contribution for the Waves, shooting a two-over 74 to equal the team’s low round of the day.

Agojo (right) said that during the practice rounds she began to feel ill and by Monday had asked her coach, Laurie Gibbs, to go to the hospital. Visiting an urgent-care facility in the area, Agojo had a 102-degree fever and was given antibiotics. Still dizzy Tuesday morning, Agojo sat out of the line-up in hopes of recovering and playing the final three days.

“It was a tough decision, because I didn’t want to let down my teammates,” Agojo said. “But I thought this was actually the best way to help my team. Better to miss just the one round than push it and miss more.”

DAYTONA BEACH, FLA.—So what’s the best way to prepare to play in the NCAA Women’s Championship? Apparently it involves fighting a 103-degree fever and taking a pair of mid-term exams.

OK, so maybe if UC-Irvine’s Selanee’ Henderson had her druthers, she wouldn’t have had to suffered through sickness or school this past week. Still, the 20-year-old junior’s three-under 69 on LPGA International’s Legends course, a round that included six birdies, was the best from any of the 125 players competing in the first round Tuesday.

“I just went out there playing, not expecting anything really low,” said Henderson (right), who equaled her low round of the 2006-07 season. “I started making birdies and just used that momentum to keep it going.”

Truth be told, Henderson’s performance wouldn’t have been all that surprising—she did win back-to-back tournaments this spring—had it not been for the fact that she was recovering from a bout of strep throat that came on during the West Regional (explaining her 73-80-75 performance). Returning to campus May 12, she got the antibiotics needed to recover, and then tackled two make-up exams she had missed during the golf tournament. Except for playing in local qualifying for the U.S. Women’s Open (advancing with a 76), she took it easy golfwise before heading with the team to Florida.

By day’s end, Henderson held a one-shot lead over Duke sophomore All-American Amanda Blumenherst and Stanford senior Lauren Todd, the high-school teammates each posting 70s in the afternoon wave. Arkansas junior Stacy Lewis and Southern California senior Veronica Felibert were the only other players to break par in sunny but windy conditions, each shooting 71 to share a tie for fourth. (For individual results, click here to link to Golfstat.)

Key to Henderson’s solid play was her putting, also not a surprise if you listen to UC-Irvine’s first-year coach, Julie Brooks. “It’s something she’s been really working on and has improved tremendously all season,” said Brooks. “She’s got the game, she’s got the length. When Selanee [pronounced Cell-AN-knee] gets the putter she can go low.”

While Henderson’s focus leading up to nationals wasn’t entirely on her game, the same could not be said for the leading team after Day 1, Southern California. The Central Regional champions practiced their putting and chipping the previous Tuesday at Palos Verdes GC outside Los Angeles to get used to Bermuda greens they would face at LPGA International, then went to Los Angeles CC on Wednesday to play an inter-team match. The Trojans came out to Florida late Friday and worked on their short games again Saturday before their two formal practice rounds.

The work appeared to pay off as USC posted a seven-over 295, led by Felibert’s 71, a 73 from Paola Moreno, 75 from Belen Mozo and 76 from defending NCAA individual champion Dewi Schreefel. “You want to be in this position,” said USC coach Andrea Gaston. “We have our own little quiet confidence that we can get the job done.”

A pair of teams that played in the morning wave—North Carolina and Louisville—saw their nine-over 297 scores hold up through the afternoon as the two finished the day in a tie for second. Stanford (11-over 299) and two-time defending champion Duke (12-over 300) rounded out the top five, while top-ranked Arizona State finished T-16 with a 19-over 307 as four players took penalty strokes for lost balls during the round. (For team results, click here to link to Golfstat.)

Gaston returned four of five starters from the squad that finished runner-up to Duke a year ago at Ohio State’s Scarlet Course. Her veteran team seemed to only add talent when Mozo, the British Ladies Amateur champion, arrived on campus in January, yet USC didn’t see the predicted victories come fast and furious in the spring. Around the Pac-10 Conference Championship last month, however, Gaston noticed a new intensity among her players, who wanted to make sure they didn’t leave anything on the table come the postseason. The results? A victory at the Central Regional two weeks ago and a spot atop the leader board through 18 holes at nationals.

“It made the players evaluate what is going on and made them practice a little bit harder, and maybe not take things for granted,” Gaston said. “It has a lot to do with attitude and keeping things in a positive frame of mind.”

Of course, the challenge is to keep it going for three more days.

DAYTONA BEACH, FLA.—With the walk from the press center at LPGA International to the first tee on the Legends Course feeling like its about a half mile in length, I’ve had some time to think about what might take place at this week’s NCAA Women’s Championship while watching the 24 participating teams get in their final practice before tomorrow’s opening round. And yet I’m still not totally convinced how to answer the riddle I first posed in last week’s issue of Golf World.

You see on the one hand, there seems to be more teams with a legitimate chance to claim the national title this year than ever before. On the other, the Duke women, after a record setting performance at the NCAA East Regional, appear more likely to three-peat than at any time all season.

As I run down the final Golf World/NGCA coaches’ poll, I believe there are nine different schools with the talent and, more importantly, the depth to win this week along the Florida coast: Arizona State, Duke, Georgia, Pepperdine, Auburn, Vanderbilt, Southern California, Oklahoma State and Stanford. Only five of these schools, though, have a winning percentage of over 55 percent against teams competing here in Daytona:

Duke, 60-9, .870
Arizona State, 56-12, .820
Georgia, 48-14-2, .770
Auburn, 35-24, .590
Pepperdine, 31-21-2, .590

Pepperdine won twice this year and has eight top-five finishes in nine starts. Eileen Vargas shined a year ago at nationals (T-4), but has struggled during her senior season with a 74.6 average. Picking up the slack has been Misun Cho, who has posted a 73.3 average with two wins and four top-five finishes as a freshman. Where the Waves get hurt is that their average drop score this season has been a 79.19. It’s not the highest mark of the top teams in the country, but with only Cho consistently shooting low scores, it might be just a bit too high. (Late word Monday from an NCAA official, meanwhile, was that a Pepperdine player had gotten sick and was heading to the local emergency room.)

Two months ago, I watched Auburn win impressively at the Liz Murphey Collegiate Classic. Yet in the three starts since then, the Tigers have finished seventh (Bryan National), eighth (SEC Championship) and fourth (East Regional). I think Kim Evans is among the best coach in the women’s game without a NCAA title to her credit, but I am not sure she’ll be able to get slumping Abigale Schepperle or Margaret Shirley to return to form in time.

The fact that Georgia didn’t miss a beat at the Central Regional, finishing second to Southern California while in the midst of the turmoil caused by the resignation of coach Todd McCorkle, says a lot about the Bulldogs' mental toughness. And with Taylor Leon posting three top-five finishes in her last four starts and a season-long 72.35 average, the team has a standout player that can lead them to victory. I think Leon will be in contention well into the final day for medalist honors, but my gut says the Bulldogs will run out of steam at the end.

So, I’m left, then, with Duke and Arizona State, a match-up we’ve been waiting for since February when the Sun Devils beat out the Blue Devils at the Arizona Wildcat Invitational to even their head-to-head record at 1-1.

What Duke has going for it are experience and momentum. Four of the starting five from last year’s NCAA title winner are back, including standout Amanda Blumenherst, a favorite to win national player of the year honors for a second straight year. Clutch players Jennie Lee and Anna Grzebien (2005 NCAA medalist) give the Blue Devils three golfers that can post truly low numbers under pressure. In case anyone needs any proof of that, recall Duke's last competitive round, in which the Blue Devils posted a 16-under 272 at the East Regional, a school record for 18 holes that helped them claim their seventh regional title and sixth win of the season.

The delicious fact, however, is that Arizona State’s top three can hang with Duke’s. Freshman Anna Nordqvist has had an immediate impact on the ASU squad, posting nine sub-70 rounds this season. The Swedish native has complimented sophomores Jennifer Osborn and Azahara Munoz, all-Americans in their own right, allowing Melissa Luellen’s squad to grab the top ranking and win five tournaments, including the Pac-10 title.

Where the Sun Devils have a weakness is in their No. 5 spot. After Juliana Murcia, Luellen has struggled to get a solid fifth number as ASU has an average drop score of 79.5. If senior Lindsay Anderson can come through with a few solid rounds, ASU will have more than a fighting chance.

From talking to coaches and players today, it seems the Legends Course is playing a little easier than it did last fall when it hosted the NCAA Preview, where Duke finished second and Arizona State came in sixth. (Georgia was the winner.) While the course is longer—measuring 6,351 yards—there’s less rough and the greens are running pure.

If the course was playing tougher, I’d go with Duke. But I have a hunch that this is the year ASU earns its seventh NCAA title, and Luellen gets her first as a coach after winning medalist honors as a player in 1988. Individually, maybe I'm an optimist, but I think we'll see a Blumenherst/Nordqvist/Leon showdown with Blumenherst edging out her two rivals.

Another chance to put my neck on the line with predictions. I guess I can make that leap after having decent success guessing what would go on at last weekend's women's regionals.

East: Five of eight teams correct (including winner Duke)
Central: Six of eight correct (sorry Clint Wallman, but who really figured Indiana to advance?)
West: Six of eight correct (sorry Laura Matthews ... Oklahoma State is better than I thought)

All I can say is I'm no wrong Ron (nod to my fellow college writer Ron Balicki at Golfweek), but then again I'm no wrong Ron (I actually have predicted winners of late). Thus, here I go again:

EAST REGIONAL
GC of Georgia’s Lakeside Course (Par 72, 7,017 yards)

Baton Rouge, La.
   
  (For live results, click here for Golfstat link)

Winner: Georgia 

Locks to advance: Coastal Carolina

Shouldn't have a problem: Clemson, Florida, Georgia Tech

On the good side of the bubble: Georgia State, Charlotte, North Carolina, Auburn, Chattanooga 

On the bad side of the bubble: Florida State, Duke, Virginia Tech

Will play respectably: Mississippi, Alabama-Birmingham, Central Florida, Jacksonville State, Eastern Michigan
Just happy to be there: Penn State, Old Dominion, Louisiana-Lafayette, St. John’s (N.Y.), Maryland, Longwood, Rhode Island, Hartford, Boston College

Skinny: Having won on this difficult course a little more than five weeks ago at the U.S. Collegiate, Georgia has the inside track at taking the regional title (Bulldogs also have recovered from their sixth-place showing at the SECs with a win last Monday at the Linger Longer Invitational). Coastal Carolina has three wins and nine top-fives this season, with senior Dustin Johnson being a legitimate threat for the individual NCAA title. East Coast perennials Clemson and Florida get by easily, although they need to gain some momentum this week if they're to be contenders at nationals. Host Georgia Tech has a home-course edge and Cameron Tringale and Roberto Castro playing well. Georgia State has had a solid, but not spectacular season to date, but should get through playing so close to home. Charlotte is a steady squad that played so-so at the Linger Longer, but should bounce back; same with in-state rival North Carolina. Hall of Fame coach Mike Griffin knows how to get Auburn up for big events, so the Tigers will exceed expectations and advance to nationals. Chattanooga is the region's Cinderella, capping the best season in school history by qualifying for its first NCAA Championship.

CENTRAL REGIONAL
Rich Harvest Farms (Par 72, 7,345 yards)

Sugar Grove, Ill.
    (For live results, click here for Golfstat link)

Winner: Oklahoma State

Locks to advance: Alabama, Lamar

Shouldn't have a problem: Texas A&M, Louisville, Tulsa

On the good side of the bubble: Tennessee, Michigan State, Minnesota, Purdue 

On the bad side of the bubble: Texas, TCU, Northwestern
Will play respectably: Southeastern Louisiana, Texas Tech, Wisconsin, SMU, Kansas
Just happy to be there: Wichita State, Baylor, Colorado, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Illinois State, Western Illinois, Siena, Texas Southern

Skinny: There's practically no safer bet in college sports than Oklahoma State men's golf making the NCAA Championship, and with incentive to be the first team to repeat at nationals since Houston in 1984-85, the Cowboys will cruise. Don't worry about Alabama's T-5 at the Linger Longer; the Crimson Tide have proved their for real long ago. Same with Lamar, who is an excellent dark-horse pick to win everything. Texas A&M's program has traction under J.T. Higgins. Louisville won at Rich Harvest Farms last September, so karma is with them. Tulsa starts five different players who have won individually during the 2006-07 season. SEC and Big Ten champs Tennessee, Michigan State and Minnesota have proven they can come through down the stretch, and will do that again this week, while Purdue becomes the overachiever by securing a spot at nationals as a 16th seed.

WEST REGIONAL
ASU Karsten Course (Par 72, 7,057  yards)

Tempe, Ariz.
    (For live results, click here for Golfstat link)

Winner: Southern California

Locks to advance: Stanford, UCLA, Arizona State

Shouldn't have a problem: UNLV, East Tennessee State, BYU

On the good side of the bubble: Arizona, Washington, San Diego State
On the bad side of the bubble: Wake Forest, New Mexico, Oregon
Will play respectably: UC-Irvine, Vanderbilt, Augusta State, Pepperdine 
Just happy to be there: South Carolina, Oregon Sate, Colorado State, California, Nevada, Denver, Pennsylvania, Detroit-Mercy, Bucknell, Monmouth

Skinny: On a course that's going to yield low scores, Southern California has the players, led by Jamie Lovemark, to put up a lot of red numbers. That's not to say Stanford and UCLA won't give the Trojans a run for their money in the desert. Arizona State's disappointing season turns around, thanks to some home cooking. UNLV and BYU have plenty of experience playing the Karsten course. The same can't be said for East Tennessee State, but they have Rhys Davies, which can make all the difference. Arizona won't mind traveling up the road to Tempe. Washington will make it another successful postseason appearance by securing a spot at nationals, while San Diego State is the West's upset special, winning a playoff for the 10th spot to knock out Wake Forest.

The past week was one of the tougher ones I’ve had on the job in a long while. The college beat isn’t often very salacious (thankfully), but when the University of Georgia announced May 7 that Todd McCorkle was resigning as women’s golf coach effective immediately you couldn’t help but figure something unfortunate likely had happened. A coach doesn’t just leave his team three days before the NCAA postseason begins, particularly when the squad is the best he has had since the Bulldogs won the 2001 NCAA title.

Just what caused McCorkle to step down finally became public knowledge yesterday when Golf World (and several other news outlets) received more than 60 pages of documents through the state’s Open Records Act detailing a university investigation into the 44-year-old coach and complaints that he violated the school’s non-discrimination anti-harassment policy. The documents contained nearly 50 pages of hand-written notes taken by staff at the school’s Office of Legal Affairs during interviews with former and current Georgia players (whose names were deleted) within the past month that detail several instances where McCorkle initiated sexually-provocative conversations and jokes or engaged in alleged sexual harassment and verbal abuse. The notes describe incidents occurring from spring 2003 up to last month, with more than one person interviewed recalling several of the same stories. (McCorkle was also interviewed and admitted to some of the alleged instances but denied others or said they were taken out of context, according to the notes.)

In a letter to McCorkle dated May 4, Steve Shewmaker, the school’s executive director for legal affairs and one of the individuals conducting the investigation, wrote that there was evidence McCorkle had engaged in “inappropriate behavior in violation of the university’s NDAH policy.” Shewmaker's letter recommended that McCorkle go through anti-harassment training and be suspended without pay for a month (the letter was also sent to Georgia Athletic Director Damon Evans, associate ADs Craig White and Frank Crumley). McCorkle decided, instead, to resign.

McCorkle is married to LPGA pro Jenna Daniels, a former player of his when he coached at the University of Arizona before taking the Bulldogs' job in the summer of 2000. According to the notes, players referred to that fact as part of the reason they felt the conversations McCorkle was having with them were inappropriate.

McCorkle did not return phone calls last week seeking comment, but did issue a statement through the school Monday: “In my tenure at Georgia, I have unintentionally made comments that have made some of my players uncomfortable. I want to be clear in saying that this was not my intention or desire. I have learned through this experience that I must be 100 percent professional at all times. Life is full of learning experiences and unfortunately this experience has cost me something that is dear to both me and my family.”

The Associated Press and Atlanta Journal Constitution in articles written the last 24 hours described some of the specific incidents, including the sharing of a sexually explicit Paris Hilton video from the Internet with the team and commenting on players underwear. I read those stories from players, along with others contained in the notes, that described several incidents most people would consider beyond supposedly innocent locker-room humor.

I’ve interviewed McCorkle many times over the past seven years and had what I would consider a good working relationship with him. In my interactions there was never any of the innuendo that players describe happening. He was a hard working coach who wanted to win.

Yet, apparently, there was another side to McCorkle, one that players (and their parents) finally decided had become too pervasive to keep quiet any longer. Having read through the interview notes from the Office of Legal Affairs—not the most comfortable hour or so of reading I've ever done—I'm honestly surprised Georgia didn't ask McCorkle to step down; there seemed to be more than enough specific incidents detailed to make that call.

To the players' credit, the team managed to handle all the turmoil of last week, finishing second at the NCAA Central Regional tournament in Ann Arbor, Mich., and advancing to next week's NCAA Championship at LPGA International. Ultimately, their games are certainly good enough to contend when they get to Daytona Beach, Fla., next week. If they can handle the mental baggage of the last month's investigation and its aftermath, I think we'll see them up on the leader board all week.

Meanwhile, I'm looking forward to going back to covering action on the course, not off.

(Photo taken by Charles Laberge)