The Wake Forest women's golf team traveled the short distance to UNC-Chapel Hill for the Franklin Street Trust Tar Heel Invitational this weekend.

The team gave a strong performance in the three-day tournament, climbing from 12th place on the first day to finish 7th in the end. The team shot a total of 35-over-par 899 on the par-72, 6,181-yard course for the event.

Duke University placed first, skirting Oklahoma State by one stroke, shooting a 13-over-par total of 877. Duke freshman Liz Janangelo won the individual title, shooting a 6-under-par total of 210.

Good weather and a fierce comeback characterized the final round, where the team found themselves tied for eighth-place. Junior Deborah Means was forced to withdraw after injuring her wrist on the 10th hole on Oct. 5. Senior Nuria Clau ensured that the team received due recognition as she led the Deacs with her 5-over-par performance. Clau, a former member of Spain's World Cup team, rose from a tie for 22nd to a six-way tie for ninth, her second Top 10 finish of the year. The Barcelona native shot two consecutive even-par rounds of 72, finishing a mere 11 strokes behind the individual champion.

Senior Maria Beautell fired an impressive 4-over-par 76, in the final round, finishing 27th overall with a three-day total of 225. Sophomore Ashley Hoagland, who finished third on the team in the spring season with a stroke average of 75.42, finished with a total of 227, 11-over par.

Freshman Julie McKenna's third round score, a 3-over 75, was her most outstanding, as well as the lowest round so far in her collegiate career.

"The team played well, particularly the second day. We shot our season-low score of 293 and finished the tournament averaging less than 300 each day, which was one of our goals," Head Coach Dianne Dailey said. "We are very close to playing consistently around par and made significant improvement from the FSU tournament last week."

While the team has made significant improvement this season and certainly shows promise for future matches, one should note the oustanding play of Clau. Dailey said that because this was Clau's second Top 10 finish of the year, the success will "give her momentum going into the World Cup next week."

The Real Spanish Golf Federation selected Clau to participate in the upcoming Team World Championship in Malaysia, where she will join Marta Prieto, '01, as one of three members on the team.

"The World Cup is the equivalent of the Olympics in golf and we are very excited to have two Wake Forest players participating," Dailey said.

Clau's victory in the European under-18 of 1997, paired with her success in the junior category of 1998 and 2002, is undoubtedly telling of her prestige on the links, and hopefully will aid her as she faces more than 30 countries in the championship. The tournament will be held Oct. 16-19.

Meanwhile, Clau will continue to practice with her collegiate teammates at Wake Forest. "From top to bottom, our team is improving each week," Dailey said.