The Wake Forest women's golf team had a great weekend at the Landfall Tradition, but wound up with a disappointing finish. Although the team ended with its best finish of the season, the Deacs weren't able to win the tournament they led going into the final round.

The Deacons led the 12-team field through the first two rounds of the event which was played at the 6,067-yard, par-72 Landfall Golf Club in Wilmington. However, the Deacs lost the touch they had possessed during the first 36 holes on the final 18 that they played.

The Deacs opened strong, posting rounds of 10-over 298 and 9-over 297 to start the tournament. This placed the team at 19-over par and four shots clear of second place through two rounds.

The Deacs looked poised to capture their first tournament of the year. However, a less-than-stellar final round total of 16-over 304 dropped Wake Forest from first to fourth position, finishing six strokes behind team champion Tulsa.

However, Wake Forest boasted the individual champion as senior Nuria Clau collected her first-ever collegiate win.

Clau played amazingly steady golf throughout the event. "She struck the ball the best she ever has," Head Coach Dianne Dailey said. "She played very well, very consistently."

After carding back-to-back 1-under par 71s, she ended with an even-par 72. This placed her at 2-under overall and gave her a narrow one-shot victory over Florida State's Kristin Tamulis.

"We're really happy Nuria won, since it was her first collegiate win," Dailey said. "We're disappointed we didn't win because we were there."

Other Deacons basically followed the trend of the team with good starts, but bad finishes.

"We had some really good performances," Dailey said. "We just didn't play well enough on the last day."

Sophomore Christine Hallstrom turned in the next-best performance for the team. She shot rounds of 75, 71, and 78 to finish at 8-over par and in a tie for 12th place.

Another sophomore, Ashley Hoagland, followed Hallstrom with a solid performance of her own. Hoagland posted rounds of 75, 76, and 78 to give her a share of 20th place at 13-over par.

Senior Maria Beautell shot the team's second-best score during the final round and moved up into a tie for 24th place. She finished at 16-over par with rounds of 77, 79, and 76. Freshman Julie McKenna rounded out the Deacon lineup. McKenna struggled, finishing with a total of 29-over par and in 55th place.

The event marked the last of the fall season for the Wake Forest team. Coach Dailey feels that the season has been a success in building towards the future.

"We have been working on a lot of things this fall," Dailey said. "We have a good, solid foundation for the spring."

Until then they will continue to "try to work on some of the things from the fall," according to Coach Dailey. Also, they will be "doing yoga to get stronger and working a lot on short game activities." The Deacs will open up the spring season in Puerto Rico at the 2003 Lady Puerto Rico Invitational Feb. 26-March 1.