US Curtis Cup player leaves Duke

- to turn pro later this year

Mina Harigae, a member of the United States team who won the Curtis Cup match 13-7 over the Old Course, St Andrews, last May, has terminated her golf scholarship at Duke University, the top-ranked team in American female college golf.
She says will turn professional later this year.
“I want to thank (coach) Dan Brooks and all of my Blue Devil teammates for a great fall at Duke,” Harigae said in a university news release. “I enjoyed playing college golf, and Duke is a wonderful place, but I have decided I need to focus more on golf and my goal of turning professional. I have not decided when I will turn professional, but I plan on doing so by the end of the (2009) summer.”
Harigae, a former No. 1-ranked junior by Golfweek, played in three tournaments for Duke, finishing in the top top five twice. She posted a 71.13 scoring average and was No. 6 in the Golfweek/Sagarin College Rankings.Harigae, of Monterey, California., won the 2007 US Women’s Amateur Public Links Championship.
“Mina is an exceptional golfer and we wish her all the best in her future,” Brooks said. “If she works hard, she should have a very bright career in professional golf.”
The surprising thing is that Harigae has waited until February to quit Duke and announce she is going to turn pro sometime later this year. It would suggest that college studies were getting in the way of her golf.
Other members of the 2008 American Curtis Cup team who have already turned pro include Irish-born Alison Walshe and Stacey Lewis.