VENICE, Fla., Oct. 5, 2007

BREWSTER — Anna Grzebien was easy to spot during the first round of yesterday's North American Pro Golf Tour stop at The Captains in Brewster. She was the player wearing the white skirt, with the blond ponytail flopping down from the back of her cap.

But Grzebien's golf game did not set her apart from her playing peers, and in this particular case, that most assuredly was a good thing.

She wasn't the longest hitter off the tee, but she wasn't a 5-iron back, either. And her polished short game and deft putting touch kept her right there with the big boys. You don't capture back-to-back Massachusetts Women's Open championships, especially by shooting 65 on the first day, without possessing some game.

For the lone female competitor on the men's NAPGT, an opening round 1-over par 73 on the Starboard course in the Captains Open was more than respectable and gives her an opportunity to make her first cut in four starts. The 54-hole tournament, the last of eight events on the developmental tour, concludes tomorrow.

The 5-foot-6, 22-year-old Grzebien knew she was embarking on a daunting challenge this summer. Only recently graduated from Duke University, she led the Blue Devils to three straight national championships, was the 2005 NCAA Division 1 individual champion, and earned first team All-America honors in her sophomore and junior seasons. But the native of Narragansett, R.I. isn't attempting to be a lower-level version of Michelle Wie. She just wants a place to play to keep her game sharp heading into the first stage of LPGA Tour Qualifying School later this month.

"There's a million men's mini-tours, but it's not like that for women," she said. "I needed to stay competitive. A couple of my buddies are out here, and they said, 'Why don't you just come play with us?'"

Grzebien figured that sounded good, until she arrived at the first tournament and looked at the scorecard.

"In college, we played from 6,000 to 6,400 yards, and then I came here and saw 7,200," she said. "I was like, 'What am I doing?' I thought that maybe they'd move some of the tees up. But nooooo! Now when I go to women's events it will feel like I'm playing pitch-and-putt."

Nonetheless, she has handled the difficult conditions better than even she expected. She fired 71 playing from the tips on the Nicklaus course at Pinehills Golf Club last week, although a first-round 76 prevented her from making the cut. But that 1-under score on a 7,200-plus layout for a woman who averages 265 off the tee opened a few eyes.

"Shooting 71 felt like about 55," Grzebien joked. "When I first came on this tour, I wasn't sure how to swing at it. Should I go out and try to kill it? The whole experience was pretty intimidating. But the guys have been fantastic. They've treated me with a great amount of respect. And once you get out there, it's just you and the course."

Grzebien is hardly a novice to competition. She began playing golf at age 5 and entered her first tournament when she was just 8. The following year she traveled to Miami to compete in the Doral Publinx Championships. She soon became a regular on the American Junior Golf Association circuit, joining her older sisters, Lauren and Mary Ellen, at an AJGA tournament at New Seabury in the late 1990s.

"I was always trying to keep up with them," Anna said. "Even though I was only two years younger, that was a lot in physical strength, so I had to polish my short game to make up for the lack of length. Now I've got the short game and the length."

Lauren and Mary Ellen went on to star at Northwestern, while Anna turned pro immediately after graduating from Duke last spring. Initially, she thought that was a mistake.

"I was mad I turned pro right away," she said. "I thought that if I stayed amateur I'd have more opportunity to play. But now I think playing with the men is a good training tool for Q School. It's taught me to take out my fairway woods, because I couldn't just lay up on par-4's. It's going to be great on the par-5s on the women's tour, because I'll feel comfortable with those clubs in my hand."

With Q School set to begin in two weeks, Grzebien plans on spending a few days working with golf psychologist Dr. Bob Rotella before heading for the first stage in California. After that, as she put it, "there's the final stage of LPGA Q School in December."

That's right, she figures she'll be there. After competing all summer against men, can you blame her?

Staff writer Rob Duca can be reached at 508-862-1177 or rduca@capecodonline.com.