The men's golf team faced its stiffest competition of the season at the Ping Intercollegiate at MacGregor Downs in Cary this past weekend. Senior Joe Ogilvie highlighted the tournament for the Blue Devils, finishing in a tie for second among many of the best players in the nation with his final score of 215.
Unfortunately, as a team, Duke did not fare as well, finishing 11th out of the 12 teams in the tournament. The Blue Devils were ranked 10th in the field heading into the tournament, but a few strokes separated them from a ninth-place finish-Duke shot an 885 overall while N.C. State and Oklahoma were just ahead of the Blue Devils with their final scores of 883. Although temperatures were in the 40s on the final day and conditions were wet and rainy, Ogilvie did not attribute Duke's poor play to the weather.
"I had mixed emotions about the weekend," Ogilvie said. "I played my best individually, but I thought our team didn't play as well as in the past. We usually play well under adverse conditions. The conditions played in our favor, but our outcome wasn't as good as I'd hoped."
"Overall, it was a little frustrating that we didn't beat a few more teams," head coach Rod Myers said. "We were only two strokes behind the two teams ahead of us, and it's frustrating when you don't get wins over those teams, but it was a positive experience to be out with that kind of competition."
As an indication of the type of competition that the Blue Devils faced, a majority of the teams in the tournament-such as Oklahoma State, Arizona State, UNLV, Texas Christian and Arizona-are ranked within the top 10 in the nation.
Two Atlantic Coast Conference teams, Wake Forest and Clemson, took the top two spots in the tournament, and fellow ACC foes North Carolina and N.C. State finished in seventh and ninth places, respectively. Duke must face these teams in two weeks at the ACC Tournament.
"By far, this is the strongest field outside of the NCAA Tournament itself that we face during the season," Myers said.
Against this level of competition, Ogilvie's finish was quite an accomplishment. Ogilvie shot a first-round 73 and then followed up with a second-round score of 69. He finished with another 73 on the final day.
"For Joe to finish second was really outstanding," Myers said. "He played solidly all the way through."
"It was a big weekend for me," Ogilvie said. "I like to play well against the best competition, and there's more pressure in this tournament than any other because of the level of competition. Under more intense competition where I have to play well to place well, I concentrate more on each shot and get more out of my game."
Another golfer who played well was sophomore Chris Schmid. Schmid shot a 70 for his final round-the second-lowest score of the day-and finished the tournament with a score of 220. Schmid normally plays in the No. 4 position, but with his strong play, he finished second for Duke.
"Chris played a really solid round of golf and gave us a tremendous lift," Myers said. "When a guy who normally plays in the four position plays that strong, it pumps up the team."
Junior Jason Buha was a shot behind Schmid in 221, while senior Justin Klein and junior Eric Betrand rounded out the scoring for the Blue Devils with their respective rounds of 230 and 241.
The team will use its experience from the weekend as preparation for the upcoming ACC Tournament.
"We realize how tough our conference is," Myers said. "If you go into the tournament and play mediocre, most teams will beat you, but if you play well, you can beat anyone."
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