Two down, five to go and the clock is ticking.
This weekend, the men's golf team competed in its second spring tournament at the Puerto Rico Classic, where it finished in ninth place out of 15 teams.
The tournament was played at the par-72, 6,945-yard Rio Mar Country Club's River course in San Juan, Puerto Rico. No. 1 Georgia Tech won the team competition for the third consecutive year, this time by 25 strokes over No. 3 Clemson.
Georgia Tech's Troy Matteson captured individual medalist honors with an 11-under-par 205.
Duke was led by Mike Castleforte, who fired consistent rounds of 71-72-72--215 to finish in a tie for 14th place.
"Mike's performance was the highlight of the tournament," coach Rod Myers said. "He hit the ball extremely well, and I know he was frustrated with his putting, but he played very solid.
"He gives us a third player that we can count on. Leif Olson is there and we know what Matt [Krauss'] capabilities are, but Mike's current play gives us confidence that he can give us a lift if needed."
The Blue Devils were once again victims to big numbers caused by hitting shots into the many rivers that run throughout the golf course.
Olson, a junior, was two-under with three holes to play in his first round when disaster struck. In attempting to reach the par-five 16th in two, Olson hit his approach into the water and made double-bogey. He then bogeyed the short par-four 17th. When the dust had settled, Olson had turned a possible 69 or 70 into a 74.
The Golden, Colo., native fired rounds of 69-78 to finish the tournament in a tie for 28th place at five-over par.
Krauss had similar troubles. In his second round, the senior was one-under and headed to a short par-three. He hit one of his better shots of the day, but a gust of wind knocked the ball down and into the hazard. Krauss went on to make a triple bogey en route to a 76. Krauss shot 73 in his first and final round to finish in a tie for 35th place.
"The toughest thing for Matt right now is that he is behind," Myers said. "He doesn't want to blame his play on his back injury, but the fact is that he missed playing and practice time because of it, and it is affecting his confidence."
The Blue Devils beat some good teams in Puerto Rico, but now with just five tournaments left, Myers knows that Duke must defeat more teams in its district and in the top 25 and can't continue settling with ninth place.
"I think we really have to start finishing in the top five. We've got to show that we can compete and do the job. We can't just go out and continue to have almost finishes. Our next few tournaments are the kind that if we turn it around we can win, but we really can't afford to do worse than a top-five if we want to think about making the NCAA Regionals."
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