Against a strong field and difficult playing conditions for the first 18 holes, the men's golf team, playing in its first spring tournament, showed some signs of improvement, albeit big numbers.
Loose swings and mental mistakes continued to plague the Blue Devils as they finished in 10th place out of 15 teams and 30 strokes behind the tournament winner, No. 5 Florida.
The Mercedes-Benz Collegiate Golf Championship in Jacksonville, Fla., was played at the 6,895-yard, par 72 Sawgrass Country Club. The tournament field included four of the top 10 teams in the Golfweek/Sagarin Collegiate Golf Rankings.
Tournament medalist honors went to Florida's Camilo Villegas with a 54-hole score of six-under par.
The cold and windy conditions at the start of the tournament forced scores to skyrocket during the first 18 holes played Monday morning. By that afternoon, however, the winds had settled down and the temperature climbed into the 60s to allow players to shoot lower scores.
The Blue Devils were led by junior standout Leif Olson, who fired rounds of 73-76-71--220, to finish in a tie for 15th place at four-over par.
"Leif is very close," coach Rod Myers said. "He is just waiting to break out. He played very well in the wind in the first round and just had a few misfires that cost him in the second. This was a good solid tournament for him."
The surprise of the week was the play of senior Matt Krauss. The former honorable-mention All-American shot rounds of 81-80-76-237, to finish near the bottom.
Krauss had not played as much golf as the rest of the team because of the injury he suffered to his lower back and it showed this week.
"That had a lot to do with it," Myers said. "We started on the back nine, which is very difficult when the wind is blowing. Matt got off to a poor start. He started losing his confidence and could just never get it going.
"Matt is going to be back. There is no question in my mind about him."
Krauss got off to a great start in his final round going birdie, eagle on his first two holes, but he double-bogeyed the third. The Dumfries, Va., native was even par with three holes to play, but he three putted his 16th hole, the seventh, and put two balls in the water on the ninth, his 18th, to finish with a 76, four-over par.
Senior Brandon LaCroix fired the lowest round of the week for the Blue Devils-a three-under-par 69. That was after a first round 80. LaCroix shot a final round 77 to finish in a tie for 32nd place.
"Brandon played fairly well in the first round; he just made too many mistakes," Myers said. "He had a super second round and it could have even been lower. In the final round, he was steady through the first eight holes, and then he started hitting loose shots that cost him."
Sophomore Mike Castleforte and junior Brad Clark also played this week. Castleforte struggled in his first two rounds, but rebounded in the third to shoot an even-par 72 and finish tied for 51st place.
Clark also had a difficult first round, but played very well as Duke's fifth golfer, firing rounds of 74-72 in the final 36 holes to move up into a tie for 32nd place.
"I felt really good about Brad and Mike's final rounds," Myers said. "We are still searching for somebody to take that fourth and fifth spot, but I was pleased with what Brad and Mike did Monday."
Although the Blue Devils once again failed to have a player crack the top 10 and Duke itself did not finish as well as it would have liked, Myers believes some good things came out of the tournament.
"I think everybody was disappointed that we didn't get off to a faster start," Myers said. "But everyone is in good spirits and we got some positive things from this tournament. We will be ready to go to Puerto Rico and compete this weekend."
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