Nine days ago at the Duke Golf Classic the men's golf team found itself tied for the lead only to crumble on the back nine. On Sunday morning at the Nelson, the team was in an identical position. The outcome, however, proved to be quite different.
The Blue Devils shot a three-under-par 276 during Sunday's final round to finish seven shots ahead of second place Washington. The victory is the side's second in three years at the Stanford Golf Club in Palo Alto, California.
"The experience of being in similar positions before helped us win this weekend," head coach Rod Meyers said. "We are learning how to handle the pressure and handle the feelings."
Duke's success at Stanford did not end with the team's win as Leif Olson captured individual medalist honors. Olson fired three under-par rounds , including a 65 on Sunday to shoot 201, one over the tournament record.
The individual championship came down to the final hole as Olson battled Washington's Brock Mackenzie, N.C. State's Justin Walters and Georgia Tech's Nicholas Thompson, all of whom finished one shot back.
Instead of waiting for his competitors to make mistakes, Olson seized the tournament by the throat and never let go. Down the stretch he made important birdies on the 15th and 17th holes. The eventual winning shot came on the difficult par-three 17th, where Olson sunk a 20-foot birdie putt across an undulating green.
"He did a wonderful job of ball striking," Coach Meyers said. "He didn't putt well during the first round and was disappointed in his score, but he made his putts the final two days."
Ryan Blaum also played an instrumental role in Sunday's victory, shooting a 66. The final round performance catapulted the talented freshmen to 10th place in the individual standings. This was the first tournament in which Blaum finished under par in his collegiate career.
"Ryan put on a ball striking clinic" Coach Meyers said. "He was really, really solid all day long."
Tom Lefebvre and Rob Beasley shot 72 and 73 respectively on Sunday. , Mike Castelforte finished in a tie for 28th but was the only Duke golfer to struggle in his final round, firing a 76.
This weekend's victory marks the first for the Blue Devils since the Intercollegiate in the spring of 2001.
Duke has placed in the top five in each of their four competitions this fall. The team had been in the final pairing going into the last 18 holes on each occasion but the victory at the Nelson represented the first time the Blue Devils succeeded in capturing a victory.
"It was very gratifying," Meyers said. "You always say the experience of getting there is worth something and it finally paid off for us."
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