A rough spring continued for the men's golf team this weekend as the E-Z-GO Invitational wasn't so easy-going, seeing the Blue Devils finish 14th among 15 of the nation's elite teams--a group Duke has threatened to fall from based on play in the spring months.
The Blue Devils' three-round 887 put them 43 strokes behind first-place Wake Forest, whose Brent Wanner took the individual title at the par-62 Forest Heights Country Club in Statesboro, Ga.
"This type of golf course is an easy course, but you had to play it pretty consistently and be either conservative or aggressive," said junior Mike Castleforte, who finished 55th overall with a 224 despite a 102-degree temperature. "We kind of went back and forth, didn't take advantage of the right holes and had a few too many bogies on the wrong ones."
Rob Beasley turned in the most solid effort and the only under-par round with a 71 Saturday, followed by a pair of 74's in Sunday's closing action. The junior stood at 25th place after the first--no Blue Devil topped his Saturday score.
Wake blew out the field as Duke dropped from eight strokes back and eventually finished 23 behind, but for lack of finishing off holes rather than any wide-sweeping malaise for a team whose slow season is quickly reaching an end.
"I don't think there is [a sense of frustration] yet," said Castleforte, whose next stop is Augusta National April 5. "I mean we had a nice fall. And we've had the bad weather of late, but we've used that excuse already, so it's getting to the point where we need to start to get going."
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