The Blue Devils hit 883 strokes this past weekend at the NCAA East Regional, but it was one too many.
The men's golf team, needing a top-10 finish in the event to advance to the NCAA Championships, missed out on a playoff for the final slot by a single stroke on The Course at Yale.
"I have been disappointed pretty strongly twice [in my career]," head coach Rod Myers said. "We just couldn't seem to close the deal out there. The golf course was set up to be pretty demanding."
The team, entering the third and final round in a tie for 12th, played a strong front nine Saturday but proceeded to falter after the turn. The team's scoring members were a combined 10 over par on the final nine holes after going three over on the front.
It all fell apart for the Blue Devils on the demanding 640-yard 18th hole during the final round, where the team surrendered four strokes.
After positioning the ball well for a 180-yard approach shot to the green, Mike Castleforte double-bogeyed the finishing hole. Castleforte's ball flew over the green, hit off a hard bank and sputtered out of bounds.
Then on the same hole, Nathan Smith's second shot found the rough. Unable to find the green in three stokes, Smith tried to get up and down, and after pitching the ball to within eight feet of the hole, the sophomore was unable to sink the putt.
"He is the one guy on our team you want if you are going to get the ball up and down," Myers said. "You would take Nathan because he is as good as anybody."
Alex Wilson also bogeyed the final hole Saturday, the last of three consecutive bogeys to close out the round.
Throughout the tournament, the team was paced by sophomores Smith and Blaum. Blaum was Duke's low scorer Saturday at one under par and finished the tournament in a tie for 12th at three over. The sophomore got off to a slow start during Thursday's opening round but was on track by the end of the day. After shooting six over par on day one, Blaum carded two rounds under par to close out the season.
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"He was disappointed about the final round," Myers said of Blaum, who made the turn at three under before dropping back. "I think he feels like he could have had a better score."
Smith finished one shot behind Blaum for the tournament but paced the Blue Devils the first day when Blaum was faltering. Like Smith, Wilson carded his lowest round of the tournament on the first day, but while Smith maintained consistent play, Wilson struggled on the final 36 holes, shooting a combined 19 over par.
"Alex just seemed to lose confidence after the first round and couldn't get the numbers in there," Myers said. "Two guys just can't carry you, that is for sure."